Contrary to public perception, Rahul Dravid is a tough cricketer from inside and makes an ideal choice for Indian captaincy, says former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath.
"I think you should give him a good run for almost a year or two years, or something like that. If you see a good six years of cricket in a senior cricketer then you must nominate him and give him a long tenure," Srinath told IANS in an interview.
Dravid, 32, made his international debut in 1996 and has played 89 Tests and 254 one-day internationals.
"He should be given enough time to take stock of the situation, see what he wants and what he doesn't, and what are the plans for the future. A long captaincy (tenure) will always help the team," felt Srinath, who is Sri Lanka as a television commentator for the one-day triangular series.
Srinath, who played many years of cricket with Dravid for Karnataka and India before retiring in 2003, said the public perception of Dravid as a soft personality or captain was wrong.
"Rahul is strong mentally; his mannerisms are perfect. His demeanours are misleading," said the bowler who played 67 Test and 229 one-day internationals, many of them with Dravid.
"He is definitely not a soft person inside; he is very hard (from inside) and that reflects in the way he plays his game. He is nagging (for opponents) in the face of adversity. Rahul is a fantastic player and a strong character. I don't see anything wrong with him (leading India)," said Srinath.
{{/usCountry}}"He is definitely not a soft person inside; he is very hard (from inside) and that reflects in the way he plays his game. He is nagging (for opponents) in the face of adversity. Rahul is a fantastic player and a strong character. I don't see anything wrong with him (leading India)," said Srinath.
{{/usCountry}}Srinath might well have added the example of Dravid declaring the Indian innings in a Test in Pakistan last year with Sachin Tendulkar stranded at 194. Some experts felt it showed Dravid could take tough decisions.
"It's an honour to lead the country. It's more responsibility. As captain, you evolve as a personality because you are handling different levels of the players. So, you understand the difficulties and their good and bad things."
Srinath, however, felt that there was some ambiguity about the captaincy issue.
"I think there are a few things that are undefined - who is going to be the captain for the next two years.
"Of course, Sourav (Ganguly) is in a dilemma in terms of not getting into the side. He had some problem (the six-match ban), which has been sorted out," said Srinath about the former captain who has joined the team here after serving a ban of four one-day internationals for India's slow over rates against Pakistan in April.
Since Ganguly was out of the first two matches of this tournament, the selectors appointed Dravid captain for this tour.
"I think after this series there will be clarity about who is going to lead the side and what sort of relationship the coach should have with the captain, whoever it is," Srinath felt.
Dravid's elevation as full-fledged captain for the first time has coincided with the maiden assignment for new coach Greg Chappell. Srinath supported the choice of the former Australia captain.
"The board has made the right choice. (Greg) has a lot of plans. He is basically an idealist, so he will expect a lot from the people, which is good," he said.
"We have to wait and watch how his temperament matches over a period of time. Whatever has happened has happened on the positive side of India cricket, so I would say it's a growth in Indian cricket."
Srinath said he never wanted to be the pace bowlers' coach with the Indian team. "I didn't show any interest or anything but there were talks going around. Nothing has happened so far, so it's okay," he said.
He, however, said he was going to launch a new coaching programme for the Karnataka State Cricket Association Academy, of which he is a director.
"I have put in a new coaching system in place - called cognitive video-based coaching - with which we will go public very soon. It is completely video-based; very little verbal and maximum visual aids to make them understand cricket very easily," said the ace bowler who is now a freelance television commentator.