Tendulkar recommended Dhoni for captaincy

[ret]

Tendulkar recommended Dhoni for captaincy - Pawar

Cricinfo staff

March 21, 2008


Sharad Pawar: "He [Tendulkar] said 'give Dhoni the opportunity. He has excellent relations with the team-mates'" © AFP


Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, has revealed that Sachin Tendulkar had recommended Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the captaincy and suggested that youngsters should be included in the World Cup-winning Twenty20 squad instead of "players of his generation".

Pawar also told PTI in an interview that Rahul Dravid had dropped hints during the England series last year that he did not wish to remain as India captain, a decision that he finally announced after the series.

"Rahul had told me he could not concentrate on his game and requested me to find someone else. Some of the selectors wanted Sachin to lead and I conveyed it to him," Pawar said. "But Sachin said, 'please don't do this'. I asked then who should lead the side and he said 'give it to someone like Dhoni'. He said 'give Dhoni the opportunity. He has excellent relations with the team-mates'. I told him I would not interfere but would definitely convey it to the selectors."

Pawar said that it was on Tendulkar's advice that youngsters were given an opportunity in the Twenty20 squad, which went on to win the World Cup in South Africa last September.

"I was in England when we were playing them. Sachin met me and suggested 'I know you don't interfere with the team selection but you please tell the selectors not to include players of my generation in the Twenty20 squad'. He said 'my generation is not fit for Twenty20, so give opportunity to the youngsters'," Pawar said.

"Now who would come and say 'don't induct us', when that means losing a few lakh rupees? I think we are fortunate to have players like Rahul [Dravid], Sourav [Ganguly] and Anil [Kumble]. Their commitment is unquestionable," Pawar said.

Pawar also praised the leadership skills of Kumble, during the racism row involving Harbhajan Singh in Australia, and Dhoni, during the Twenty20 World Cup and the CB Series.

"Dhoni as a captain has done extremely good. He can motivate and has a good equation with other players. He is also cool [under pressure]," Pawar said.

Kumble, Pawar, said, displayed great maturity during the controversial Test series in Australia. "I would say Anil Kumble has been remarkable as captain. He is a good motivator and his behaviour was impeccable both on and off the field. In true sense of the term, he was an ambassador of the country and we are proud of the way he handled the entire issue," Pawar said.

master stroke by the master

[Richard]

Kumble and Dhoni were excellent choices for the respective game-forms, and with any luck will go on over the next year or two to show once more that split captaincy can indeed work very well in the right hands.

[jeevan]

Both Tendulkar and Pawar appear to be very sensible people - even as they are doing an end run around the selection committee. Pawar is of course a professional politician, so you can see the smoothness with which he's paritally dumping Dravid,Gangule while really honoring them at the very same time.

[andruid]

Very good PR...

[Manee]

Originally Posted by Richard

Kumble and Dhoni were excellent choices for the respective game-forms, and with any luck will go on over the next year or two to show once more that split captaincy can indeed work very well in the right hands.

I think that it mainly works simply because the two teams (ODI&T20 and Test) are so different. By different, I naturally mean Ganguly, Kumble and Dravid.

[Richard]

One of the reasons for the ODI armband to be given to a different man to the Test one, indeed, is this different personnel no?

[James_W]

Originally Posted by Richard

One of the reasons for the ODI armband to be given to a different man to the Test one, indeed, is this different personnel no?

Yeah, goes without saying really.

[Jono]

Split captaincy only works IMO if the test captain is not part of the ODI team, yet not captain.

It can go the other way (eg. Dhoni, Collingwood etc.) but if the test captaincy had been given to Ganguly for example, and he was still playing ODIs, yet Dhoni was ODI captain, I just think it'd be disruptive.

[jeevan]

Originally Posted by Manee

I think that it mainly works simply because the two teams (ODI&T20 and Test) are so different. By different, I naturally mean Ganguly, Kumble and Dravid.

Jaffer (or his logical replacement, Chopra), Laxman, perhaps Sehwag, perhaps Zaheer (to preserve him in terms of workload).

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Jono

Split captaincy only works IMO if the test captain is not part of the ODI team, yet not captain.

It can go the other way (eg. Dhoni, Collingwood etc.) but if the test captaincy had been given to Ganguly for example, and he was still playing ODIs, yet Dhoni was ODI captain, I just think it'd be disruptive.

If the players play properly, anything and everything can work IMO. Captaincy is not some sort of sacred position, it's the man who makes the field-changes and chooses the bowlers on the field of play. Nothing more.

[Manee]

Originally Posted by Richard

One of the reasons for the ODI armband to be given to a different man to the Test one, indeed, is this different personnel no?

Yes, it is in retrospect, quite obvious. The point I was making is that Dhoni could not command Ganguly and Dravid as well as Kumble can.

[Richard]

The more important reason I was against giving Dhoni the Test captaincy, though, is that he is still far from a proven Test batsman. I hope, if he is ever given the armband in Tests, he shows himself a Test-class cricketer first.

[Manee]

Originally Posted by Richard

The more important reason I was against giving Dhoni the Test captaincy, though, is that he is still far from a proven Test batsman. I hope, if he is ever given the armband in Tests, he shows himself a Test-class cricketer first.

He is more than a proven Test wicket keeper though. He is arguably the world's best current keeper.

[Richard]

Maybe, but for at least 15 years being a good wicketkeeper has not been enough; you have to be very capable with the bat also. I retain doubts over whether Dhoni is a better Test batsman than other capable wicketkeepers in India.

[Manee]

Originally Posted by Richard

Maybe, but for at least 15 years being a good wicketkeeper has not been enough; you have to be very capable with the bat also. I retain doubts over whether Dhoni is a better Test batsman than other capable wicketkeepers in India.

There are few capable wicketkeepers in India, IIRC. Dinesh Karthik seems to be completely lost, these days and Parthiv Patel was one of the worst keepers I remember seeing.