Druid's out of potion

Ok, first of all, relax. Despite what the shrill news channels will have you believe, royalty has not decided to abdicate in favour of the sloth bears. So there's no need to "deconstruct the mind of Dravid", for the reasons are quite obvious.

As any clear-headed observer can tell, captaining India involves a lot more than playing cricket. Dravid is astute enough to see that two years in the saddle have been enough, and he seems of a nature sensitive enough to not have forgotten the inflammatory recriminations not-so long ago. As Siddhartha V. writes: "somewhere along the line, especially after Chappell's departure, Dravid probably realised he couldn't achieve what he set out to." Also, a diminishing output and a series where his captaincy was at times very lacklustre would have surely had him sealing the envelope on the resignation. It was best to relinquish and go back unfettered, to his primary skills as batsman and outstanding slip-catcher.

However, is this a "selfish decision", as some have called it? Not really - why have a captain who doesn't want to do it?

This brings the curtain down on a "cerebral" phase of Indian captaincy, which followed a much more extroverted "passion" phase. The spot, however, is likely to go to the third and (and despite being the youngest) oldest of the generation of 1974. I think he's going to take the job.

Since the next generation hasn't really thrown its hand up and claimed the moral right to lead, Sachin Tendulkar is necessarily going to be a stop-gap captain. No one can kid themselves that he will lead them into a new and glittering era. He can however help decide once and for all, the questions that have dogged the second half of his career. If the Class that was assembled in 1996 can safely and unitedly deliver Indian cricket to the future, they'd be remembered even more fondly.

As for Rahul Dravid, he's just a couple of years away from becoming India's best TV commentator. I have been awaiting this since the 1999 World Cup final.

Also read Rohit Brijnath's article on the topic.