Tendulkar turns down Test captaincy

Sachin Tendulkar, on Tuesday, turned down the offer to become India's Test captain just two days before his appointment was to be formally announced in Mumbai.

Rahul Dravid had relinquished the position in September and the selectors were to meet later this week to announce his replacement in Tests.

With Tendulkar turning down captaincy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led India to the Twenty20 World Cup triumph, and took over the helm for ODIs as well, is now favourite for the top job.

The Indian team has also been without a coach since Greg Chappell stepped down following India's first round exit in the one-day World Cup.

Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh are the bowling and fielding coaches respectively, while Lalchand Rajput has been the manager of the team since the Twenty20 World Cup.

A BCCI source said Tendulkar had given his views to the BCCI President and selectors.

"I cannot say what prompted him to take such a decision but it is some personal reason. All I can say is that he does not want to be the Test captain at this stage," the source said.

The selectors will meet in Mumbai on Thursday to announce team for the remaining three one-day internationals against Pakistan.

There goes yet another Josh's self cooked conspiracy theory about Tendulkar's commercial interests.

Good news, imo. Tendulkar as captain would have been a soft, defensive option.

Henry wrote:Good news, imo. Tendulkar as captain would have been a soft, defensive option.

Agreed.

Wise decision by Tendulkar.

He should try to make as many more test runs as possible in final stages of his test career. Captaincy does not seem to be his cup of tea.

Agreed smart move by sashin.

probably thought he had nothing to gain with it, but lots to lose in terms of incessant criticism. just as well

problems for bcci though. a tour of aus could potentially destroy dhoni's confidence, esp if he finds it tough while batting when the aussies target him. but there really is no other option is there? bcci's worst nightmare

The One wrote:probably thought he had nothing to gain with it, but lots to lose in terms of incessant criticism. just as well

That's exactly probably how I would think if I was in SRT's shoes. Let someone else (say MSD) worry about captaincy and all the press, and I'll just get on with making the most of the flat, low, slow decks at Adelaide, MCG and SCG. Ugh, unless the curators juice these wickets up, I can see SRT making 500 runs+ in the 4 Test series.

skully wrote:Ugh, unless the curators juice these wickets up, I can see SRT making 500 runs+ in the 4 Test series.

stop woofing him! aussies playing dirty 2 months before the series. how low can you get?

"playing dirty"? Is the laundry service on strike?

The One wrote:problems for bcci though. a tour of aus could potentially destroy dhoni's confidence, esp if he finds it tough while batting when the aussies target him. but there really is no other option is there? bcci's worst nightmare

I should have thought captaining a side in a Test match whilst keeping wicket would be inordinately difficult anyway. Hell, I find it hard enough to do at club level, compared to when I'm not keeping.

Shoeshine wrote:I should have thought captaining a side in a Test match whilst keeping wicket would be inordinately difficult anyway. Hell, I find it hard enough to do at club level, compared to when I'm not keeping.

Yeah, but you are thick as sheit.

Kumble or Dada as the stop go captain?

Will be too much for dhoni i fear.

I don't think it will affect Dhoni much. Doesn't seem like someone who can be shaken to a great extent.

How he will do as a captain is a different matter altogether and my biggest worry. The presence of Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Kumble will be great help in that regard.

Batfink Begins wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:I should have thought captaining a side in a Test match whilst keeping wicket would be inordinately difficult anyway. Hell, I find it hard enough to do at club level, compared to when I'm not keeping.

Yeah, but you are thick as sheit.

Good point. Hadn't thought of that.

People are talking about Kumble being the captain. But the Australia series could well be his last series as an Indian player, so that would hardly be a long term move. Dhoni has to learn somewhere, and he should be appointed as captain for Australia with the future in mind.

Thank God that Common sense has prevailed. Sachin obviously has a better grasp on reality than guys like Vengsarkar. It should never have even gotten this far and Sachin should never have been even given the remotest consideration for the job. I hope they take a decision that will move us forward as opposed to recycling other oldies that are also close to hanging their boots.

I think Ganguly may come back as test captain of India, considering he has already led Indian team in Australia with some success.

Kumble seems to be more popular, though he's not left the best impression in the Ranji game against Mumbai.

SG wrote:I think Ganguly may come back as test captain of India, considering he has already led Indian team in Australia with some success.

The only "live" home test loss under Buchanan's coaching ...

embee wrote:

SG wrote:I think Ganguly may come back as test captain of India, considering he has already led Indian team in Australia with some success.

The only "live" home test loss under Buchanan's coaching ...

Awesome record for any coach.

doremi wrote:Kumble seems to be more popular, though he's not left the best impression in the Ranji game against Mumbai.

I don't think Kumble will be any worth as Indian test captain.

He'd largely be ineffective IMO.

I won't be too unhappy having Ganguly back for the Australia and Pakistan series, though Dhoni will do a decent job I think. Just that he's played very few matches.

As per Greg Chappell, a trip to Australia as Indian test captain will finish Dhoni, the cricketer.

SG wrote:As per Greg Chappell, a trip to Australia as Indian test captain will finish Dhoni, the cricketer.

He is not far from the truth particularly given Dhoni's test credentials keeping and batting wise. Above this is the toughest test for any Captain and I don't think he is ready.