The Little Master's woes

Sachin has again been put in a stressful position - can he handle it?

"I was not mentally prepared for taking the captaincy... As it is I was pressurised a lot," said Sachin Tendulkar in July 1999, when appointed India's cricket captain a second time. He was 26 years old then and regarded as the world's finest batsman.

Three months short of his 34th, Tendulkar is battling indifferent form; both Lara and Ponting are way ahead right now. And he has been appointed the vice-captain to Dravid.

The selectors may have chosen Tendulkar by a simple process of elimination. The misfortune is that the process of elimination had to be employed.

Under Chappell's tutelage "" the coach completes his two-year tenure in May this year and will then hopefully take his final flight back to Australia, seen off by Ganguly "" the long-term prospects for India have dwindled.

Under John Wright, there was a core of long-term bets: Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan and Dhoni. Kaif, an astute thinker who last year led Uttar Pradesh to its first Ranji triumph, is out. As is Sehwag. Harbhajan is not certain of a place overseas.

Khan is making a come-back. Dhoni is not ready. And Yuvraj, last season's vice-captain, is out nursing an injury suffered playing Khokho. (Umpire's Post didn't play it even in its television/MMS-deprived childhood).

In 2006, India was the second most indecisive nation, fielding 25 players in 30 one-day matches. (England fielded 30 in 20; Zimbabwe 25 in 29). Ten Indian players played five games or less.

There is speculation that the selectors have served notice to Dravid, hinting that the next man "" given his more experience and bigger stature "" is ready.

The more intriguing musing is over Tendulkar's reasons for acceptance. Is he ready to be the next captain? Does he see his lack of success as captain in two stints as a gaping hole in an illustrious career and want to make amends, now that Lara is tasting success as captain in his third stint? Or, does Tendulkar "" it's a bewildering thought "" see the vice-captaincy as a tool to be certain of a place in the team?

The vice-captain is the Crown Prince and should ideally be a young man whose position in the team has been above question for six to 10 years. So he could serve three years or so as the deputy and then take charge for the next three-five years.

However, it is perhaps too much to expect long-term planning from India's cricket administration, which changed the captain five times "" Polly Umrigar, Ghulam Ahmed, Umrigar again, Vinoo Mankad and Hemu Adhikari "" in a single series against the West Indies in 1958-59.