Sachin, Test captaincy and the right decision!!!

I got up to the greatest logical news this morning as far as Indian Cricket is concerned. I think Sachin declining the test captaincy is the best decision for Indian team to move forward. I’m not against Sachin becoming the captain of the test team even if his record as captain is not very impressive to put it mildly. Making Sachin captain is simply illogical for the plain fact that he is still playing one-day cricket. It will be a clash of personalities and how will Dhoni be able to mould the one-day team into his team with Sachin still around and being led by him in the test team. Neither would be able to make their imprint on the team, because I genuinely believe Sachin has more than 2 years of active cricket left in him. So, I feel Sachin should have either accepted both the one-day and test captaincy or none. Some teams like Australia and England have had different one-day and test captains, but in those teams the test captain is/was not playing one-day cricket anymore, Steve Waugh and Michael Vaughan are the examples here. I’m not saying that what Australia and England have done is the only way to split the captaincy. I’m not against the split captaincy, I just feel Sachin is not the right choice as long as he is playing One-day cricket. I also believe that Dhoni is not ready yet for test captaincy, so we need an experienced guy at the helm of the test team. Please don’t get carried away by the T20 euphoria. If the one-day series against Australia has not opened our eyes, the Australian tour will certainly do. We can see that Dhoni has great leadership qualities from what has been on display till now. But test cricket is altogether different and please don’t shatter his confidence just at the beginning. Were not we discussing his place in the test team just in the last test series in the Lord’s test when he failed in the first innings. To his credit he proved that he is a fast learner and saved the match for us in the second innings. Dhoni is the future; there is not even an iota of doubt in my mind regarding that.

My personal preference at the current scenario would be either Kumble or Laxman. Both have been spoken highly about their leadership abilities and especially Kumble coming for effusive praise from John Wright. If I remember John Wright’s exact words, it is like this, “It’s a pity that Kumble is not considered for captaincy in India because he is a bowler”. I have no preference between these two and would be happy to see anyone of them leading the test team right now and if it is Kumble then at least for next six months to one year and may be more if the choice is Laxman. I read Sanjay Manjrekar’s analysis about the captaincy this morning and he favors Kumble for the reason that Laxman’s place is not assured in the team and Yuvraj Singh is breathing at his neck for a test place. Please for God’s sake stop fiddling with Laxman’s place in the test team. Yes Yuvraj deserves to be given a run in the test team, but if it is done then please do it at the expense of Ganguly not Laxman. How many match-saving and match-winning innings in difficult conditions does that poor guy need to play to prove his worth?

Sanjay Manjrekar has also put a very valid point in his analysis that Sachin should have discussed with selectors regarding the choices if he declines to lead. And if they are going to give it to Dhoni if he says no, then Sachin should have led for at least six months. One would expect that kind of discussion in a professional set up, but knowing the BCCI administrators and the selectors, especially after the dropping of Dravid from the One-day team, who would like to do that is anybody’s guess. Sachin has done Indian cricket a big favor by declining the offer. I feel even if “the bunch of jokers”, as once referred infamously by a great Indian cricketer, do give the test captaincy to Dhoni that would be a better decision than splitting the captaincy with Sachin. Moreover I salute Sachin for his decision and at this stage of his career I expect more test innings like he produced in the last series and prove his critics like Ian Chappel that he is still playing for the right reasons.

PS: Ian Chappel is the best contemporary cricket critic according to me.