Oh Captain, My Captain!
Friday, September 22, 2006 by Gaurav Varma
Rahul Dravid is a great batsman. Infact he is probably the best batsman in Test cricket based on form in the past 3 to 4 years. But a great batsman does not a great captain make.
Its all too apparent that most of the thinking that goes into selecting the side happens from the coach's end. Dravid's decisions on the field have left a lot to be desired. He is unimaginative, lacks aggression and fumbles at the game's key moments.
India had Australia on the mat at 117/6 today. The last recognized pair (if you even consider Hogg a specialist batsman) were at the crease. Dravid promptly brought on his non regular bowlers in Sehwag while Mongia continued from the other end. The Australians were let off and went on to accumulate 213 when they should have been restricted to 160 if Munaf, who was by far the most effective bowler in the team, had been brought on at that very moment. Infact he didn't even bowl his full 10 over quota and was ostensibly being saved to bowl the last few overs of the innings to Australia's number 10 and 11!
Contrast this with what Ricky Ponting did today. He was on the button from ball one. He immediately brought back Lee when things started tilting in India's favour with Dhoni and Mongia having put on a 50 run partnership. Australia's leading spearhead responded by removing Dhoni and exposing India's tail which as always meekly crumbled at the doorstep of victory.
India lost and are out of the tournament which had three teams competing for a place in the finals. India frankly didnt merit a place in the final. They played very ordinary cricket and the captaincy and selection of the playing 11 was poor. How else can you explain the omission of Sreesanth, India's most successful bowler of late and the only one in the side having some real pace. He bowled splendidly against West Indies the other night and his two wickets at just 3 an over were superb returns. He should have taken RP Singh's place.
The batting was pathetic all through the tournament. Sehwag is long overdue and needs to be dropped for a while. He has scored practically nothing for two years now. Only in India we hang on to young prodigies and fail to put a system in place to develop them as more complete cricketers. Sehwag's one day form has been poor for a long time now.
I was amzed to discover that Australia's prolific batsman Hussy made his ODI debut aged almost 30! This is testimony to the highly competitive level of domestic cricket in Australia. Have we had anyone in the 28-32 age range making their debut for India and proving themselves in international cricket in the past 2 decades? All of those playing today made their debuts when they were 18-25 years. Noone has come out of the domestic cricket scene in a long time now.
No wonder Gavaskar once remarked "India continues to produce champions..but it is by accident rather than design..."
Its all too apparent that most of the thinking that goes into selecting the side happens from the coach's end. Dravid's decisions on the field have left a lot to be desired. He is unimaginative, lacks aggression and fumbles at the game's key moments.
India had Australia on the mat at 117/6 today. The last recognized pair (if you even consider Hogg a specialist batsman) were at the crease. Dravid promptly brought on his non regular bowlers in Sehwag while Mongia continued from the other end. The Australians were let off and went on to accumulate 213 when they should have been restricted to 160 if Munaf, who was by far the most effective bowler in the team, had been brought on at that very moment. Infact he didn't even bowl his full 10 over quota and was ostensibly being saved to bowl the last few overs of the innings to Australia's number 10 and 11!
Contrast this with what Ricky Ponting did today. He was on the button from ball one. He immediately brought back Lee when things started tilting in India's favour with Dhoni and Mongia having put on a 50 run partnership. Australia's leading spearhead responded by removing Dhoni and exposing India's tail which as always meekly crumbled at the doorstep of victory.
India lost and are out of the tournament which had three teams competing for a place in the finals. India frankly didnt merit a place in the final. They played very ordinary cricket and the captaincy and selection of the playing 11 was poor. How else can you explain the omission of Sreesanth, India's most successful bowler of late and the only one in the side having some real pace. He bowled splendidly against West Indies the other night and his two wickets at just 3 an over were superb returns. He should have taken RP Singh's place.
The batting was pathetic all through the tournament. Sehwag is long overdue and needs to be dropped for a while. He has scored practically nothing for two years now. Only in India we hang on to young prodigies and fail to put a system in place to develop them as more complete cricketers. Sehwag's one day form has been poor for a long time now.
I was amzed to discover that Australia's prolific batsman Hussy made his ODI debut aged almost 30! This is testimony to the highly competitive level of domestic cricket in Australia. Have we had anyone in the 28-32 age range making their debut for India and proving themselves in international cricket in the past 2 decades? All of those playing today made their debuts when they were 18-25 years. Noone has come out of the domestic cricket scene in a long time now.
No wonder Gavaskar once remarked "India continues to produce champions..but it is by accident rather than design..."
