[finneyp]

Originally Posted by safari_lover

As for the captaincy concerned, show me a captain in India who has won a Test match in South Africa, Test series in West Indies and England.

Sourav is acknowledged as one of the Most Successful Captains in Indian cricket! Just check some of his acheivements:
-- Most successful Indian captain – 21 tests win in 49 matches!
-- He is the only Indian Captain to win both the One Day and Test Series on Pakistani soil- Victory in Pakistan - India's first away from home in 11 years!
--First Indian captain to win a one-day series in the West Indies!
--Under Sourav's stewardship, splendid eight-match winning streak took Indian team all the way to the World Cup final in 2003 after a long hiatus of 20 odd years!

Originally Posted by safari_lover

Don't blame the World Cup debacle on his captaincy.

Why not? Being shamelessly knocked out in the Group stage itself, as a Captain he should have taken some moral responsibilty, but instead of that, he held on to the Captaincy!

[snaronikar]

@finneyp: He had offered to resign. But the BCCI asked him to cling on as there was nobody else to take over the mantle. This has been read and discussed all over in past. Even BCCI had acknowledged this.

[suman]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

@finneyp: He had offered to resign. But the BCCI asked him to cling on as there was nobody else to take over the mantle. This has been read and discussed all over in past. Even BCCI had acknowledged this.

Yeah, sure..... (20 characters)

[deepakhon]

Looks like we are seeing the last of Dravid in one dayers. It is sad, but I guess it is inevitable. Going by the current form, dropping Dravid is a fair decision, but I wonder why this same yardstick was not applied to the "God" when he was pathetically out of form for quite some time.

Bringing Sehwag on for Dravid, again on current form, is a joke.

I think selectors are visualizing Indian team without the big 3. Probably that is the reason they did not even ask Dravid to play the challenger series to prove himself. Maybe, they do not want him to come back. It is a realty that the big 3 should go. Easiest and the best pick in the current form is Dravid. They probably will never touch the "God". I do not see any reason to remove him now, as he seems to be in good form. In my opinion, Ganguly can get the next axe. Either he might not be in the eleven, or he will get the same treatment as Dravid.

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by suman

Yeah, sure..... (20 characters)

Hey what is this 20 characters could you explain

[diabloo]

From the article:
"Tendulkar will not bat anywhere else, and it is a tenet of Indian cricket that his feelings are of paramount importance; and Ganguly cannot bat anywhere else anyway"

Originally Posted by pmbabu

There you go. Reaction/report from Prem Panicker on ODI team selection.
Smoke Signals

Worthy reading in full, not quoting in parts here

Originally Posted by Eddy

And I agree with Saurav, he should be left out. But knowing the selection criteria, I am sure he will play and open. Sehwag will come in at number 3 and gambhir might have to sit out.

[safari_lover]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Sourav is acknowledged as one of the Most Successful Captains in Indian cricket! Just check some of his acheivements:
-- Most successful Indian captain – 21 tests win in 49 matches!
-- He is the only Indian Captain to win both the One Day and Test Series on Pakistani soil- Victory in Pakistan - India's first away from home in 11 years!
--First Indian captain to win a one-day series in the West Indies!
--Under Sourav's stewardship, splendid eight-match winning streak took Indian team all the way to the World Cup final in 2003 after a long hiatus of 20 odd years!


Why not? Being shamelessly knocked out in the Group stage itself, as a Captain he should have taken some moral responsibilty, but instead of that, he held on to the Captaincy!

Well as for the stats are concerned, here are some that you might like.

Dravid as Captain:

Dravid wins India's first ever Test match in South Africa.
Wins a Test series in West Indies after 30 years.

Wins a Test series in Englad after 16+ years.

Under Dravid India sets a world record for the most (much more than 8 ) consecutive One day victories while chasing.

Oh yes, the series that we won at Pakistan, Dravid was the captain for the 2 Tests of which India won 1st and lost 2nd.

Dravid as Player:
India wins a test England under Ganguly, Dravid is the Man Of the Match.
India wins a test in Australia, Dravid's the Man of the Match.
Yes, India wins a series for the first time at Pakistan, Man of the Match of the Decider : Rahul Sharad Dravid for his 270.
India wins a series in West Indies, man of the match of the decider, Dravid

Taking moral responsibility and resigning from the Captaincy, yeah he could have done it and he offered it too. But...
what kind of a captain would go public about his coach's suggestion to quit captaincy, after scoring a tiresome hundred (Worst hundred ever scored by him) against zimbabwe, just to save his position? Remember the coach was brought in at his insistence. Compare this to another captain, who resigns after winning an historic abroad Test series without blaming anyone.

[thefreak]

Originally Posted by finneyp

He is the only Indian Captain to win both the One Day and Test Series on Pakistani soil- Victory in Pakistan - India's first away from home in 11 years!

Agreed! Ganguly was good as a captain. So? Does that make Dravid bad? No. Dravid was good too.

First Indian captain to win a one-day series in the West Indies!

Dravid won Test series there and also one in England. Take your pick as to which is more important.

Under Sourav's stewardship, splendid eight-match winning streak took Indian team all the way to the World Cup final in 2003 after a long hiatus of 20 odd years!

Reached the finals. Great achievement courtesy Tendulkar. No trophies.

Now neither is the captain. Who is the better batsman?

[snaronikar]

We reached the finals due to our bowlers like Srinath and Ashish Nehra. They ripped apart the batting order of the opposition of course there were some good batting from Sachin and others.

[suman]

Originally Posted by thefreak

Now neither is the captain. Who is the better batsman?

Errrr, lemme see - Ganguly ? If you take averages after being dropped from the Captain's post? Or even if you take, say, the last fifteen ODIs that each have played?

[safari_lover]

Originally Posted by suman

Errrr, lemme see - Ganguly ? If you take averages after being dropped from the Captain's post? Or even if you take, say, the last fifteen ODIs that each have played?

And what if you take into consideration how many of these innings/averages have actually contributed to the Team's cause

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

@finneyp: He had offered to resign. But the BCCI asked him to cling on as there was nobody else to take over the mantle. This has been read and discussed all over in past. Even BCCI had acknowledged this.

Originally Posted by thefreak

Reached the finals. Great achievement courtesy Tendulkar.

Originally Posted by diabloo

From the article:
"Tendulkar will not bat anywhere else, and it is a tenet of Indian cricket that his feelings are of paramount importance;

They shouldnt write such things - the poor chap's feelings will get affected and therefore he wont be able to bat properly.

[snaronikar]

In today's TOI, there is a article about Vengserkar taking revenge on Dravid by not selecting him as he had not kept informed the chief selector about his resignation. Its a shame that our so called chief selector is taking his personal views on cricket. Its high time, BCCI president intervened on this and set the house in order.

[thefreak]

Nah! IMHO this is just speculation and nothing else!

I dont think any of this is happening but then the media needs some masala to sell hence the story.

[snaronikar]

Then why did Veng & Co did not give Dravid a chance in Challenger series. Were they too afraid that he may come back and prove himself? Anyways, he is playing in Ranji now. Let's see.