By IANS
New Delhi : Rahul Dravid Friday stood down as India’s cricket captain, ironically after leading the team to its first Test series win in England in 21 years.
With a new captain scheduled to be announced Tuesday, speculation is rife whether master blaster Sachin Tendulkar will be back at the helm or could the clock be turned back and Sourav Ganguly handed charge, or Mahendra Singh Dhoni be handed the responsibility for good.
Informed sources point to Tendulkar’s stint as vice-captain during the Indian team’s tour of England as an indicator that the Mumbai maestro is ready for a third innings as the chief, especially with important home series against Australia and Pakistan and then the trip Down Under.
The 34-year-old Rahul Dravi’s decision, confirmed by the cricket board, came as a surprise to most people when it looked a formality for the selectors to retain him at the helm for the five-match ODI series against Australia starting Sep 29 in his home city Bangalore.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Dravid had offered to resign when he met its president Sharad Pawar here Thursday.
“Rahul met Sharad Pawar 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,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah 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.
Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, who was also in Delhi and stayed in the same hotel as Dravid, said that he was also taken unawares.
“He did not speak to me. I did not meet him (at the hotel Thursday),” Vengsarkar told IANS.
Dravid captained India in 25 Test matches, winning eight (32 percent) and losing six (24 percent). Eleven Tests were drawn.
He was also captain in 79 ODIs, won 42 (53.16 percent) and lost 33 (41.77). Four matches did not produce a result.
Dravid led India to a 1-0 Test series win over hosts England after 21 years, though India lost 3-4 to them in a closely fought ODI series.
Dravid also led India to the first ever ODI series win over South Africa outside the subcontinent when the two teams played in Ireland just before the England tour.
The master batsman, however, did not click with the bat, managing just 126 runs in the three Tests and 223 runs at 37.16 in the seven ODIs on the England tour.
Maybe, the pressure of captaincy was weighing heavily on Dravid’s otherwise strong shoulders.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was among those who were surprised – and also not surprised.
“The decision has taken all of us by surprise. But if you are captaining India it should not come as a surprise as it is a very, very heavy burden,” he said on television.
“I sympathise with Rahul, who is a very dedicated cricketer. He has all the characteristics that the Indian need teams needs – determination, dedication. Maybe if he could be persuaded to rethink his decision,” he said.
Gavaskar also pointed to India’s “tough tour” to Australia in December.
Dhoni is currently leading India in the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa after Dravid, along with former captains Tendulkar and Ganguly, withdrew from the competition.
Dravid made his Test debut in June 1996 at Lord’s against England, along with Ganguly, having earlier that year earned his ODI cap against Sri Lanka in a triangular tournament in Singapore in April.
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 India captain from Ganguly in October 2006 after the Bengal left-hander’s famous clash with the then coach Greg Chappell in Zimbabwe.
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.
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.
Dravid plays for Karnakata in domestic tournaments and lives in Bangalore. But the state cricket association’s new president Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar expressed surprise at Dravid’s decision.
Wadiyar said he did not think Dravid was under any pressure to quit as captain.