Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. When the crown in question is for captaincy of the Indian cricket team, the magnitude of that proverbial uneasiness is magnified by a billion hopes. No wonder then that Sachin Tendulkar refused captaincy for the Test team. He knows what it's like to be in that position and to fail miserably so. With no other senior players ready to face this challenge, Anil Kumble stepped up and has been appointed the captain for India's Test team. An unconvincing choice really.
Anil Kumble is not one to shy away from adversity and he could potentially be a good leader for the team. His appointment as captain though, brings disappointment to the advocates of youth. Kumble's tenacity and commitment to the game is unparalleled. He has the experience and cricketing acumen necessary to wield the team out of tricky situations. Somewhere still, the general feeling lies that this was not the right time for him to be appointed captain, even if for a short period of time.
The other choice the selectors had was MS Dhoni, already leading the side in the other 2 forms of the game. Test series' against Pakistan and Australia would've been baptism by fire for MS Dhoni. The way he has been leading the team from the front in the ODI's, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have been able to grow into this job too. Admittedly, Test cricket has it's own twists and turns by the session and experience is the only bankable factor, but Dhoni has the luxury of shepherding some of the finest cricketers in the country and he could have drawn from their collective experience in leading.
Stop gap arrangements never prove conducive and hence the selectors logic in appointing captain cannot be justified without actual results. No doubt Kumble will do a fine job, but therein lies a wasted chance for MS Dhoni. We'll wait and watch.
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