A couple of days before the Indian cricket team left for Colombo to play a triangular series at the start of a new season, captain Rahul Dravid chatted with G. Rajaraman during a drive from the team hotel to his apartment in Bangalore. The 33-year-old shares his philosophy of leadership as he looks back at the year gone by and at the challenges ahead, also revealing how he does not let captaincy affect his batsmanship. Excerpts:
How do you look back on your first year as captain of the Indian team?
How do you look at the challengesin the year ahead? What are your expectations?
How much stress does captaincy bring? Have you experienced the darker side, the negative aspects of captaincy in having to make some tough decisions—dropping V.V.S. Laxman, keeping Anil Kumble out of the one-day squad? Were you ready for that?
Has all this led to some frustration?
How do you cope with these challenges or frustrations?
Is there perfection or is it a quest for perfection?
How have you been able to shut out captaincy when batting?
Do you, like Steve Waugh writes in his book, feel alienated from the boys after your elevation as captain?
Tell us about vice-captain Virender Sehwag. Is he proving a good link between you and the other players?
Has John Wright opened a can of worms for you, writing, among other things, about the declaration in the Multan Test in 2004?
