Saurav or Dravid?

In a few hours from now India will know who their cricket captain is. Will Dravid continue in his new role or will Saurav be made captain again.

It would not be fair to judge Dravid based on the triangular in Srilanka alone as it is too short a period for any captain to prove his worth. To his credit, Dravid performed well with the bat in the triseries and was on the attack even when India were looking to defend low totals. However, it must be said that the way he handled his bowling resources left a lot to be desired. Inexplicably, mistakes were repeated in two consecutive games against Srilanka and India never gained any momentum in the tournament.

I for one for feel that Saurav Ganguly must be made captain again for it is in India's best interests. It would be very unfair to Saurav if he were dropped from captaincy after one bad series against Pakistan. The selectors had no alternative but to name Dravid captain for the triangular as Saurav had to serve his 4 match ban. At the end of the day its not about Dravid, not about Ganguly, its about who would do a better job in leading India.

A word about India's performance. India's fielding left one with mixed emotions. At times they were quite sharp and effected quite a few run outs. However the ground fielding and catching was pathetic at times with Virendar Sehwag in particular having a horrible time. I also reckon India never managed to get their balance right. If they did play only 6 batsmen, numbers 7 and 8 should be bowlers who can bat. Pathan would be a good number 7 but none of the other bowlers India played in the finals (Zaheer,Nehra,Bhajji,Kumble) would make a good number 8. Ideally India should've played JP Yadav who could bat at 8 and also bowl his quota of overs. Great one day teams cannot be made with one dimensional cricketers. You have got have atleast 2-3 players who can contribute with both bat and ball, and a top fielding outfit. India have some brilliant fielders (Kaif,Yuvraj) and some very average ones.

Greg Chappell must be given some time to settle into the new job, and Zimbabwe will provide India an ideal platform for India to experiment with their combinations and gain momentum ahead of a crucial season. I am confident that India will be able to put their indifferent form behind and Chappell-Ganguly lead India to a new era, one where Team India should aim towards the goal of becoming the best team in the world.