Dravid resigns

Board to meet in next two days to pick successor

Dravid resigns as India captain

Cricinfo staff

September 14, 2007



Rahul Dravid has quit the Indian captaincy, saying he wants to concentrate on his game © Getty Images

Rahul Dravid has resigned as India captain with immediate effect. In a letter written to the Indian board, he has asked to be relieved of the captaincy before Australia's forthcoming tour of India, beginning later this month.

The board president, Sharad Pawar, said Dravid told him of his wish to step down, with immediate effect, when they met on Thursday. "He said, 'The selectors have placed faith in me to lead continuously for two years and I'm grateful for that'", Pawar said. "He said he would like to concentrate on his batting and the opportunity should be given to a new person to lead the side."

"He has discussed the issue with me twice. I think we need to respect his decision," Pawar said.

Dravid had opted out of the ICC World Twenty20 currently on in South Africa and the captaincy of that team was handed to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Shah told Cricinfo the board would meet within the next two days to appoint the next captain. "We will take a decision very soon." Australia arrive in India on September 25 and the first of seven ODIs is in Bangalore four days later.

Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, said a decision would be taken on September 18, when the team for the Australia ODIs is to be picked.

Vengsarkar, who was in New Delhi watching the match between India A and South Africa A, appeared unaware of the news until told about it by journalists. Asked for his reaction, Vengsarkar said: "I can't even be shocked because [officially] I haven't heard anything."

Dravid, 33, has captained India in 20 Tests and 62 ODIs since taking over the captaincy from Sourav Ganguly two years ago, following India's tour of Zimbabwe.

Under his captaincy India won eight Tests, including series wins in West Indies, Bangladesh and England. However, his ODI record was patchy; he began on a winning streak, where India set a record for 16 consecutive successful chases. More recently, though, the team had a first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean and lost the NatWest series to England 4-3.

As captain, he averaged 51 in Tests and 44 in ODIs but his Test form had dipped of late; he averaged 25 against England recently and 21 on the South Africa tour last year.

His decision comes as India is preparing for a busy season including a home series against Pakistan and a full tour of Australia.

© Cricinfo
 
feck. It was affecting his game though to be fair.

I would go for Ganguly for the tests because he clearly wants it more than anybody else. Another good shout would be Kumble.

Ganguly andSachincan be co-captains for the short forms.
 
Defintley Agarkar. He's got the added advantage of having ears so big he can actually hear what the batsmen are thinking
 
Yuvraj is not ready...actually noone is...if Kaif had gotten a decent run in the side and kept up his form I would've gone for him.As of now, none of the team except Ganguly are fit to lead a National team.

Awkward times for Indian cricket IMO....there will be a period of much uncertainty...
 
I think we'll have different captains for ODIs and Tests. Ganguly will get the test captaincy back and while I hope Yuvi gets it for the ODIs I think Dhoni will get it.
 
Wicketkeeper as captain is always a bad idea...especially such an inconsistent one.

I think they'll give it to Yuvraj for the ODI's while Kumble will get Tests.:wenger:
 
New channels ran with the story all day.

Latest is that Sachin will be offered the test captaincy and Dhoni the ODI one while some claim Sachin will be offered both.

There is no way Ganguly would be made captain.

I personally would make Yuvraj the captain atleast for ODIs. feck knows what makes people think Dhoni has leadership qualities.
 
I reckon Sachin won't accept it anyway. Dhoni would be made captain and we will go on to have one of the worst periods in Indian cricket.
 
What a bad time to resign as well.

Pak series at home then Australia away.

feck off

There's never a right time for these things...maybe he just felt it was taking too much of a toll on him and didn't feel he could do justice to both.

Tendulkar shouldn't come anywhere near the captaincy.
 
No outstanding candidates at all. It'll have to be Ganguly again for the tests, unfortunately. Yuvraj in the ODIs.
 
It's been common knowledge amongst players Dravid would be resigning as captain after the series in England

There is a strong rumour Ganguly would be handed back the captains job.
 
Dhoni has just been made the ODI captain.
 
Dhoni named India one-day captain

India have named Mahendra Dhoni as their new one-day captain following the resignation of Rahul Dravid last week.

The 26-year-old wicket-keeper is currently captaining India at World Twenty20 in South Africa.

Dhoni, who has played 84 limited-overs internationals, will lead the one-day team for the home series against Australia which starts on 27 September.

"We thought he was the best man for the job," explained India's chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.

Dhoni was Dravid's vice-captain for the recent limited-overs series against South Africa and England.

He was thought to be in contention for the captain's role along with former skipper Sachin Tendulkar.

Media reports suggested Tendulkar did not want to lead the team in one-dayers, but Vengsarkar insisted: "We did not offer the captaincy to anyone else.

"Dhoni is young and will adapt well to the ODIs. He will be captain for the next 12 one-dayers."

Vengsarkar also named the squad for India's first three matches of the five-match series against the Aussies.

Virender Sehwag is the most notable absentee, while there are recalls for Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.
 
Judging by the 20/20s he'll be a flop.
 
Judging by the 20/20s he'll be a flop.

I would have thought Yuvraj would have been the obvious candidate...

I fear handing Dhoni the captaincy will hinder his free flowing batting with the added responsibility, It's been somewhat evident at 20/20 WC.
 
I would have thought Yuvraj would have been the obvious candidate...

I fear handing Dhoni the captaincy will hinder his free flowing batting with the added responsibility, It's been somewhat evident at 20/20 WC.

That's not necessairly a bad thing.
 
might actually make him more responsible .. he gets out trying to slog way too often .. might be a good thing ..

and yuve is not consistent enough .. great at times , everage at others .. dhoni is a keeper/batsman .. first choice keeper by far. so good eough .

the board were probably too embarrassed to ask dada again .. he was the best captain india ever had
 
It is.

He is great destructive batsman but his technique is not good enough to be a solid middle order one. He would struggle big time in Aus.

He is a destructive batsman but from what I've seen he does actually have a solid defense and although his technique is certainly different to that from the book, if his mentality is right then he can go a long way. Two of NZ's finer batsman Richardson and Andrew Jones both had horrible techniques but had very successful careers (albeit in the test version of the game)