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M. Jayawardene Quits as SL captain

Was he a good captain?

  • Total voters
    35
Richard

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
G.I.Joe said:
I don't think the feelings of shock/disappointment/anger being exhibited by some posters are justified.

"I didn't see much difference in Ganguly's leadership .... He has made a difference to India as captain but it may well be time for a change as captains do run out of ideas and definitely have a shelf life."
Ian Chappell on Saurav Ganguly, in 2004

"There is a shelf life to captaincy in India in which you can give it your best. May be the shelf life is becoming shorter as time goes by"
Rahul Dravid, after resigning from the Indian captaincy in 2007

“...You grow stale. You need fresh thinking and a different approach after a while. Once others get used to your style and things fall into a pattern, it can become monotonous."
Mahela Jayawardene, October 2008

It does seem that it takes a particular type of introspective personality (Dravid, Jayawardene) to figure this out and more importantly, act on it. The ability to wean oneself of a position of power, something that a polar opposite like Ganguly wouldn't consider. Anyone think the concept of a captaincy shelf-life is peculiar to the subcontinental culture, or does it apply to all teams (hint*Ponting*)?
Click to expand...
Nah, I don't think it neccessarily applies to anything. The only reason captains have a shelf-life is because of the intense scrutiny all cricketers are put under these days by the media and public, with the minutest of (sometimes utterly irrelevant) mistakes criticised more and more as time goes on. Clearly, there is more of this in the subcontinent (though I'd always presumed less in Sri Lanka than India and Pakistan) than anywhere else, which means Indian captaincy is naturally only something someone can take for a relatively short time. Pakistani virtually anything is usually only something someone does for a short time, more so than ever these days.

In any case, Jayawardene's was only in the job 2-and-a-half years - I doubt anyone would claim that's the "shelf-life" of a good captain. Something makes me think there's more to it than Jayawardene's leadership credentials.
 
L

lionheart

School Boy/Girl Captain
Mahela is a great Test captain, I don't think he's good in ODI's. I wish he'd just step down from ODI's and keep captaining the Test side for a while because it'll give Sanga a steady transition.
 
MendisNuffSaid

MendisNuffSaid

Banned
lionheart said:
Mahela is a great Test captain, I don't think he's good in ODI's. I wish he'd just step down from ODI's and keep captaining the Test side for a while because it'll give Sanga a steady transition.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's simple as that. Mahela should continue to captain the test team whilst Sanga captains the ODI team. It worked well for the South Africans in the Australia tour.
 
Jono

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
G.I.Joe said:
I don't think the feelings of shock/disappointment/anger being exhibited by some posters are justified.

"I didn't see much difference in Ganguly's leadership .... He has made a difference to India as captain but it may well be time for a change as captains do run out of ideas and definitely have a shelf life."
Ian Chappell on Saurav Ganguly, in 2004

"There is a shelf life to captaincy in India in which you can give it your best. May be the shelf life is becoming shorter as time goes by"
Rahul Dravid, after resigning from the Indian captaincy in 2007

“...You grow stale. You need fresh thinking and a different approach after a while. Once others get used to your style and things fall into a pattern, it can become monotonous."
Mahela Jayawardene, October 2008

It does seem that it takes a particular type of introspective personality (Dravid, Jayawardene) to figure this out and more importantly, act on it. The ability to wean oneself of a position of power, something that a polar opposite like Ganguly wouldn't consider. Anyone think the concept of a captaincy shelf-life is peculiar to the subcontinental culture, or does it apply to all teams (hint*Ponting*)?
Click to expand...
Good theory but I don't think its anything to do with 'shelf-life' and communication becoming old. Its more to do with the pressure of having an axe hanging over your head, and your own personal form being vital to the role.

Dravid and Jayawardene both stepped down when they were having bad trots with the bat, and also when they had lost ODI series they were expected to win (albeit India lost away from home). Yet their test records as captain were pretty damn good. You just wouldn't see this outside the subcontinenet. It should be noted of course that Dravid possibly still had the WC hanging over his shoulders as well.

Whereas Ponting, Smith and Fleming, whilst more outward characters than Mahela and Rahul, have continued through the good and bad and chose to go on. Whilst their captaincy has been criticised at times, Fleming and Ponting never really looked like having the chop, and whilst Smith did go through a rough patch circa 2004/05 and 2006/07, I think he felt he had the backing of the board.

I don't think Dravid has ever felt he had the backing of the BCCI. Dhoni probably doesn't either, but he realises that his importance to Indian cricket and his popularity and marketability means he can do whatever the **** he wants and tell them where to go when they do stupid ****. That's a good thing :)
 
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