By IANS
New Delhi : Rahul Dravid Friday resigned as captain of India’s Test and one-day international teams, a decision that came as a surprise to all, the country’s cricket board included.
“Rahul met Sharad Pawar (board president) in Delhi Thursday and expressed his desire to step down as captain of the Indian team and requested that he should not be considered for the job from the ensuing Australia series,” Niranjan Shah, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, said in a statement.
“Rahul further assured that he would extend his full co-operation to his successor and contribute as a batsman and senior player. He wanted to concentrate on his game,” said Shah, confirming that Dravid would like to continue as a player.
Dravid had just led India to a 1-0 Test series win in England after 21 years, though India lost 3-4 in a closely fought ODI series.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is currently leading India in the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa after Dravid, along with former captains Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, withdrew from the competition.
Dravid made his Test debut in June 1996 at Lord’s against England, along with Sourav Ganguly, having earlier earned his ODI cap in April against Sri Lanka in a triangular tournament at Singapore’s Padang ground.
The Karnataka middle-order batsman has scored 9,492 runs in 112 Tests at an average of 56.50 cracking 24 hundreds and 48 half-centuries. In 327 ODIs, Dravid has 10,534 runs at an average of 40.05 with 12 centuries and 81 fifties.
Labelled ‘The Wall’ for his classical batting technique, Dravid rose to Team India’s cause by donning the gloves behind the wickets in ODIs whenever asked by then captain Ganguly before the arrival of the mercurial Dhoni.
He took over as Team India captain from Ganguly in October 2006 after the Bengal left-hander’s famous clash with then coach Greg Chappell in Zimbabwe. Dravid led Team India in 25 Tests and 79 ODIs.
BCCI’s chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty admitted in Mumbai that the board was surprised by Dravid’s decision.
“We were surprised by the sudden development,” he said. “The BCCI will probably select a new captain Sep 18.”
Earlier in the day, BCCI joint secretary M.P. Pandove had confirmed Dravid’s resignation to IANS.
“He just told us that he was not interested in leading the Indian team any more,” disclosed Pandove.
Karnataka State Cricket Association’s new president Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar also expressed surprise at Dravid’s decision, which he felt was not a wise move.
Dravid plays for Karnakata in domestic tournaments and lives in Bangalore.
Wadiyar said he did not think Dravid was under any pressure to quit as captain.