Jan 23, 2007
Deep Point
Vice captaincy to Tendulkar a warning to Dravid
B D NARAYANKAR
‘The Col’ -- thats how chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar is known in the cricketing world. And he is called so for his forthrightness. When he says Sachin Tendulkar has been made vice-captain because those who had held the post earlier were not regulars in the team, it means that he has sent a clear message to Rahul Dravid to perform as a captain and a batsman, or else he will have to lose the leadership role after the World Cup.
The decision of national selectors to elevate Tendulkar to the vice-captain level is not an isolated development. The BCCI and Vengsarkar were upset with Dravid for fielding Virendra Sehwag and seamer Munaf Patel in the final Test at Cape Town losing the series to SA. Vengsarkar has been taking right decisions at the right time.
He does not want to promote someone as a vice-captain who is young and inexperienced. A player of Tendulkars calibre is the best bet to take over the reins from Dravid if he is injured during the World Cup. Moreover, the master batsman has played enough cricket in the West Indies and is aware of the playing conditions there more than anybody else.
But there would be some in the cricketing world who would not accept Tendulkars captaincy as they had seen him failing twice in the past. It will be wrong to judge a captain who iswas leading a weak side. It is very difficult to percieve Clive Lylod winning series-after-series with the present Brian Lara-led West Indies team. The Big Cat was the most successful captain of his era as he had the finest batsmen -- Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Hynes, Vivian Richards, Larry Gomes and Richie Richardson -- and dreaded bowlers like Malcolm Marshal, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Collin Croft and Patrick Paterson, who came good seriesafter-series.
Tendulkar made a bright start as captain by defeating Australia in the one-off Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in 1996 and then winning the home series against South Africa 2-1. But lost his way being a victim of the overseas syndrome, which had proved to be the Waterloo of many Indian skippers, including Mohammad Azharuddin, who was otherwise Indias most successful captain. To be fair to Tendulkar, with the limited resources under his command, he has had to lead India on some very difficult campaigns abroad the tour of South Africa and the Caribbean in 1997 and the trip to Australia in 1998.
The Australian tour only exposed the long-term shortcomings in the Indian side - the inability of the specialist batsmen, with the exception of Tendulkar, to handle the extra bounce and the lateral movement; the lack of sting in the bowling, with strike bowler Anil Kumble losing much of his effectiveness on foreign territory; and mediocre fielding in an era of super athleticism. To make matters worse, Rahul Dravid, from whom much was expected, seemed consumed by self-doubts for most part of the series. The normally solid Sourav Ganguly was unable to produce a big innings in the Tests. VVS Laxman, despite his blistering century in Sydney, was too inconsistent for an opening batsman.
Vengsarkar, a Mumbiakar like Tendulkar, certainly has big plans for the master blaster and realises the importance of using his experience. There is nothing wrong in doing it, if someone has put up his hands to accept the onus.
When England could give the responsibility to Mike Brearly, the most successful captain ever in the history of cricket with hopeless batting record, why shouldnt India give it to Tendulkar, even if he is not delivering with his bat?
No comments:
Post a Comment