Laxman should captain India

The question haunting the Indian selectors would be as to who isgoing to captain Team India for the one-dayers?With India goingthrough the throes of being outplayed in the home Test series against NewZealand, the focus is now turning to the triangular One-Daytournament.Sourav Ganguly''s participation in the opening matchagainst New Zealand in Chennai on October 23 is ruled out and he is alsodoubtful for the second one-dayer against Australia in Gwalior, on October 26. Ganguly first underwent a minor surgery for an abscess on his leftthigh at Mohali, two days before the start of the second and final Test againstNew Zealand. He missed the Mohali Test and went for a second surgery in Kolkataon October 17. With Rahul Dravid having a nightmarish debut as Testskipper at Mohali and also failing with the bat in both innings, the selectorshave been caught on the wrong foot. To be fair to Dravid, a captainis as good as his team but even then would it not be too demanding to expect''The Wall'' to captain the side, keep wickets and also come out and scoreruns?Out of the four matches that Dravid has captained in theOne-Dayers, India has won 3 and lost 1 (success rate of 75%). The wins cameagainst Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies but the loss came against NewZealand. More importantly Dravid has never captained againstAustralia.That brings us to the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar whoprivately has always maintained a desire to skipper the Indian side. But thenSachin is also struggling with form and would not be too happy with being acaptain by default for a few matches. He is too big.And then ofcourse Sachin has not been too successful as skipper. When captaining India inthe shorter version of the game Sachin has a success rate of just 35.07 per centwith 23 wins, 43 loses, one tie and no result in 6 matches.AgainstNew Zealand the Master Blaster has won 4 of the six matches that he hascaptained with a success rate of 67.6 per cent.But against the worldconquerors Australia, Sachin''s success rate as skipper is abysmal. He has lost 6and won just 2 with a success rate of just 25 per cent.So if notDravid and Sachin who else? The name that immediately leaps to mind is that ofVVS Laxman. The stylish Hyderabadi batsman has got runs on his comeback trail,has captained in domestic cricket his last stint being as skipper of the India Aside. Laxman also has a cool head on his shoulders and does notseem fazed when the going gets tough. He gives the impression of being languidand a little lazy but inside that tall frame is a mind that is sharp as aneedle. Laxman as skipper would also give a reprieve to Rahul Dravidwho is a reluctant wicketkeeper and even more reluctant skipper!