Laxman as captain?

He’s a “peaceable” man, as Dileep Premchandran says on Cricinfo, but is VVS Laxman the next Indian captain? I doubt it. But he does have the unenviable task of leading India against the Rest of South Africa in the only tour match before the Tests begin. Of course, that’s because Virender Sehwag was releived of his responsibilites as vice-captain during the ODIs.

But the thing to remember here would be that Rahul Dravid [Captaincy Record] is still injured. And while everyone wants to believe that he will be back by the time the first Test begins, what if he doesn’t? VVS Laxman would have to lead India in the Test (s).

He has been praised for his captaincy in domestic cricket, but this is a different ballgame altogether! The pressure of a Test, the world watching… not easy. To top it all, there are three former captains: Sourav Ganguly [Captaincy Record], Sachin Tendulkar [Captaincy Record] and Virender Sehwag [Captaincy Record]. This, of course, not counting Anil Kumble who has been vice-captain and stand-in captain on random occassions!

So VVS won’t really have any problem in getting advise, but the true test of a captain is what he stands for. And that, I think, is where Rahul Dravid went wrong. But VVS has had a good time with the bat in SA averaging in the high 40s. So in terms of confidence, he must be ok…

In effect, the tour game against a second string SA team has just become more important than it should have been. Thanks to some poor performances and injuries, India sees (once again) too many changes when on tour.

My $0.02 worth: Don’t expect too much. Even if VVS can score 50+, that’ll be a bonus. A drawn game would be a huge fillip to confidence. (What have expectations come to!)