Tendulkar declines captaincy

[Richard]

Some 10-year-old (currently) kid will be Indian captain one day too.

 

[jammay123]

Piyush Chawla will be the next Indian Test Captain because he can spin the ball at right angles at varied pace.

 

[JBH001]

Good decision by Sachin. Kudos to him.

 

[Olwe]

Ganguly should be captain

 

[alternative]

Awesome move from Tendulkar, but giving captaincy to Dhoni would not be the best thing knowing his experience in his current limited Test career so far, it would be nothing short of suicidal. Not being biased here, but Ganguly FTW.

 

[shortpitched713]

Awesome move from Tendulkar, but giving captaincy to Dhoni would not be the best thing knowing his experience in his current limited Test career so far, it would be nothing short of suicidal. Not being biased here, but Ganguly FTW.

Impossible.

 

[silentstriker]

Australia target opposing captains. They destroyed Graeme Smith. Dhoni doesn't need that yet.

 

[gettingbetter]

Awesome move from Tendulkar, but giving captaincy to Dhoni would not be the best thing knowing his experience in his current limited Test career so far, it would be nothing short of suicidal. Not being biased here, but Ganguly FTW.

Worked alright for Graeme Smith.

 

[R_D]

This is probably one of the wisest things Sachin would ever do in his life, i think he gets criticised enough for his batting nowadays and last thing he wanted was being blasted apart for poor captaincy.
Now i think the only option left is Dhoni, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing that only time will tell!

I very much doubt he made the decision because of fear of being criticized.Sachin's already had 2 chances and his form hasn't exactly been that great in tests so maybe he wants to concentrate on his game more.... team certainly needs as a batsman more than a leader.

 

[SJS]

There is more than a suggestion here in Mumbai that Sachin is unhappy by the way Dravid has been treated and that this has weighed with him in making this decision. Sachin is not the type to normally air his views in public and hence his keeping quiet on the Dravid issue. Of course there is no way to confirm this.

HB please note

 

[biased indian]

i think australia would prefer dhoni to be captain...

so i think ganguly or kumble(in that order) could be the best option..for the time being

 

[Jono]

I am not so sure. You said it was wrong on Dravid when he gave up captaincy because of the lack of captaincy options in the team. Now, isn't Sachin doing the same thing? He is basically declining captaincy at a time when there are no other potential leaders HAVING been the vice-captain in the last test series.

I think there is just a hint of double standards there on ur part, Jono.


AFAIC, both Dravid and Sachin have gone with the soft options here recently. Not that I find too much wrong with either of their moves though. We need both of them as batsmen more than we need them as captains and I did feel that Dhoni was gonna end up the captain whether or not he proved himself to be better than the other keeper batsmen in India. So I am not too fussed about this.

So wait, first you were accusing Tendulkar of trying to get Dravid out of captaincy so he could take over, and now you're criticising him for not taking the captaincy. What the?

Firstly, your views that Tendulkar is trying to kick Dravid out has now been made to look ridiculous, initially with his decline of captaincy, and secondly with the rumours that he didn't take the captaincy because of the selectors' treatment of Dravid. Maybe Sachin ain't so evil afterall?

Regarding the double standards claim, I disagree. Sachin WAS NOT captain, unlike Dravid. Sachin has been captain twice, there is seriously no reason at all for him to be captain again. None whatsoever. Whereas Dravid's quitting of captaincy couldn't have come at a more inappropriate time to be honest. It just complicated everything. If anything, Sachin's decision to not take captaincy has done the reverse, its made things very simple. Dhoni as captain.

And will people stop fearing Australia FFS? They're a brilliant team, and an Australian tour is tough, but Dhoni isn't a frickin' kid. He's already shown he is a very capable captain, and there is ABSOLUTELY no point in naming another captain (eg. Kumble or Laxman) whilst having former captains (Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid) and the future captain (Dhoni) already in the team.

And naming Ganguly captain would be an even bigger distraction. Can you imagine all the questions that he'd receive in the media sessions in Australia? "How does it feel to be back" "Should you have ever been removed" yadda yadda yadda. Not to mention all the possible Greg Chappell questions.

Dhoni as captain of India works.

 

[Sanz]

i think australia would prefer dhoni to be captain...

so i think ganguly or kumble(in that order) could be the best option..for the time being

We should not pick a captain thinking Australia in mind, before we play Australia we have another series to play. We should pick who we prefer as captain and not who Australia prefer. Ganguly isn't the same player he was 4 years ago, neither he is the same person he was then. I dont think he is ready to lead the team now. He has reached his expiry date as a captain and we should look forward.

As far as Kumble is concerned - I have no opinion one way or another, but does he have a secure spot in the team as a bowler is a valid question to ask the selectors. If they think he is, they should not hesitate.

 

[Jono]

Other than the obvious "now we have 5 frickin' captains in an 11 man side" reason not to make Kumble captain, the fact that people thought he may be retiring after the England series, and he could honestly call it quits at any time, leaves me thinking its probably best to not give it to the great man.

 

[Sanz]

Yeah, I have no problem with Dhoni as captain. He has shown enough maturity and leadership skills in the limited opportunity he has got to lead team. I think I feel more comfortable at him leading team India right now than I felt when Ganguly was appointed in 2000 or Dravid in 2005.

 

[Sanz]

So wait, first you were accusing Tendulkar of trying to get Dravid out of captaincy so he could take over, and now you're criticising him for not taking the captaincy. What the?

Firstly, your views that Tendulkar is trying to kick Dravid out has now been made to look ridiculous, initially with his decline of captaincy, and secondly with the rumours that he didn't take the captaincy because of the selectors' treatment of Dravid. Maybe Sachin ain't so evil afterall?

I dont remember HB making that statement. He probably was talking about the rumors in the media about this. I know that I said something along those lines but again as I said I was talking about the rumors in media and not accusing Tendulkar.

Although I still think Tendulkar wanted the captaincy.

 

[honestbharani]

Beyond "it just doesnt sound right" has any one come up with a reason to not have Kumble as the captain for a year or so? Gives Dhoni or any one else time to be groomed into the role.

Kumble has: the respect of his peers, the credentials including place in team and captaining at the first class level (Karnataka state Ranji team, includes Dravid), is
a good cricketing brain and has courage and perseverance in unquestionable quantity.

Will probably be more the cerebral than the emotive type of leader (maybe why there
is the "doesnt sound right" popular opinion) and though he is almost 37 his bowling and
batting in the last 2 years has pretty much been as good as it has ever been (unlike some other seniors).

In fact his overseas bowling in the last 5 years is probably better than it was in the first 12 years. (Seems that way, could be wrong).

I am kinda warming to the idea of having Kumble as the test captain. As others have said, he is the only one apart from the big 3 who seems to command a place in the side, he has the respect of everyone, and I think he is perhaps one man who can bring together the big 3 (if they are IN FACT divided, which is obviously just speculation)...

And it would allow time for Dhoni to get settled in the test side and also we will find out if he is good.


Having said that, Dhoni seems to be the sort who will do well when given additional responsibility. Will be an interesting decision, although I think it is 80-20 that Dhoni will be the captain.

 

[honestbharani]

There is more than a suggestion here in Mumbai that Sachin is unhappy by the way Dravid has been treated and that this has weighed with him in making this decision. Sachin is not the type to normally air his views in public and hence his keeping quiet on the Dravid issue. Of course there is no way to confirm this.

HB please note

It would be wonderful if this is true indeed.


But again, it will throw up the question about whether maybe there is a split between seniors and juniors now in the side... We are never far off from conspiracy theories in India, are we?


Anyways, the grapevine here has it that he just did that because he was not sure how well the current side will do in Australia and doesn't want to face all the flak for his captaincy. Basically, the suggestion here is that he thinks India will not do well in Aus and doesn't want to be the captain and take that pressure. Not much about him being concerned about Dravid.... Knowing Tendulkar from what we have seen of him all these years, I think we will never know the exact reasons, really. So this will just be another of those things that is always open to speculation.

 

[adharcric]

Change of heart here. Dhoni as captain - works for me.

 

[Dasa]

Ffs will all the speculation of a split in the team or seniors working together against others etc etc stop? Sooo annoying, and imo pretty much baseless.