While beginning to write this article, I am also parallely preparing myself to face those Bengali babus ire!
Ganguly must step down now. On his own. He may lose his place in the team as a player also. Might have to work his way back up from the Ranji trophy. Or he might slowly shift into films [horrible actor, IMHO]. I say that because I see lot of girls go crazy about him.
My pick for the captain’s post of Indian cricket team is:
Mohammed Kaif
- Cool head on stable shoulders.
- Young blood. Good bet for the future.
- Fit as a fiddle. Might work as a tonic to improve the fitness of the eternally unfit team.
- Good student of the game.
- Enthusiastic and self-driven. Can always be seen involved in on-field team meetings during crucial stages.
- Good batsman. Consistent. One among the best fielders in the World!
- Most important aspect: Toughness. Shows that in his fielding and batting.
The only “against” points that I see are:
- Age. Conventionally, a bit too young for the captain’s post. Sehwag seems more apt in this case.
- He is not a top-order batsman [Only in this Zimbabwe series he started coming in at #3], neither is he a bowler. [But he is a world-class fielder]. He will need to convince the batsmen and bowlers by showing his commitment and deep understanding of the game. Sometimes, senior players might just refuse to go with this.
Among the contenders, Sehwag is the strongest. With Greg Chapell’s backing, he might as well get the nod. But Kaif is definitely a captain for the future. He should be handed over the captaincy within the next year 2006, with the goal that “India should win the 2007 World Cup”. So that he has ample time to rally the team around him and achieve the objective.
I can’t say that I can or can not say that I do or do not disagree with what I’m not failing to understand what your failing to try and tell me!
whoever become the captain, the dismal performance ll continue, the desire to win and dominate is lackin in this team!
Hello,
Thank you for the comment on my blog, much appreciated. I have read yours now too. Very Interesting. Keep Up The Great Work ! :)
Bullseye
:)
Vatsan
I agree with you. The captain is as good as the team. The desire needs to be ignited. The desire to win and succeed against all odds!
Lisa
Thanks for coming here. I write a lot of India-specific stuff. I don’t know how much you will be able to relate to it.
Keep reading though! :)
A debatable topic indeed..But not many contenders for the captain post. And indeed, the zeal is lost.
Hey Suma!
You created a blogger ID?! Cool!
Welcome to the blogosphere!
There seems to a dearth of gratefulness in this world. All this sudden surge
of talks of Saurav not being a team player is just the outcome of
a-group-of-ppl-waiting-to grab-onto-spicy-stuff talk…. Most of the players
present in this current Indian team are here only because Saurav spotted the
tlent in them and pursued with them… Sehwag, Yuvi, Kaif, Zaheer to name a
few. Agreed, his personal form hasn’t exactly been a pretty picture but
after the last test match nobody can deny the fact that he is putting in all
his effort to make his contribution felt to the team; in the sense, make
sure, he personally plays a big part in India’s victories (like he used to
every other match earlier) and not worry only about personal form as some
ppl like putting it. How could anybody put Saurav and lack of team spirit
along the same lines?? What audacity??? Agreed, that we should be looking
forward to the 2007 world cup, but still this is not the way a true
team-person and leader should be treated. He deserves much more than this!
-NS