Cricket: Captain must walk for India's sake

By RICHARD BOOCK in Wellington

The time has come for Sourav Ganguly to take a leaf out of the book of Antarctic explorer Captain Oates, and consider taking a long walk in the cold.

The Indian skipper has been missing in action so often on this tour that it would hardly be a major blow if he sat out Wednesday's fifth one-day international at Westpac Stadium, if only to give his team-mates a break.

Dubbed Captain Invisible after his contribution with the bat so far, Ganguly reached his nadir during the fourth match at Queenstown on Saturday, when New Zealand won by seven wickets to take an unassailable 4-nil lead in the series.

Unable to buy a run for the past month, he appeared to sacrifice Rahul Dravid as an opener in an attempt to avoid the new ball and, when he did eventually make it to the middle, threw his wicket away with one of the most gormless shots imaginable.

One of the world's richest cricketers, he has now scored a total of 20 runs from four innings at an average of 5 and fared little better in the two tests, eking out just 29 runs in four outings.

If he was a man of impressive influence, able to inspire despite his own lean run of form, there would be a strong case for retaining his presence in the line-up for the final three games of the series.

If he were a shrewd old fox, capable of pulling the strings in the field, reading the New Zealanders' tactics and manufacturing a counter-strategy, there would again be some sense in leaving him at the helm.

But Ganguly appears to be none of those things. He looks like a player who relies on his own considerable genius to change the game single-handedly, a batsman so special that he has never really had to think much about the team.

That was never more evident than when the side flew into Napier for the first match of the tour, only to be left twiddling their thumbs as Ganguly commandeered the 40-seater team bus for his wife, baby and maid, and headed off to the hotel.

Once the captain had been indulged, the bus returned to pick up the squad.

In a way, it was possibly the most symbolic act of this tour so far, in that Ganguly's priorities continue to revolve around himself and not much else, as was demonstrated on Saturday when he decided against opening and had Dravid face the music instead.

Quite what Dravid must make of all this is anyone's guess, as he is without doubt one of the finest batsmen on the planet, but is often used as a jack-of-all-trades and tends to suffer as a result.

It was bad enough when they were blunting his run-scoring potential by using him as a makeshift wicket-keeper, but to shuffle him around the order like an expendable rookie is verging on criminal, particularly as he already has an established record at No 3 - from where he averages 40.5.

If logic and sound analysis play any part in the selection process, then Dravid should immediately be installed as captain for the remainder of the series and placed on stand-by should he be required for the upcoming World Cup.

He has taken the reins on four occasions in the past, most recently in the sixth and seventh ODIs against the West Indies, and his 75 per cent win record suggests India have not exactly struggled under his leadership.

As for Ganguly, a break from the squad could be just the thing he needs if he is serious about addressing his technique, method and approach before the tournament starts in South Africa next month.

As for the squad, a break from Ganguly is even more important, as his present body language and demeanour is unlikely to raise spirits or performance, and he doesn't seem to have any idea about how to change the side's fortunes.

If Sachin Tendulkar is declared fit to play on Wednesday, as expected, then the tour selectors have a rare chance to rest Ganguly, retain 17-year-old Parthiv Patel as wicket-keeper and name Dravid as captain, either for one match or the remaining three.

It might smack of desperation so close to the World Cup, but there needs to be an acknowledgment that the application, patience and determination of the side has to improve, otherwise they'll fare little better in South Africa.

For all that, they won't change their captain of course, which means that India are destined to stumble through to the end of this tour with little variation in their approach or governance, raising the question of whether they should be considered the worst touring team ever.

Former opening batsman Kris Srikkanth has already given his 10 rupees worth, describing this tour as the worst by an India side since they visited England in the summer of 1974 and were overwhelmed in both ODIs and all three tests.

In terms of New Zealand, Ganguly's Indian side would be comfortably worse than Brian Lara's 2001 West Indian tourists and only slightly better than the first Sri Lanka sides that came here in the early to mid-1980s.