Round 1 to Greg: Dravid is captain for the next 2 ODI series

The national cricket selectors gave Greg Chappell a huge confidence boost today by naming Rahul Dravid India captain for not one but two full series — at home, against Sri Lanka and South Africa over the next six weeks. And though talk of Sourav Ganguly reaching the end of the road may be premature, the coach and his new captain hold the advantage.

For Dravid, this is the culmination of five-odd years of waiting in the wings. His captaincy record is unremarkable — seven matches won out of 17 — but part of the reason for that is the stop-start nature of his captaincy. Now he has the reins for 12 matches on the trot, at home. For Chappell, this is a win, especially in light of the Zimbabwe showdown with Ganguly. Chappell has long been pushing for Ganguly’s replacement, most publicly and famously in the e-mail to the BCCI. “Let someone else build their team towards the 2007 World Cup,’’ he wrote.

The mandate doesn’t yet extend that far. But if Dravid is what his coach perceives him to be, he will be leading the team out in the Caribbean.