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| May 7, 2005 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1426 |
Dravid not aspiring for India captaincy
NEW DELHI, May 6: Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid says he does not believe in running after the captaincy and would rather work in the interests of the team. “I don’t believe you need to be desperate to go out of the way to pursue it (captaincy),” Dravid told the weekly Outlook magazine.
“That definitely does not help the team dynamics,” said Dravid, who led the team in the last two one-dayers against Pakistan after skipper Saurav Ganguly was slapped with a six-match ban for a slow over-rate. “I believe that when we are young and growing up, wanting to be cricketers, we aspire to play for India. Once we realise that ambition and establish ourselves in the team, the challenge is to perform consistently.
“Then, perhaps, the ambition of being captain comes in. This is true for everyone and I am no different,” said Dravid, who has led India with reasonable success in six Tests and 12 one-dayers.
The 32-year-old said he felt he had the aggression needed to succeed at the helm over a longer period of time.
“To me aggression is about putting up a good performance under pressure, consistently, and when the team needs it the most,” he said.
Dravid, who has scored 7,696 runs in 89 Tests and 8,134 runs in 252 one-dayers, felt outgoing coach John Wright of New Zealand had laid a solid foundation.
“John has done a very good job and set a nice platform for the next person. Hopefully, John’s successor will be able to take the team to a higher level,” he said.
India are looking for a new coach as Wright decided to part ways after nearly five years.
India’s next assignment is in August when they travel to Sri Lanka for a tri-series also featuring the West Indies.—AFP
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