Why Captaincy destroys life

When Younis Khan says such thing, one has to take the Pakistan captain seriously. A top performer but a reluctant skipper, he does know what it takes to captain India or Pakistan.

Public is the first to pouch on the beleaguered skipper scrutinising his every move. Probably the reason Sachin Tendulkar ‘refused’ Indian captaincy for the third time. Even those who can not differentiate a square cut from a fortuitous edge through the slip, or Long leg from Long on, are the first to comment on the any ‘flawed moves by the skipper.

Then there is media, hell bent upon vilifying the skipper after every loss, without looking into any positives. Rahul Dravid can surely testify to that. His Test series win in England after a good 21 years was overshadowed by just one move of not enforcing the follow on (taken only after consulting the seniors and his bowling colleagues), which allowed England to wriggle out of the Indian web at Oval. Not surprisingly, when he resigned, he said every captain must realize that he has a shelf life.

And then the selectors. These guys have to show from time to time that who is the boss. Especially when they send replacements for the overseas tours, and needlessly meddle with the team affairs when Captain, always in the line of fire, should be allowed to have his say. Younis was justifiably anguished by the inclusion of an unfit Shoaib Akhtar in the team, something which had stalled the Pakistan challenge on the very first day of the Kolkatta test.

So a captain is always under mental pressure and Sunil Gavaskar rightly, though half-jokingly, had said on the ESPN that some of his grey hair had gone black after he had relinquished the captaincy of the Indian Cricket Team!