Rahul Dravid steps down-What next ?

[iloveireland]

Dravid the best batsman in the world.

That is a bit strong isn't it. He was good but not best.

 

[angryangy]

I have to agree, his lack of creativity disappoints. In that final, he didn't act like it was going to be won in far less than 50 overs. He didn't seem to be imagining situations that would be good chances to get wickets, or just tilt the odds. The Powerplays could have been used interestingly (by not being used at all). He could have attempted to just use his four main bowlers, instead of the part timers Yuvraj and Ganguly. He could have had men around the bat for Chawla, particularly to new batsmen. I personally felt the fields weren't very tactical, but that's not so easy to tell from TV and so an opinion can be contentious.

On the other hand, if Dravid takes few screamers, he drops few sitters, as they say in Aus. In the Test arena, he is very good at grinding games into draws. His ODI record is better than any Indian captain bar Kapil Dev and while Ganguly won more Tests, he also lost more. In some sense, the way Dravid sticks to his guns is a good quality to have as captain.

Of course, if he is to lead India to the World Cup again, he will be 38 when he does. He will have to evaluate his career and a decision will have to be made for the good of the team. Perhaps this could come sooner rather than later, if India believe their team is stagnating.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Yes. Captaincy has become a burden and his batting is beginning to suffer. He is not as confident and assured as he knows there is immense pressure on his shoulders. He also looks quite out of his depth especially in the ODI arena. He is neither creative nor attacking.

Maybe, he should remain as Test skipper but he obviously doesn't have the support of the India fans so maybe he should pass on the reigns to the popular Sourav Ganguly.

I agree, he seems to make far too many mistakes (including the one in the Test match, so I'd replace him in that arena as well).

 

[icyman]

The poll is useless. Dravid is not going to step down anytime soon, and doesn't need to either.

No one has forced you to vote on it !

He definately need to step down he was the first captain under whom India was kicked out from the 1st round from World Cup : he is areally great player but definately not worth as a captian

Not exactly the first.
The last captains have been S Venkatraghvan-1975 and 1979
And 1992- Moh.Azharuddin.

If Dravid has to step down, I think Yuvraj should get the job. We seem to be pretty thin on captaincy material at the moment and if there is a young player suitable to get the job done, it should be Yuvraj.

Dhoni == not ready in my opinion for the post.

Yuvraj as the ODI captain just because we do not have anyone else at the moment.
He was the vice-captain in the U-19 World Cup in sri Lanka in 2000 which India won.

My choice for the captain would have been Mohd.Kaif,sadly,he is struggling to find a place in the team.

Exactly. Anyone who champions Yuvraj is just an idiot. You cannot bring someone into the test side to be captain. They have to earn their place then rise through to the captaincy. You have no other options except Dravid. Perhaps if Dravid actually got more help from His VC and fielders, Ala Michael Vaughan maybe more dynamic decisions would be made.

I'm sorry to not have have mentioned it.
I think Dravid needs to step down as the test captain.
If you really want a change in the test arena as well,there arent many choices unless you count VVS Laxman or Anil Kumble.

You also mention that Dravid should get more help from his vice captain.I'm sorry but the vice-captain was recently chosen.Ever since the tour of South africa in 2006,India hasnt had a stable vice-captain.

Before South Africa 2006- Virender Sehwag
South Africa 2006- VVS Laxman
World Cup-Sachin Tendulkar
Bangladesh tour- Yuvraj Singh
England Tour-Mahendra Singh Dhoni

No he shouldn't. It's ridiculous to consider him stepping down. Do some you Indian fans not realise that he's just led you to a series victory in England? The last bloke to do that was Steve Waugh in 2001. As soon as India lose a game or even just lose a session, the first thing that comes up is "Sack Dravid", "Dravid is a disgrace" etc etc. It's just childish.

A test series victory in England.
Tell me,how many people in India would have followed the test series ?
And any true cricket fan would consider the series to be tied 1-1.

Sack Dravid for a whole host of reasons:
1. World Cup debacle
2. 4th ODI agianst Eng,shuld have set aggresive fields to capitalise on eng being 112-7

I would still say,if ganguly was the captain,India would ahve won the ODI's well in advance and the last match at Lord's would have been close.rather India might have made a match outta defending 187.

THANK YOU.
Yuvraj is highly overrated. Sure, he's a pretty good batsman. But his fielding is dieing and he always has that snobbish look on his face.
Dravid is awesome. He's a good captain but like in any case you guys always need a scapegoat to blame. First it was Ganguly. Then it was Greg. Now its Rahul.
WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.
If there is anyone to blame its the bowlers. Not Dravid himself.

Just cause someone has a snobbish look on his face,doesnt mean that he cant captain a cricket side.There are so many people who do not look like captains:
Habibul Bashar-i dont like the childish face
Greg Chappell- i dont like the angry man.

Talking of scapegoats,its not exactly a scapegoat.
Ganguly was brought to shame only because of Greg.
Greg,well you must be out of your mind to say that he was India's best coach !

It's either blame the captain or blame the coach isn't it? Never blame the team that lost for being a poor side.

Why not ?
But a captain is suppossed to be a leader.
A leader is one who is to lead and motivate his team.

I would request you to observe Dravid's behaviour on the field.His body-language gives it all away !

 

[smssia0112]

No matter what a coach or captain says, it is still an 11 man job, and those 11 men are responsible for themselves.

If Rahul Dravid is not getting his men fired up, that's bad. If he has poor leadership qualities, that's also bad.

But if he is a bad captain because of bad results, that's ridiculous. Chopping and changing captains is not the answer.

Ricky Ponting was being called to resign immediately after the 2005 Ashes. Now he's the best captain in the world and is heading a side undefeated in the test arena since.

 

[harishankar]

No matter what a coach or captain says, it is still an 11 man job, and those 11 men are responsible for themselves.

If Rahul Dravid is not getting his men fired up, that's bad. If he has poor leadership qualities, that's also bad.

But if he is a bad captain because of bad results, that's ridiculous. Chopping and changing captains is not the answer.

Ricky Ponting was being called to resign immediately after the 2005 Ashes. Now he's the best captain in the world and is heading a side undefeated in the test arena since.

We got your point ages ago. I still maintain that Dravid is a bad captain independent of the results he has produced and I've given my personal reasoning for that.

You may disagree with that as well, but I also think that a captain who doesn't produce results must be doing something wrong apart from the team he's been given. And India were most certainly performing below their potential under Dravid.

 

[sohum]

But look at our fielding in 2002-03 and look at it now. Look at Ganguly's mode of captaincy and look at Dravid's. Where has all the aggression gone? Where has the commitment to fielding gone? Out of the window.

There's a really simple answer to that. We have many players who were in the side then who're in the side now. And the answer is that they're all four years older. Obviously they're going to lose fitness. Obviously they were better fielders then. Even Yuvraj has had to battle with injury since those days which shows that stress of cricket is taking a toll on him as well.

And if senior players have ego issues playing under a young captain, they don't deserve to play for their country. Playing for India is a honour and a privilege - not a right. No matter what role they're assigned, they should be up for it.

It isn't that clear cut, is it? It's hard to take orders from someone who's been in the game for less than a decade when you've been playing it for almost two. And that does not make the players involved bad or useless to the progress of the team. They still have something to offer.

 

[Animator!]

I do agree with you all the Dravid is a poor captain and lacks that cutting edge that you need, but you cannot just say lets replace him like many have on here, a few have made points about who and why they would replace him with, and I may disagree but at least they're making points. It's annoying to see people just saying to get rid of him then not providing any solutions to the problem. You have to think, if we drop Dravid, who'll replace him? The fact of the matter is that there isn't anybody right now. He needs to hang on another year or so why a Kaif or a Yuvraj establishes themselves in the side, then he can step aside but not right now. It'd only create more problems.

Besides, Yuvraj as captain now wouldn't work, everyone would always be questioning him, wondering why Sachin or Saurav wasn't given it. You need to stop making knee jerk reactions everytime you lose/play poorly. It's India's only fault. All of your players have talent and ability, sometimes you don't pick the right ones because of politics and pure bias. Half the time it's because they didn't perform in a certain series so you'll never see them again. Consistancy is the key.

 

[Cricketman]

I can't wait when the Aussies and Pakistan come to India later this year.
Finally a Chance for Dravid to shut you people and all the other critics up.
Sachin's done it. Souravs' Done it. Rahul has been "Mr. Dependible" for years now and its finally his chance. he'll do it too.

 

[SaiSrini]

I can't wait when the Aussies and Pakistan come to India later this year.
Finally a Chance for Dravid to shut you people and all the other critics up.
Sachin's done it. Souravs' Done it. Rahul has been "Mr. Dependible" for years now and its finally his chance. he'll do it too.

I am more scared that Aussies and Pakistanis are coming now, because if Dravid's captaincy is fully exposed, it would hurt the team even more badly. Dravid is just not the type to "shut anyone up" with amazing captaincy.

 

[Jit]

I am more scared that Aussies and Pakistanis are coming now, because if Dravid's captaincy is fully exposed, it would hurt the team even more badly. Dravid is just not the type to "shut anyone up" with amazing captaincy.

yes i agree with u he has no agression on the field when he captians no one is fired up we saw ganguly used to captain he made them get some agression to play postive dravid just doesnt has it even i repeat it agian indian team now days doesnt play with passion use to when gannguly not now come on india we are 6th odi team wow 6th thats is a shame

 

[sohum]

I am more scared that Aussies and Pakistanis are coming now, because if Dravid's captaincy is fully exposed, it would hurt the team even more badly. Dravid is just not the type to "shut anyone up" with amazing captaincy.

You make it seem like amazing captains are a dime a dozen. That's simply not the case. In fact, I think there are very few international captains going around the international circuit today that could take a poorly performing team and turn them into a team that wins every game. Getting rid of Dravid's captaincy because he isn't performing amazingly is a poor move, in my opinion. We did not lose the ODI series due to poor captaincy but due to a weak bowling and fielding department. Scapegoating the captain will not change that.

 

[harishankar]

Besides, Yuvraj as captain now wouldn't work, everyone would always be questioning him, wondering why Sachin or Saurav wasn't given it. You need to stop making knee jerk reactions everytime you lose/play poorly. It's India's only fault. All of your players have talent and ability, sometimes you don't pick the right ones because of politics and pure bias. Half the time it's because they didn't perform in a certain series so you'll never see them again. Consistancy is the key.

I already mentioned that my grouse with Dravid's captaincy goes beyond the immediate series victory or defeat. In fact, under his captaincy I've noticed that India's overall cricket has gone slightly backwards.

Besides I cannot understand why you are writing off Yuvraj so quickly. He's certainly not the youngest player around and I cannot believe that he will be questioned by the senior players. And I think he's got enough experience to handle the job and handle the senior players in the side now.

Besides, a lot of countries have younger captains with senior players playing under them. E.g. South Africa with Graeme Smith and Pollock playing under him. Then Glenn McGrath under Ricky Ponting and so on. But they don't have any issues.

Why should India have a problem with a younger captain? And if there are problems, then the senior players should be disciplined. No longer how long you've played the game, the game is always bigger than individuals. I think the biggest problem with Indian cricket is that even the fans pay too much attention to individuals at times ahead of the team.

 

[angryangy]

A younger captain makes the most sense. Why give an older player the captaincy for maybe 4 years at best, when the potential is there for a captain who takes the team to 2 or even 3 world cups in the case of the rising stars who might be important players in 18 months.

 

[iloveireland]

I reckon we should give Dravid a little while longer to see what he can realy do.