Rahul Dravid

Bangalore: Rahul Dravid believes that any cricketer wearing the Indian captain’s hat has a shelf life.

Breaking silence over his decision to make himself available as an ordinary batsman only, Dravid revealed on Monday that the thought of stepping down as captain had crossed his mind after India’s early exit from the World Cup. But he only had seriously begun to consider relinquishing the post towards the end of the ODI series against England.

Dravid, having been in the hot seat for 23 months, eventually met BCCI chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on Thursday and informed him of his decision.

The stylist batsman, who characteristically chose his words with great caution, refused to comment on who should succeed him, lobbing the ball into the selectors’ court.

Following are the excerpts

Q Is it true that the thought of quitting captaincy started after the World Cup debacle?

A No. But after the World Cup I felt responsible for our early exit and I had also said so then and the thought did cross my mind. But I still felt that though the World Cup was disappointing we were not that bad a team and things could be turned around.

The suddenness of your decision has surprised everyone. When did you first think about it?

I began to consider it towards the end of the ODI series in England. But I didn’t want to take any decision there without speaking to my family and wanted to give it a few days back home to see if I felt differently before taking a final call.

This was the reason I couldn’t tell even the players about it because it was a decision I did not want to take lightly or without being sure.

What prompted you to take the decision?

I had done the job for about two years and they have been pretty eventful couple of years. Obviously it takes a lot out of you and I felt that I was not enjoying it.

The decision was personal and based on my observation whether I would be able to give it my very best. Finally, you have to be comfortable yourself that you will be giving it your best and not going through the motions which will not be fair to the team.

You have been a committed player and a fighter. Many are surprised that you have thrown in the towel just before tough series against Australia and Pakistan...

Every series is tough in international cricket and we have been playing constantly all the time. So it’s not as if there is any break there. There is no real right time for a decision like this except for the fact that you must truly enjoy the job and be committed to it and know that you can give it your all.

There is a shelf life to the captaincy in India in which you can give it your best. Maybe the shelf lives are becoming shorter as time goes by.

What has been the most frustrating and joyous moments of your captaincy?

I haven’t had much time to sit down and analyse the last two years. But in terms of results, obviously the World Cup was a disappointment as was the last Test match in Cape Town, while Test victories in the West Indies and England and the really good one-day run we had had last year were the highlights.

Who do you think should succeed you? The names doing the rounds are Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni…

I will obviously not like to comment on it and it’s a decision best left to the selectors.

(PTI)