The Hindu : Sport : Sachin Tendulkar turns down BCCI invitation to lead Test team

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Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
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Sachin Tendulkar turns down BCCI invitation to lead Test team

Dhoni tipped to take over Test reins too

— Photo: Kamal Narang

RELUCTANT TO LEAD: Sachin Tendulkar’s refusal to captain the Test team may lead to M.S. Dhoni taking over, though the idea does have its share of detractors.

Chandigarh: Sachin Tendulkar has turned down the invitation to take over India’s Test captaincy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Tuesday. Board’s secretary Niranjan Shah said Tendulkar, 34, had conveyed his decision to the BCCI president, Sharad Pawar.

“Sachin has conveyed that he is not in a position to accept the captaincy of the Indian Team for the Tests,” Shah said. Shah said Tendulkar was of the view that the Indian team was doing extremely well.

“Looking at the future of the team, he feels the board must think of appointing a younger person as captain,” said Shah.

News of Tendulkar’s refusal to become India’s Test skipper comes two days before the national selectors are to pick the successor for Rahul Dravid, who last month sprung a surprise by quitting the Test and one-day captaincy to concentrate on his batting.

The veteran batsman had initially agreed to take over the mantle after Dravid stepped down.

Cricinfo had earlier quoted Tendulkar as having told a news channel, “I don’t feel right about it at the moment.”

The selectors will meet here on Thursday to announce team for the remaining three one-dayers against Pakistan and also the new Test captain, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni now emerging as the front-runner for the hot-seat.

India has been without a Test captain ever since Dravid abruptly quit the post after the team’s successful tour of England.

With Tendulkar now out of the equation, the 26-year-old Dhoni, who has been impressive in the Twenty20 and ODIs, appears set to take up the responsibilities in the longer of version of the game too.

One of the selectors told PTI on the condition of anonymity that Dhoni now stood a good chance.

“Tendulkar was the preferred choice but now it will be Dhoni, who has done a good job in one-dayers as well as in Twenty20,” he said.

‘Dhoni not ready’

However, former India cricket coach Greg Chappell believes Dhoni may not be ready for Test captaincy yet.

“He (Dhoni) is doing his apprenticeship in the limited-over forms of the game. It won’t be long, I think, before he is ready for (the captaincy of) all three,” Chappell told a news channel in Mumbai on Tuesday.

“Probably, another 12 months or more I think before he is perhaps ready for all three of them.”

“A tour of Australia behind him will just finish him off nicely as a cricketer and as a potential leader,” said Chappell.

Shastri echoes Chappell

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri, who is now Chairman of the National Cricket Academy has said Dhoni had proved his mettle as skipper in limited-overs cricket but it was not the right time to appoint him Test captain.

“It will put him under a lot of pressure. In future he may do it but not at this moment. He has a lot of talent but I think he is not ready for this responsibility now,” Shastri said, talking to the media at Mohali.

The former India all-rounder advocated having separate captains for the Test and ODI teams.

On Team India’s three ageing stalwarts — Tendulkar, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly — Shastri said the trio were good enough to continue in Test cricket even though he favoured a young one-day side.

“I would rather have these three guys play Test matches for three more years, if not more. But at the same time, I would rather invest in a young ODI team looking at the future of Indian cricket.” — Agencies

Our Principal Correspondent adds

Tendulkar’s reported withdrawal from the race for Test captaincy has evoked surprise in cricketing circles in Bangalore.

The KSCA secretary and former India cricketer Brijesh Patel said that the selectors ought to either make Rahul Dravid re-consider his earlier decision to relinquish captaincy or look at Anil Kumble.

“I don’t know why players are refusing captaincy. Now with Sachin opting out, it would be better if the selectors have a word with Rahul and ask him to do a re-think on his earlier withdrawal. Or they should look at Anil Kumble.

“Dhoni can continue to lead in the ODIs and may be Anil or Rahul could be considered for the Tests, as they are regular players in that format,” Patel said.

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