Australia needs a new captain

[ZoraxDoom]

Australia have always needed a new captain. They just have never noticed it before...

 

[sohum]

Hmm, personally I think it was just a matter of the younger guy coming in with the start of a new era and the beginning of a Honeymoon period. Dhoni's only been in charge for 4 Tests and 7 ODi's, and although he's unbeaten, I feel that India are still in that honeymoon period, and the fact they've not played outside the subcontinent since Dhoni has taken over has helped them get good results. Pietersen had a similar start, beating South Africa in a Test match and then smashing them 4-0 in the ODi series.

Dhoni's a good captain and leads from the front, but he's not really been tested yet. He had 2 Tests against a poorly selected Australian team, then 5 ODis and 2 Tests against a majorly undercooked and troubled England team. His big test will come away from India and also against South Africa. I'm not writing him off, but I'm not going to sing his praises until the honeymoon period is over and when they start winning outside the subcontinent.

Not sure where you got the 7 ODI thing, since Dhoni has captained India for 44 ODI's now and has a 62% win ratio, at the moment. I'd say he's been well tested in the ODI front of things.

And your post said that Dhoni has only been successful because of the team around him. I said that Kumble had essentially the same team in terms of players, but they looked very, very different out on the field. The same team under Kumble lost 2-1 in Australia and drew 1-1 against South Africa (with the win coming under Dhoni's leadership, IIRC). I think you're being a little harsh on Dhoni, especially if you are of the belief (not that I say you are) that Ponting is a good captain, despite what his team has been over the last half-decade.

 

[deerkick]

I'm still a little mixed about Dhoni. He won us the CB series, so I know that he can lead us outside the subcontinent. But the recent series of wins have been in the subcontinent. I'm going to hold back my comments until after the NZ series. NZ is a very good ODI side, ranked 4th right now IIRC.

As for Australia's new captain, you do realize that Ponting is not only a good captain but also one of the best batsman in the world, and probably Australia's best batsman? I doubt he's going to stay in the team in he's sacked. Australia do need him, it's just Ponting needs to adjust his game.

 

[stefan]

A captain's only as good as the side under him. It's no coincidence that Ponting had a fantastic record when he had the likes of Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist under him. Ponting may have made some strange decisions in the past, but he's no worse a captain than most Test captains around the world. MS Dhoni is being praised as one of the greatest captains in India history, but the only reason he's been successful is because of the team around him, Dhoni would not have been able to have done much better than Ponting did in India last year if he had that team. Dhoni and Graeme Smith have just been blessed with a better group of players atm.

LOL at Brett Lee being suggested as the next captain as well. The next skipper is clearly going to be Michael Clarke.

To be fair to Graeme Smith, he actually had a major role along with Mickey Arthur of introducing a lot of these players into the squad. Only Boucher,Kallis and Ntini were in the side when he took over. He went through a lot of tough times with the side to get to the point were he is now.

He didn't inherit a great side like pointing or a very good side like dhoni. He together with the selectors and coach had to build a team. He also had to deal with a lot of other political issues which ponting never has and never will face.

 

[sohum]

He didn't inherit a great side like pointing or a very good side like dhoni.

I beg to differ. When Dhoni took over the side, there were huge issues of seniority within the side. Along with the selectors, he worked to inject young blood into the team by dropping the seniors.

Gambhir, Raina, Ishant, PK and even Sehwag all have had a burst of form since Dhoni has taken over. In fact, apart from Tendulkar, Sehwag, ZaK and to a certain degree Harbhajan, the rest of our team was quite up and down (given that Dravid and Ganguly since retired). I'd say Dhoni has been as characteristic in moulding the Indian ODI side into a good one as Smith has been with the South African one. It lefts to be seen if he can do the same with the Test side.

 

[Cricketman]

Hmm, personally I think it was just a matter of the younger guy coming in with the start of a new era and the beginning of a Honeymoon period. Dhoni's only been in charge for 4 Tests and 7 ODi's, and although he's unbeaten, I feel that India are still in that honeymoon period, and the fact they've not played outside the subcontinent since Dhoni has taken over has helped them get good results. Pietersen had a similar start, beating South Africa in a Test match and then smashing them 4-0 in the ODi series.

Dhoni's a good captain and leads from the front, but he's not really been tested yet. He had 2 Tests against a poorly selected Australian team, then 5 ODis and 2 Tests against a majorly undercooked and troubled England team. His big test will come away from India and also against South Africa. I'm not writing him off, but I'm not going to sing his praises until the honeymoon period is over and when they start winning outside the subcontinent.

Not sure where you are getting the 7 ODI's part, Dhoni has been our ODI captain since September 2007.

 

[tomie89]

why is it the indians are the ones that all ways bag ponting

 

[King Cricket]

why is it the indians are the ones that all ways bag ponting

From seeing what do you come to this conclusion?

 

[Precambrian]

why is it the indians are the ones that all ways bag ponting

We have a saying here which roughly translates thus.

"If the parents do not take the kid to the task, eventually the public will".

 

[mattfb]

I must say lol at the suggestions of Lee, Hussey or White captaining. It's obvious Michael Clarke is going to be captain.

 

[jordox]

AB Medal is indicator of good form? Lolololol! That's just freaking stupid and funny as well. Ponting averaged much lesser than Katich or Clarke in the last year, and I don't get how the flippin he got that award. Especially in an year when Australia lost more marbles than it won.

The medal is based off points from each individual game.. Ponting had the equal highest points in the whole team.

That means something doesn't it?

why is it the indians are the ones that all ways bag ponting

Because they think he is an idiot due to him signaling to the umpire that a catch was taken cleanly and that he was out....

Of course, he always is honest with his catching and has been seen numerous times telling the umpire it was a bump ball, but when he tells the umpire that it was out, he is a cheater.

But there are heaps of other reasons why many of them hate him too, the common factor in all of the cases however is that none of them are fair grounds for disliking him.

 

[mattfb]

AB Medal is indicator of good form? Lolololol! That's just freaking stupid and funny as well. Ponting averaged much lesser than Katich or Clarke in the last year, and I don't get how the flippin he got that award. Especially in an year when Australia lost more marbles than it won.

The AB Medal is for One Dayers and Test cricket. Ponting had a really good year earlier. Katich did exceptional to finish 4th on the final standings when he only played Test cricket but in reality you need to play both to win.

 

[Arunava]

This is another instance of the demerits of democracy or on internet about forums. To put it mort appropriately, democracy or discussing in forums is very good. But some guys should realize that if they are free to say anything doesn't mean exploiting that freedom and instead should take more responsibility before starting such threads.
Sometimes it is much better and wiser to keep your opinion to yourself.

 

[Precambrian]

I thought AB Medal was based on votes polled from a panel consisting of umpires, players and journos.

 

[tomie89]

white would probably be a better captain than clarke