The ‘D’ Factor!

Actions are never in short supply in Indian cricket. With one focus on on-field actions in the ICC World Twenty20, there is a high drama happening in Indian cricket off the field. Since taking charge of the Indian team in 2005, Rahul Dravid has taken a couple of best decisions only in the recently concluded England tour. One was to consider the older players out of the Twenty20 side, making the selector’s job easier and the other is resigning as India skipper. Doing so, Dravid has now become the only Indian captain to give away the hot seat when on prime.

For the man known for his commitment and dedication, who have shouldered the responsibility of senior men alongside Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar over a decade to shy away from the responsibility, is very disturbing, even if the decision was right.

Also, the timing of the decision has to be questioned. The Indian team is scheduled to play Australia and Pakistan at home and then will tour down under. Dravid is a thinking cricketer and am sure he would have considered all this into account before taking the final call. So what has made the ‘Wall’ to crack?

The ‘Wall’ cracks

It is a known fact that the administration in Indian cricket has always been under scanner with an unprofessional approach. Dravid was insisting for a media manager and a professional team manager for a long term appointment since the day he took in-charge of the team but that never happened, the one tour one manager formula continued. This kind of approach should have definitely unsettled the team with the captain trying to strike the chord with every single manager every tour. Adding to the woes, BCCI is yet to find the right candidate to replace Greg Chappell who resigned as India coach after world cup debacle earlier this year. However, India is set to play its sixth series with the position of the head coach still left vacant.

The advantage, more so a privilege of being a sportsman along with a few other professions is the opportunity to enjoy every day at work. Being so will allow you to remain competitive and excel at what you do. When the fun goes out, its time to move on and Dravid has just done that. It was evident that his batting took a big dip during the last tour and he was clearly unhappy about it.

There can be a few reasons behind it. It looks like he has no time to concentrate on his batting. Being a captain is an honor, but it’s unfair to expect a captain to keep thinking about contracts, coaches, schedules and other such issues in which case he will hardly have any time to think about the game. And it’s too much of an ask. If this is why Dravid has decided to step down, then it is not a healthy sign for Indian cricket. Even the guy who takes over from him will have to face all such hurdles.

Commanding with confidence

The selectors have decided to pass on the mantle to Mahender singh Dhoni, which is a positive move in the right direction. So far he has done a fabulous job with his thinking cap on. Dhoni and Dravid are like two opposite poles with contrasting personalities. Dhoni goes crazy with big riding motorbikes and his long hair-styles unlike Dravid who is calm, cool and composed. Dhoni knows no technical correctness with his bat in hand whereas Dravid all about technical perfection. Yet, if you have a microscopic view you will find that both are astute thinkers of the game, hard workers and have the willingness to learn and they are on the button all the time.

Dhoni has shown enough evidence of being a captaincy material. The first of it was evident when he opted for slow bowlers for the bowl out against Pakistan instead of regulars. That was a master stroke. He marshaled his troops well especially in two must win games against England and South Africa. His game plan was superb and the confidence he showed on his young team was remarkable. He kept his nerves cool during crunch situations and executed his game plans well. His decision to bowl out Harbajan Singh and R P Singh knowing that the final over might be crucial against Australia in the semi-finals yesterday turned out to be an excellent decision. In spite of Joginder Sharma’s expensive first over he backed his fifth bowler to bowl the last over and the whole plan paid off.

Throughout this Twenty20 tournament it was no surprise that the players where allowed to do what the wanted to. Dhoni has no fear, so was Team India. They fancied their chances, took that odd gamble and more importantly as Dhoni said in one of the match presentations he believes in the teams ability and backing up the same. That was apparent every time he won the toss and elected to bat knowing that batting is India’s strength.

So then, the hot seat of world cricket is dominated by the D factor at the moment. It was Dada, then Dravid and now Dhoni donning the leadership role.

Perseverance needed

So far so good, the selectors have done well to look out of the trinity of Indian cricket – Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. Now it is time for the younger generation to take the responsibility and drive Indian cricket forward.

It is now more important for the selectors and the BCCI to give Dhoni a long run and support him by providing him with all his needs. It really doesn’t matter if we lose a few matches, it is more important that we build a good competitive team. And for Dhoni, it will be a challenging season ahead. A packed schedule with lots of travelling involved, strong opponents in Australia, Pakistan and South Africa Dhoni’s biggest challenge is to keep his head cool.

Passing on judgment on his captaincy now or even after the end of this grueling schedule will be unfair towards Dhoni. Instead it is very important that the selectors, the BCCI, the media and the fans support Dhoni and his young Indian team all along the journey of building a vibrant outfit for the 2011 World cup to be played in Indian sub-continent.

Therefore, it is time for us to get prepared to face a short-term pain for a long-term gain. And let’s hope the ‘D’ factor delivers well for Indian cricket.