CAPTAIN 038; CENTURION

For all the wisdom and sagacity, for all the history books he has read and digested, all the lessons he has imbibed, the question lingers: Can Dravid translate theory into practice?

Ask this question to one of Dravid8217;s predecessors, Bishan Singh Bedi, and he points to Dravid 8212; still busy talking to the rapt Alexander. 8216;8216;Look at the serenity on his face8217;8217;, says Bedi. 8216;8216;That8217;s something god-given. He is the best sportsperson I have ever met in my life. No malice, no manipulation8230; there sits someone who, after the day8217;s play, will pack his bags and leave without much ado.8217;8217;

Tactically speaking? 8216;8216;It8217;s a learning curve,8217;8217; says Bedi. 8216;8216;There are areas like bowling changes, field placements that he needs to work on. Captaincy is all about instinct but these are early days and he will evolve.8217;8217;

It8217;s a point former England captain Nasser Hussain made on air during the Mohali Test. Going beyond the superfluous generalisation of a flawless organised batsman also being a great leader, Hussain said Dravid had led India brilliantly in ODIs but was a work in progress in Tests. 8216;8216;The prime task of a captain is to plug the main scoring areas of an opposition batsman but there are times when it has not happened.8217;8217;

SUNIL Gavaskar had a word of advice for the Indian captain before his entry to the Club 100. 8216;8216;There are two Club 100 members 8212; Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar 8212; in the Indian team and he needs to sit and talk to them about approaching the milestone.8217;8217;

That may not be necessary since Dravid the batsman has approached various statistical landmarks with remarkable ease. Besides, both Kumble and Tendulkar were far away from the helm of Indian cricket when they reached the three-figure mark.

Comparing Dravid with his predecessor Sourav Ganguly would amount to likening apples and oranges. The differences in style between them are too well-known yet it8217;s worth listening to what a famous curator and pitches committee member has to say. 8216;8216;Sourav will make a hue and cry about the pitch and it snowballs into a big issue. Dravid is more subtle; he calls before landing at the venue and generally asks about the pitch. And I have noticed that Dravid gets his way while Ganguly had a problem.8217;8217;

That is something former West Indian great Alvin Kallicharran noticed through the distance. Dravid, he says, is a 8216;8216;very shrewd8217;8217; captain. 8216;8216;He8217;s the silent type and that8217;s makes him very dangerous. It is tough to read his face as his mind is always ticking,8217;8217; says Kallicharran.

The flipside of being shrewd is, of course, being calculating 8212; and that8217;s a charge laid at Dravid8217;s door as well. A former Test player says that Dravid8217;s silence after coach Greg Chappell8217;s 8216;Greedy Ganguly8217; interview wasn8217;t worthy of a great leader. 8216;8216;At least on this he should have come out and said that Ganguly didn8217;t do it for money. They have played together since they were juniors and he should have known Ganguly wasn8217;t that sort.8217;8217;

THAT silence is something Dravid-watchers have long observed; it can be called tact, it can be called ducking the issue. To be sure, Dravid8217;s comments in that fluid situation would have rocked the boat 8212; highly avoidable for someone who prizes order so greatly.

So can he take the hard decisions that come with being a captain? Yes, says Dean Jones. 8216;8216;He isn8217;t afraid to take tough decisions. His declaration when Tendulkar was on 194, the five-bowler theory and Laxman8217;s subsequent dropping all prove that Dravid won8217;t pull his punches when the team8217;s success is at stake.8217;8217;

In the next few months, possibly couple of years, those hard decisions will increase as India8217;s young talent fights for space in the playing XI. Mohammad Kaif might not have sulked in Mohali when Yuvraj Singh was played but if it happens too often Dravid will have some counselling to do. Next comes the pace department where each fast bowler is flavour of the week, not month. RP Singh, for example, is forgotten with the emergence of Munaf Patel, S Sreesunth and VRV Singh.

But Dravid, though not as obviously gregarious as his predecessor, is a good people person 8212; as is evident from an incident during the West Indies tour in 1996-97, his first year in international cricket.

8216;8216;Rahul came to know about his father8217;s sudden open-heart surgery and was keen to reach home as early as possible8217;8217;, says Sunil Dev, manager on that tour. 8216;8216;He requested me to arrange for direct bookings to India, which I did. The next day on my hotel door there was a T-shirt and a thank you note.8217;8217;

The years since have seen the thanks coming from the other side, from a nation and team grateful for so selfless a player. In the next few months, you suspect, as Dravid notches up this special century with ease, there will be even more thank-yous coming his way.

Rahul the captain is even more engrossed in cricket

VENKATESH PRASAD

I had called up Rahul just before the Mohali Test thinking that would be his 100th Test but soon realised 8212; to my embarrassment 8212; that it wasn8217;t. After some laughter we went on to discuss the game starting the next day. I could almost picture him as he spoke about various things like team combination, the pitch and opposition.

He was totally on cue, very focused and eager to get on with the game. I always knew he was very studious about the game and cricket books have been his constant companions but Rahul the captain has now become more engrossed in the sport.

As a captain one aspires to read the game two or three overs in advance but Rahul would ideally like to interpret it an hour ahead in his mind. He is reaching that stage and I think he will be there soon.

The biggest factor in his favour is the amount of sheer experience he has. He has been in virtually every possible cricketing situation on the field as a batsman and, more often than not, has out-smarted the eleven rivals on field so I don8217;t think he will have any problem dealing with captaincy.

We have spent a lot time in the dressing room and I have a good knowledge of his man management skills. His doesn8217;t have an in-your-face kind of approach but he tends to understand the players and their problems. There are people who say that right now his field placements aren8217;t too great but I can point out such flaws in the greatest of players.

The best thing about him is he leads by example. And I don8217;t agree with the charge that he doesn8217;t delegate responsibilities. To get the team composition right he kept wickets and, as a captain, he opened the innings, but these are just emergency measures. He does all this because he is the most skilled to do this job. And mind you, he reverts back to his original position after the crisis is over.

THE BEST OF FIVE

Five of India8217;s best Test captains, and one quality Dravid would love from each

Mansur Ali Khan

Field placements, fielding and sense of adventure in captaincy

Sunil Gavaskar

Ability to maintain form despite pressures of captaincy

Kapil Dev

Instinctive leadership style and ability to get the best out of the stars in the team

Mohammad Azharuddin

Luck before it ran out

Sourav Ganguly

His knack of spotting talented youngsters and backing them to the hilt