That is true, but when you are gentle medium you have little margin for error. That said the pitch was a bit too batsman friendly for my liking and at times even decent balls could be put away.

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Mark.

Am I? Ask yourself if Rahul Dravid strikes you as a brave and inspirational skipper on the field, one who can turn matches around? If anything, under Dravid there have been a few games recently - Tests and ODIs - where India have managed to salvage a draw or even snatch a loss from the jaws of victory, mostly because the captain had no clue what to do next. Dravid is undoubtedly at his best with a bat in his hand and in that capacity I rate him higher then Tendulkar in certain situations, especially when India have their backs to the wall. He has the technique and the guts to knuckle down into a long innings to save the match...or even win it, as he has shown us all in the past. And more recently, he has demonstrated the ability to be an attacking batsman and keep the score moving in ODIs.

But it takes more than guts and batting ability to be a good captain; it needs strategic thinking and inspiration and Dravid seems to be sorely lacking in both those departments. His body language on the field suggests that he is distinctly uncomfortable with tricky situations and not sizing them up properly. He does not seem to have that invisible link with the bowlers and other fielders that is so necessary to grab a game by its hands and turn it around. Dravid's colleagues unquestionably respect him , but I very much doubt if they are inspired by him. More often than not he seems to be losing track of Plan A, let alone fall back on Plan B. The fact that he preferes to choose what is perceived as the safest option - even if it does not turn out to be the case - goes to prove that he does not have confidence in his own leadership or his team's abilty; remember his own admission in the pre-match interview on Radio 5-live before the latest ODI? When asked about the Indian players' poor fielding and running between wickets, Dravid commented that "it was never going to change". The commentator said "At least Dravid is honest" which he certainly is; but what does that comment suggest to you?

I have nothing against Dravid; in fact, I believe that he is one of the best batsmen in the world today and I have him at No:6 in batting order in my version of the "all time greatest XI" currently being discussed in another thread (I feel that No:6 is the best position for Dravid in a really star-studded dream team though his usual No:3 is best suited for the present Indian team in real life). But I think he is not at all suitable to be a captain.

Yea i was discussing that with a mate the other day about Cook.

He is very good player with a great technique but in my opinion not suited for the ODI's.

Also i think the same with Bell.

They preform but at a slow rate.

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Come on Aussies.

Another big cricket season in 2007/2008.