Indian cricket is now under a state of turmoil with the early exit from the world cup.Though India won 4 out of the 5 matches they played,the team has come under scanner with many people claiming that the team has lost its aura and if Virat is out early,the team is going to lose, much like the conception we had years ago.Only the player is different in this case.India is facing a similar situation to one that was haunting them 15 years back when the team was leaning on Sachin Tendulkar to deliver the goods every time.
In this extremely volatile scenario many people want the man in form to lead the side out of trouble.But let me remind you that an extremely capable batsman does not necessarily have to be a good skipper and Sachin is a prime example of that.But one cannot ignore the fact Virat already has the experience of captaining the U-19 side and the RCB in few games.So he might be a good choice for captaincy.
Dhoni on the other hand has been receiving a lot of flak for the lack luster performance of the Indian team.But one should accept the fact that "One can lead a horse to the water,but cannot make it drink".That has been the case with Dhoni.He has made mistakes but having non performing seniors in the side has not been of much help to him and the team.He cannot take responsibility for them.The seniors should take responsibilities for their failures and come up with either good performances or should be brave enough to drop themselves since the BCCI aren't doing anything on this issue.Dhoni should also look at his captaincy career and decide a course of action soon enough.He has been under a lot of pressure lately and that is showing in his game and decision making.Perhaps he should think about dropping captaincy in one format so that he can have some pressure taken of him.Once he decides that,the next question will be "the format and a suitable candidate".
There are two main names doing the rounds Virat for ODI's and Raina for T20's. Both of them are excellent in the respective format.Virat has been the back bone for the ODI team for quite some time now while Raina has been an effective player in the T20. Virat certainly deserves more responsibility since he has matured a lot since the "finger raising" incident.Raina meanwhile has been a constant feature in the playing eleven for sometime now and has been on the radar of the selectors for captaincy since he was given a chance to captain the side in a tri series against Zimbabwe and Sri lanka. Though he wasn't quite successful, it seemed like he was enjoying the new role and was keen on the field while making decisions.
But captaining a national team,that too a team like India where fan following is crazy,where the captain has to bear responsibility for every failure, is a very difficult task.Its not only about field set ups and bowling changes.Its about bearing the pressure,the brunt every time your team fails. Virat and Raina are young and they needn't bear this kind of responsibility so early.More over there might be inside politics in the dressing room from the seniors which might emotionally affect their performances.They might tend to give in those pressures and might eventually find themselves out of form and out of the team.
There should be a change in captaincy since Dhoni needs some well deserved peace.But things should be taken one step at a time.Maybe Virat could take over from Dhoni for the T20 format first.He should get accustomed to the role first and understand its nuances.He can learn from MSD and eventually can take over the other two formats.But for now I feel that there is no need for a change in captaincy for tests and ODI's. Dhoni can lead the team for at least till the tour of South Africa and things can be decided once the tour is completed.
The team should stick together and show its spirit now and should not let down their captain,the man who won us two world cups and many other tournaments.Drastic changes will only affect the team's performance and the player's career should be kept in mind while taking such decisions.Having three different captains for the three formats might be working for other countries but we need to unite under a single captain.The T20 captain can be changed and experimented if need be. "Too many cooks spoil the broth" so we should stick with one captain and hope that things will turn around soon.
In this extremely volatile scenario many people want the man in form to lead the side out of trouble.But let me remind you that an extremely capable batsman does not necessarily have to be a good skipper and Sachin is a prime example of that.But one cannot ignore the fact Virat already has the experience of captaining the U-19 side and the RCB in few games.So he might be a good choice for captaincy.
Dhoni on the other hand has been receiving a lot of flak for the lack luster performance of the Indian team.But one should accept the fact that "One can lead a horse to the water,but cannot make it drink".That has been the case with Dhoni.He has made mistakes but having non performing seniors in the side has not been of much help to him and the team.He cannot take responsibility for them.The seniors should take responsibilities for their failures and come up with either good performances or should be brave enough to drop themselves since the BCCI aren't doing anything on this issue.Dhoni should also look at his captaincy career and decide a course of action soon enough.He has been under a lot of pressure lately and that is showing in his game and decision making.Perhaps he should think about dropping captaincy in one format so that he can have some pressure taken of him.Once he decides that,the next question will be "the format and a suitable candidate".
There are two main names doing the rounds Virat for ODI's and Raina for T20's. Both of them are excellent in the respective format.Virat has been the back bone for the ODI team for quite some time now while Raina has been an effective player in the T20. Virat certainly deserves more responsibility since he has matured a lot since the "finger raising" incident.Raina meanwhile has been a constant feature in the playing eleven for sometime now and has been on the radar of the selectors for captaincy since he was given a chance to captain the side in a tri series against Zimbabwe and Sri lanka. Though he wasn't quite successful, it seemed like he was enjoying the new role and was keen on the field while making decisions.
But captaining a national team,that too a team like India where fan following is crazy,where the captain has to bear responsibility for every failure, is a very difficult task.Its not only about field set ups and bowling changes.Its about bearing the pressure,the brunt every time your team fails. Virat and Raina are young and they needn't bear this kind of responsibility so early.More over there might be inside politics in the dressing room from the seniors which might emotionally affect their performances.They might tend to give in those pressures and might eventually find themselves out of form and out of the team.
There should be a change in captaincy since Dhoni needs some well deserved peace.But things should be taken one step at a time.Maybe Virat could take over from Dhoni for the T20 format first.He should get accustomed to the role first and understand its nuances.He can learn from MSD and eventually can take over the other two formats.But for now I feel that there is no need for a change in captaincy for tests and ODI's. Dhoni can lead the team for at least till the tour of South Africa and things can be decided once the tour is completed.
The team should stick together and show its spirit now and should not let down their captain,the man who won us two world cups and many other tournaments.Drastic changes will only affect the team's performance and the player's career should be kept in mind while taking such decisions.Having three different captains for the three formats might be working for other countries but we need to unite under a single captain.The T20 captain can be changed and experimented if need be. "Too many cooks spoil the broth" so we should stick with one captain and hope that things will turn around soon.
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