Team 'nobody wants to captain'

[DesiChap]

Team 'nobody wants to captain' By Ben Dorries November 21, 2007 RICKY Ponting has turned his blowtorch on new India leader Anil Kumble by describing Australia's next Test opponent as the team nobody wants to captain. India's accidental captain had a target placed on his forehead last night, as Australia's Test stars went on an unprecedented summer break before the first of four Tests against their subcontinental rivals starts at the MCG on Boxing Day. Kumble, 37, was the last man standing when Rahul Dravid stepped aside from the captaincy this month. The spinner accepted the toughest job in cricket only after former captain Sachin Tendulkar turned it down. Australia is already plotting to take down Kumble in the way it has fried many other visiting Test captains. "I think Kumble will be under pressure, definitely, coming here to Australia," Ponting said. "A lot of very, very good players in the past probably haven't been able to cope with being captain of India. You look at Tendulkar. He did it for a short period of time and, when he resigned, said he wasn't enjoying the role. "If we start the series well and put Kumble under pressure ... then if you put the captain under pressure you can take a few of his teammates down with him. "That's certainly what we will be trying to create. I think anyone who captains the Indian cricket team is always under a lot of pressure." Indian cricket was already in turmoil on Tuesday with board officials at loggerheads after chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar flouted a directive not to write his newspaper column. The board has banned Vengsarkar and his fellow selectors from travelling with the side on overseas tours, making Kumble's assignment even tougher. Kumble, the man they call "Jumbo", faces a stern test to avoid the captains' curse that has plagued visitors for a decade. West Indies' Jimmy Adams was finished as a player and a captain after a 5-0 loss in 2000-2001 and Nasser Hussain had sleepless nights during England's 4-1 Test defeat in 2002-2003. Wasim Akram never captained Pakistan again after losing 3-0 in 2002-03 and Tendulkar struggled during a 3-0 whitewash in 1999-2000. Andrew Flintoff will never captain England again after an Ashes whitewash last year. Ponting said India was only "slightly better" than a Sri Lanka side that was cannon fodder in the 2-0 series drubbing Australia completed at Bellerive Oval. "Right at the moment, India are probably a slighter better and slightly stronger side than Sri Lanka," Ponting said. "Hopefully, we can get on top of them early and stay there for the rest of the summer. "Most touring teams don't get off to a great start in Australia. It's not just to do with the conditions, I think it's the way we go about preparing ourselves." http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22795007-23212,00.html

[DesiChap]

Ponting training his gun on India already

[Sachinism]

minds games have started in a way it is true, i dont think kumble would have been the ideal choice for captain

[DesiChap]

minds games have started in a way it is true, i dont think kumble would have been the ideal choice for captain

Time will prove you wrong . Anyways Kumble is the best choice we have for the next 2 series (Pak and Aus)

[Sachinism]

not saying he would be a bad captain, its just that the selectors would want a younger captain who they can train up for the future or whatever. how many more years if kumble gonna even play

[DesiChap]

not saying he would be a bad captain' date=' its just that the selectors would want a younger captain who they can train up for the future or whatever. how many more years if kumble gonna even play[/quote'] Kumble will probably play 2 more years. Dhoni can ge groomed and slowly phased into the test captaincy role in about a years time.

[dvs7673]

kumble is a good choice for captaincy taking the current situation in account, but there are two issues with that: 1) He is in the most horrible bowling form of his life, he wont be able to show any impact as a bowler in this series. 2) Making him captain means that Piyush Chawla has no place in the team, which in itself is a huge blow to the Indian chances of winning at home.

[DesiChap]

kumble is a good choice for captaincy taking the current situation in account' date=' but there are two issues with that: 1) He is in the most horrible bowling form of his life, he wont be able to show any impact as a bowler in this series. 2) Making him captain means that Piyush Chawla has no place in the team, which in itself is a huge blow to the Indian chances of winning at home.[/quote'] Kumble is his last 10 test matches:

                     Mat  Runs  HS   BatAv 100  50   W    BB  BowlAv 5w  Ct St
 
unfiltered           118  2212 110*  18.13   1   4 566 10/74   28.73 33  53  0
filtered              10   285 110*  23.75   1   0  43  6/78   28.90  1   4  0

I will take that "horrible bowling form" any day !

[dial_100]

Team 'nobody wants to captain' "Right at the moment, India are probably a slighter better and slightly stronger side than Sri Lanka," Ponting said.

If slighly better and stronger means 96 runs then we will lose 1 and win 1 as SL did ...but just slightly better. :yay::yay::yay: He is accepting with his own mouth....:hatsoff:of to an honest Australian ever seen in the cricket history... I tell you they will not do this mistake of giving us 450+ runs target with 2 days to spare. He can only call us slightly better/stronger than SL if he dares to give us 450+ and 1.5 day to chase in last innings. UNTIL then Mr. Ponty....keep your little hole...shut...:mama:

[beetle]

I think he is scared.......:D:dance:

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

I think he is scared.......:D:dance:

joke of the century