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[schumi]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

[feverpitch]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

I thought he had been made honorary captain for life!

[Cernunnos]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

I thought he had been made honorary captain for life!

I too couldn't believe the thread header. I checked the calendar to see if I did a Rip van Winkle.

[duzntmttr]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

Don't think so.
The unheard of first-round exit in the World Cup and the ICCCT is the worst thing that any captain dreads.
If a captain can survive such disasters , after all what is a loss to some ENG or AUS ?
Nothing.

[RicePlateReddy]

Rahul Dravid is captain by 'default'. There are 3 other serious contenders: Tendulkar, Ganguly and Kumble.

Tendulkar was a former captain and they don't want to reappoint him as captain because:

1. They don't want to reappoint captains after the mantle has been passed on.
2. The additional burden of captaincy may weight too heavily on him when focus on him is intense and expectations from him are huge. His form has been scratchy of late, so this makes it worse.

Ganguly was captain, then dropped from the team and reinstated as player. The board does not want to trust the captaincy to him due to any combination of these 3:

1. His place in the team as a middle order bat is tenuous. In spite of doing well in the last several matches, with the availability of Laxman and Yuvraj, he will not make the 11 if he has a stretch of 3 poor tests or 2 tests if India loses. This is unlike Dravid who will be tolerated for a more prolonged drought as a batsman, not just because he is the captain now.
2. They don't want to reappoint captains after the mantle has been passed on.
3. They don't like Ganguly and they believe the divisiveness claims leveled against him.

Kumble is a prime candidate, but his age is being held against him at this stage.

Yuvraj Singh according to reports has behaved irresponsibly plus his place in the 11 is itself unsure. Laxman is a good candidate but his place in the 11 too is insecure. Other possible candidates are: Dhoni and Kumble. Dhoni is just about being groomed - hence his appointment as ODI captain. Plus with Dinesh Kartik in the team, it is not absolutely clear if Dhoni will still always play.

Hence we arrive at RD as captain by 'default'. Personally, given what has transpired, I would prefer Kumble as interim captain and quickly groom the next leader. RD is a poor choice, but I don't think his unprecedented tenure of appointment is conspiratorial, as much as indicating that the BCCI lacks both imagination and aggressiveness.

[justforkix]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

A 0-8-2 test record and 8-22 ODI record is not improbable this season, considering that we play tests and ODIs against the top ranked nations - Aus, Eng, SA, SL. So, IMO, RD will be gone at the end of this season unless we recreate our 2002-04 magic again. This is unlikely considering our ageing maharathi team.

[RicePlateReddy]

A 0-8-2 test record and 8-22 ODI record is not improbable this season, considering that we play tests and ODIs against the top ranked nations - Aus, Eng, SA, SL. So, IMO, RD will be gone at the end of this season unless we recreate our 2002-04 magic again. This is unlikely considering our ageing maharathi team.

I will not disagree with the ODI record, but I will bet that the test record will be a lot more flattering. I suspect 0-3-1 in Australia but expect a win against England, likely a 1-1 drawn series.

I think we will see RD dropped as ODI captain by the end of the year, but he will remain as test captain. Nothing awakens a Maharathi as much as him being dropped (or "rested" as the euphimism goes). Our batting will fire in England.

[dextrous]

With the tough away series against SA and England coming up, and if we end up on the losing side again, will this be the end of the Road for RD as far as captaincy is concerned ?

A 0-8-2 test record and 8-22 ODI record is not improbable this season, considering that we play tests and ODIs against the top ranked nations - Aus, Eng, SA, SL. So, IMO, RD will be gone at the end of this season unless we recreate our 2002-04 magic again. This is unlikely considering our ageing maharathi team.

or it'll turn out to be stuff dreams are made of!

[gouravk]

Oh RD will be gone - but a large part of the blame should be shared by the brainless selection commitee.