So finally after a truck load of controversies Sourav Ganguly is finally gone! With all due respect to him I think it is the step taken in right direction because he wasn’t doing justice neither to Indian cricket nor to himself.
After Ganguly, Rahul Dravid has been picked to lead the side, which I feel is quite a dubious decision. Rahul Dravid is no doubt a dedicated servant of Indian Cricket, but does he has that fire in himself to lead the national side? I doubt!
So who should have been given the charge of the team? My choice would have definitely been Sachin Tendulkar. I’m surprised at the topic of this review. Who says Sachin is a spent force? He still has a hell of a lot to offer to Indian cricket, not just as a batsman but as a leader too if given a proper chance.
After his last two stints as captain I think he is much more matured now to take over the job. Plus if we have a great coach like Greg Chappel, we need someone with the same level of greatness to match him, then only the desired results can be obtained. And who is greater than Sachin in that regard?
Sachin has won many matches for India single handedly, and without him India would at best would have been a below average team. For many years he literally has been a ”one man army” for the Indian team. If you exclude him from the team the morale of the rest of the squad goes down. This shows the impact this man has on Indian cricket.
He is the most celebrated wicket for the bowlers all around the world. His knowledge of the game is far superior than anyone else in Indian team. And with young talented batsmen like Yuvraj, Kaif and Sehwag in the team, the burden of batting is not that much on Sachin like it was before. So again that gives him an advantage when he would have come down to lead the side.
I am not saying all this just on assumptions. In the recent Challenger Trophy he captained India Seniors Team when Kaif was injured and one could clearly see the passion, intensity and hunger to win in him. He was very attacking indeed in his field placings and motivated the boys brilliantly bowling out the opposition for less than 200 runs.
After a player achieves so much in his career like Sachin has, he needs a new challenge to keep himself motivated. And leading the team for 2007 world cup would have been the perfect motivation for this great legend of India cricket.
I hope India does well in the captaincy of Rahul Dravid, but if they don’t then board should appoint Sachin as the new skipper without wasting much time, since the world cup is not too far away now!
Best of luck to Sachin and best of luck to the Indian team!
Aiylla Isse Captain Banao Re!