Dhoni great, but don’t forget Ganguly, Kumble: Srikkanth
By IANSSunday, December 6, 2009
NEW DELHI - Chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth Sunday hailed Mahendra Singh Dhoni as one of the greatest Indian captains but also said the contributions of former skippers Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble should not be forgotten.
After India’s sensational 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka here Sunday, Dhoni and his boys became the first Indian side to get the tag of No.1 Test team.
“Dhoni is a great captain. He also prefers to keep things simple and being uncomplicated has helped him as well. Best of luck to him and his team for becoming the No.1 Test team in the world,” said Srikkanth.
But Srikkanth also said that amid jubilation, one shouldn’t forget the contributions of former captains like Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Kumble.
“They played important roles in moulding this team and we shouldn’t forget their contributions as well. Sourav and Kumble may have retired from Test cricket, but the way they led the team overseas was commendable,” he said.
As per records, Ganguly is the most successful Indian Test captain while Kumble, who got a short stint before Dhoni took over, is remembered for holding the side together during the controversial 2007-08 series in Australia.
“Anil did a great job before Dhoni took charge. And who can forget Sourav’s leadership abilities in the memorable 2003-04 series in Australia,” said Srikkanth.
Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar also congratulated the Indian team for winning the series and topping the Test rankings.
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December 7, 2009: 12:10 pm
India got this number one rank with very consistent performance against all the teams in the world both at home and abroad. This was possible because team has calibre of bats man like genius Sachin, wall Dravid, exploding and sensational Virender and above all captain cool MS. Though Indian cricket board packing the schedule with lot of one day games and very less number of test matches, it is very much concern for the future of cricket in country. India could not go beyond the first round in last edition of world cup and Champions trophy. It is due to the too much importance given to shorter version of the game (both ODI and T20 in IPL)for comercial interest and sacrificing the test matches and also giving rise to lot of injuries to the player. Cheif selector Srikant day dreaming of India wining next edition of world cup will be futile, unless urgent action is taken to lift the game in ODI by both proper training and at the same time not overexposing the team. India is number one in Test matches not in ODI. So my request to cricket administrator is “Don’t kill the hen, who lays golden egg” |
Dr Umesh K Dash