The Hindu : Sport : Dravid’s successor to be named today

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Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007
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Sport

Dravid’s successor to be named today

G. Viswanath

Tendulkar for Tests and Dhoni for one-dayers could be the formula

— Photo: Matthew Lewis/ Getty Images

FRONT-RUNNERS: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (left) and Sachin Tendulkar are the strong contenders for the One-Day and Test captaincy.

Mumbai: Dilip Vengsarkar and other selectors will meet at the Cricket Centre here on Tuesday to choose a new Indian captain following Rahul Dravid’s surprise resignation.

India and Australia will play a One-Day International series and a one-off Twenty20 match after the World Twenty20.

The two teams will lock horns first at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on September 29. India and Australia will be also be involved in a full-fledged Test and tri-series in Australia during Christmas.

While Australia has announced its squad for the Indian tour two months ago, Indian cricket is waiting with anticipation to know about Dravid’s successor. The selectors will have in mind India’s immediate commitments, which are the seven one-day internationals to be played in a period of 19 days to be followed by a one-off Twenty20 international against Australia at the Brabourne Stadium on October 20. This will be followed by five one-day internationals against Pakistan in a period of 13 days. Thereafter India will play three back-to-back Tests against Pakistan from November 22 to December 12.

Dhoni factor

If recent developments are a reflection of the selection committee’s way of thinking, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s claims to lead India in the shorter version of the game will be thoroughly discussed. The selectors were impressed by Dhoni’s credentials and they strengthened his position in the team by making him vice-captain for the one-day series in Ireland, Scotland and England.

Dhoni, who has shared the Indian dressing room with the seniors for close to three years now, has played 20 Test matches and 84 one-day internationals. Naming him captain for the World Twenty20 was merely a corollary to their thought process.

With Tendulkar admitting that less recovery time between one-day games is taking a toll on his body, he’s not likely to figure in all the 12 one-day internationals. With Sourav Ganguly and Dravid, too, likely to be rested for a handful of matches, the Indian team’s leadership may go to the boy from Jharkhand.

One-Day series team

The Indian team for the first three one-day matches against Australia (Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad) will also be named on Tuesday and also the India ‘A’ team for the three matches against South Africa ‘A’ to be played at Ahmedabad, Baroda and Rajkot.

India is scheduled to play 10 Tests, three against Pakistan, four against Australia and three against South Africa from November to April 2008. The selectors are on the horns of a dilemma regarding Test captaincy and one of the contenders here could be Sachin Tendulkar.

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