Dhoni to be Test captain after Sachin says no

COLLECTED BY: RISHI KAPOOR

Two days before the selectors were to announce India’s new Test captain after Rahul Dravid’s resignation, Sachin Tendulkar has pulled out of the race.

Tendulkar has cited personal reasons and has met the board of selectors to convey his decision behind declining to lead the Test team. He was the top contender for the post.

“I don’t feel right about it at the moment,” Tendulkar told CNN-IBN’s Editor in Chief Rajdeep Sardesai.

On October 27, CNN-IBN had learnt that Tendulkar had reportedly agreed to take over the Test captaincy. He was to be the captain for the next 10 Test matches — three against Pakistan, four against Australia in Australia and three against South Africa at home — until April 2008.

Sources told CNN-IBN that Sachin spoke to the selectors and stated his reluctance to become the captain for a third time. The post of Indian captain has been vacant now for about seven weeks since Rahul Dravid stepped down after India’s tour of England.

Tendulkar had been Dravid’s deputy during the Test series in Bangladesh and England. However, the batsman did an about turn on his decision in a letter to BCCI President Sharad Pawar, saying that the selection policies are not just, and the seniors have not been treated properly, hinting at Dravid’s exclusion from the One-Day side.

BCCI sources say that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s One-Day and Twenty20 captain, will take over the Test side as well, although Anil Kumble could also be discussed when the selectors meet on Thursday at Mohali during the second ODI against Pakistan.

Tendulkar's refusal has put the selectors in a tight spot – they are now left without a senior player to captain the Test side, while former cricketers like Ravi Shastri feel that ODI captain Dhoni is not ready for Test captaincy yet.

The selectors are due to meet on November 8 at Mohali to announce the team for the remaining three One-Dayers against Pakistan, along with naming the new Test captain.