Even The Best Fall Down Sometimes.

The ongoing Twenty20 (T20) World Cup has been nothing short of exciting and thoroughly entertaining. From the very first match, with Chris Gayle's superb record setting century and massive sixes, to Bangladesh's defeat of the Windies to send them packing, to Australia's humiliating defeat at the hand of the Zimbabweans, to yesterday's thrilling India-Pakistan match, it has been a feast for the senses and has produced several vivid memories- the kind that every cricket lover would store away in a safe, temperate place, away from any damaging conditions so that they would be able to view it as vividly as they do now even many years later.

I will start with the Aussies' completely shocking defeat. I have to be brief, so I shall say that Zimbabwe deserved to savour every bit of that delicious victory. They were accurate and destructive with their bowling, superbly energetic with their fielding and efficient with their batting. Australia on the other hand, were wayward, sloppy and very careless. They bowled bad lines and lengths, dropped catches and threw away their wickets. Truly, on that one day, the usually shoddy and out-of-sorts Zimbabwe looked like a top-notch side and one felt that perhaps, some sort of odd miracle had descended, causing the two sides to switch souls.
Of course, Zimbabwe's triumph was short lived, as they lost to England the next day (although not badly, they retained their dignity very well). And naturally, as we all expected, Australia's poor run was short lived as well, as they went on to trounce England, securing their berth in the Super 8s and kicking Zimbabwe out of the tournament. But even though the final outcome was none the different from what anybody had expected at the start of this tournament, that slight stumble of the Kings of Cricket was celebrated by all except the Aussies and is definitely one for the history books.

Moving on, yesterday's India-Pakistan match. Now that, is truly what a match-worth-the-money-you-pay-and-the-time-you-spend is like. India, put in to bat by Pakistan, were left hanging on to the game by their fingernails at 36 for 4 after a destructive show of seam bowling by Asif, who used the conditions brilliantly. Dhoni and Uthappa put on a handy partnership of 40 odd runs to stabilise the ship then, and they did so with ease, now that Asif was out of the way. However, the Pakistani bowlers were relentless and were rewarded for their efforts with consistent wickets. India managed to scratch their way through and finished with 141 for 9. Naturally, the game felt like it was headed in Pakistan's favour then, and that point was only reinforced when Pakistant got off to a pretty good start. They didn't look like they would win quickly enough to kick India out of the next round, but they certainly looked like they would win easily at one stage. Then suddenly, the first wicket arrived, and after that, almost every Pakistani batsman merely threw his wicket away. When India managed to get Shahid Afridi out (after having dropped him once), Pakistan needed 39 off 14 balls to win. It looked an impossible task.

Misbah ul Haq apparently did not think so. He creamed a six and a four off Bhajji's final over and then Yasir Arafat joined the party by smashing two fours off the first two balls of Agarkar's next over. They managed 17 runs in the penultimate over, needing a mere 12 from the last to win. The first four balls of the last over produced 11 runs. Pakistan levelled the score and all the Pakis started their celebration. After all, they had two balls and 1 run to get, they couldn't possibly lose... or could they?
The second last ball, Sreesanth pitched it short, Misbah ul Haq swung and missed. A dot ball. Now it was one run and one ball. Dhoni consulted half the Indian team and brought the field in. Everyone was inside the circle. Sreesanth bowled, Misbah couldn't really get it away, he hit it to extra cover and they desperately started running the single they needed to win. Yuvraj was at extra cover and Yuvraj is undisputedly one of India's best fielders. He ran in, picked up the ball and threw it to Sreesanth, who whipped off the bails at the non-striker's end, finding Misbah several inches short of his ground. They had TIED THE MATCH. The Indians were celebrating, the Pakis were downright disappointed, there was a lot of commotion and one wondered whether the two sides even remembered that a tied match would lead to a bowl-out, where a result will be forced out.

The umpires, match officials, referees, players, everybody was on the field, trying to sort out the bowl-out. Evidently, none of these people had ever been involved in one! Nobody actually knew what was going on, or at least, that's the way it looked from a spectator's point of view. The officials were instructing the umpires in a flustered manner, the Indians were all on the field with Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh, all of them having a go at bowling at the stumps, enjoying themselves immensely. THe Pakistanis looked tense and worried and were hovering around waiting to be given some instructions. It was a funny sight indeed. Finally, everything got sorted out, there was a rather redundant toss (which Dhoni didn't seem to be taking seriously at all, he was laughing and joking and looked desperate to run away and join his team, who were having a lot of fun amidst the confusion), which Shoaib Malik won and asked India to start first. Sehwag had a go first and he hit. The Indians had started a small celebration. Yasir Arafat bowled next, he ran a shortened run up and bowled at half his speed and he missed- by a long way. The Indians were loving it, the Pakis were tense.

Next up was Bhajji for India and Gul for Pak. Bhajji hit and Gul missed! The Indian were ecstatic, the Pakis looked livid.

Paki needed to win the next three. Uthappa for India... he hit! And Shahid Afridi missed! The Indian players rushed towards one another and jumped all over each other, hugging, laughing, cheering. The Pakis looked disappointed, and rightly so, because they played brilliantly throughout the day and it seemed a little unfair that the match had to have a result, and that too one that went against them. But the bowl-out, I would say, was extremely exciting and while I do not think it should be used in the traditional ODI or Test format, it certainly seems fitting for the T20 format, which is fast paced and quirky and has a carnival atmosphere.

Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to talk about Dravid's resignation as Indian captain. There has been so much talk about it, so much discussion, depression, annoyance, happiness, satisfaction... well the list goes on. A lot of people are feeling very differently about it. While initially the news left me shell-shocked and feeling for my grounding, I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps Dravid made the right decision after all.

From an Indian fan's perspective, and also from an AVID Dravid fan's perspective, naturally, I am upset that I will not be seeing him leading the side any longer. Because, while he wasn't India's best captain, he certainly was one of the most dignified, diplomatic, uncontroversial captains, with a wonderful temperament and amazing pressure absorbing tendencies. He was calm and controlled. Everything he said and did had a certain measured quality to it. While this might not have always worked when he needed to be aggressive with his captaincy, this was his greatest strength when it came to facing reporters and staying cool under pressure. Admittedly, the stress of captaincy had been getting to him lately, and that is understandable. Because captaining the Indian cricket team is probably one of the most pressuring jobs in the world. He is constantly under the obsessively watchful and unforgiving eyes of one billion fickle minded fans who will elevate their heroes to a godly status when they win, but treat them worse than untouchables when they lose. You'd think that to hold the position where you have to be responsible for the victories and defeats would drive anyone crazy.

Luckily, Dravid is still very much sane, and frankly, if the pressure of captaincy has really got to him that bad (and it seems it has), then his decision is perfectly justified. We cannot and should not speculate about whether or not he's reached his breaking point simply because he would obviously know better than any of us whether he's reached his breaking point or not. Also, if he waits until he crosses that point, then he will resign as a fallen hero, or be denounced by the Indian fans, as we saw with Ganguly. As Ian Chappell very nicely put it in his article on Cricinfo, better to have people asking "Why did you?" rather than "Why don't you?". And Dravid has certainly resigned with his dignity very much intact, what with a recent Test series win and a close fight in the ODI series.

It is not fair to say that he is being selfish. Yes, perhaps this decision was taken more due to personal merits, but of what kind? He is not going to be idolised for this. He is not going to be celebrated on a pedestal or receive monetary benefits or anything material. He's just going to get relief for frayed nerves, and more time to do what he does best for the team- bat like the class batsman that he is. Surely, one can't say that wanting relief is selfish? He's human after all. If he thinks that he can't live up to expectations of the job, is it better for him to stay in purely because the BCCI has not considered a new captain yet and fall short of the high quality demanded from the Indian captain? I don't think that's a fair ask. Plus, Dravid has perpetually been a team man, and I'm sure that if he thought India would be adversely affected by his stepping down, he would not have done so. I think (and hope... but I trust Dravid) that he would have considered this very very carefully. He has never been one to make impulsive decisions. So he must have thought about all of this before making the decision. I just hope the fans won't give Dravid a hard time. I was glad to see user comments on Cricinfo in favour of his decision, saying that it was a dignified move and the right one.

Furthermore, he would still be around as a player, and if India picks a youngster as the next captain, then Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar, who have all captained the side before will be around to guide the new captain and groom him well before they end their wonderful careers. This is something India doesn't bother doing and leaves the new captain in a lurch. Look at the successful teams like SL and Australia. The captains step down in time to groom the next one before he leaves. And that's the way to go, in my opinion.

And speaking of picking new captains, I personally feel that India should not fall back on Ganguly or Tendulkar as the next captain. Yes, it will be a risk to throw a youngster in the deep end and watch him try to work his way out. But I think it's time that India took this risk. Appointing Tendulkar or Ganguly as captain now will clearly show panic, and the lack of long term planning. Yes, I know Australia is touring India and we need a strong side led by a strong captain. But think long term. You appoint Tendulkar or Ganguly now. They captain for maybe a year or a year and half, and then they retire. Let's say Dravid too retires in a couple of years. Imagine India's situation then. They will be a year away from the next World Cup, which incidentally is being held in the subcontinent, with a complete freshman in the captaincy post. The new captain will have no time to get a feel of leading the side, no time to settle well into the role, and no previous captains to guide him lest he be unsure. We might face an early exit again in the next World Cup and as hosts, that will be the ultimate humiliation. The new captain will also come under great fire and possibly be forced to resign. Indian cricket will be in turmoil once again. This is clearly not what any Indian wants.

But imagine a new captain now. A youngster, with bolder ideas, with the unending energy of youth can bring a certain freshness to the side, a certain energy in the field and the natural aggressiveness of youthful energy. Dravid, with his calming influence will still be there to watch over the new captain and just calm him down if he goes overboard with the aggression. Ganguly will be there to tell him to be more aggressive if the new captain gets too drawn into his shell. The youngster will be able to learn by experience, which is a better teacher than any textbook or any amount of theoretical lectures. You never know until you're actually out there doing it. And if we lose this series to Australia, so what? It's just a series. It will be a steep learning curve for the new captain, who, in all likelihood, will pick up much faster and be more willing to adapt to change as a youngster. This will be a long-term investment, which hopefully will pay off during the World Cup (which is the ultimate goal) as the captain would have had plenty of time to settle into his groove and the other players too would have gotten used to working with him.

If you have to split the captaincy for Test and ODI for now, then so be it. But don't fall back on the older players. It is the long term that should be the BCCI's focus now. The present is but a stepping stone to the future. I know that we have very few candidates to pick from, but I hope they try someone out anyway. Dhoni or Yuvraj or even Dinesh Karthik. The board has to be brave for a while now. I hope they consider carefully and take the right decision.

As for Dravid, I hope he brightens up his glum fans by scoring well in the next series. We would enjoy nothing more than several good innings by you Jammy, because we know your calibre and we have trusted you and stood by you throughout your highs and lows and we want to see the same, free, high class batsman we saw before you took on the captaincy. And we know you can. :)

So here's to the legacy Dravid leaves behind, and to the new captain, whoever he may be. Let's hope for the best.