MUMBAI, April 5: The captaincy of the Indian cricket team may be a crown of thorns, but our cricketers covet it so much that they are prepared to go any length to %u2018grab' that honour. Believed to be the second-most important job in India after the Prime Minister's, an Indian captain has this onerous task of not only winning matches but also trying to please millions of opinionated fans.
As seven former captains will be present on Friday to advise BCCI on the road ahead, it might be a good idea to take a look at the captaincy conundrum in Indian cricket over the ages.
When Rahul Dravid was finally anointed as skipper on a full-time basis in October 2005, he had achieved another cherished goal.
So now we have a situation when two of his immediate predecessors are breathing down his neck. Sachin Tendulkar, who has already been captain twice and Sourav Ganguly, despite achieving so much success during his five-year tenure, want to lead the side again.
Our cricket administrators have passed around the Indian captaincy so often, at times simply as a sop, to so many players, that the post has lost much of its aura. However, it still commands enough power, paisa and prestige for people to desperately crave for it.
Like Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, S Venkataraghavan and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi also enjoyed a second bite of the captaincy cherry.
Dravid is merely seeking to extend his captaincy career that so far resembles a horror show with a few comic interludes. Whether he brings down the curtains himself, or the BCCI forces a change of leaders, remains to be seen. If the vote is for a change, expect Sachin and Sourav to lobby hard for another shot at glory with the latter holding a slight edge. http://worldcup.indiatimes.com/Sachin_Ganguly_in_captaincy_race_again/articleshow/1862729.cms The war was lost before India began WC battle There you have it then: coach and players on different pitches, an overloaded captain, seniors pulling in different directions. No wonder then, that all it took finally for the world%u2019s richest cricket team to come crashing down was one gentle push %u2014 from Bangladesh. http://cricket.expressindia.com/worldcup/07/story.php?storyid=84305
