Sachin unwilling to lead

new delhi: sourav ganguly will, in all probability, stay as captain of the cricket team by default as sachin tendulkar is said to be unwilling to take over the reins until after the 2003 world cup. the national selectors are apparently unhappy with ganguly‘s captaincy, but are not willing to dump him because they have reservations about the likely replacements. they feel that there is no suitable candidate. at the same time, they don’t want to stick their neck out and retain ganguly as captain till the world cup. the selectors initially wanted to keep their options open by retaining ganguly for only two tests against zimbabwe. however, subsequently they made him the captain for the entire series, including the five one-dayers. the selectors feel that only anil kumble and rahul dravid are the possible candidates for the captaincy, but they are not sure if either of them can be a certainty for the one-dayers. the argument advanced against kumble is his none-too-happy strike rate overseas. besides, if there’s no room for a second spinner in the eleven, kumble, as captain, will have to play, not harbhajan singh. in dravid’s case, the selectors do not regard him as a certainty for the one-dayers. besides, they have a problem with his batting position. the only other candidate for the job is v v s laxman, but he is on a comeback trail after missing the last three one-day matches against england. the cricket board’s structure in the country is such that it may not be possible for the selectors to take decisions keeping a long-term perspective in mind. ‘‘plenty of cricket is still to be played and anything can happen by the time the indian team goes to the world cup,’’ said a senior board official.
 sachin unwilling to become captain
 india, zimbabwe have no injury problems
 zimbabwean game plan: bat first, score 450