The national cricket selectors will meet in Mumbai on Tuesday to choose a new Indian captain following Rahul Dravid's [Images] surprise resignation. Speculation is rife that Sachin Tendulkar [Images] could be offered the high-pressure job.
The five selectors, with former captain Dilip Vengsarkar at the helm, face a catch-22 situation. Will they move forward and appoint Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images], or set the clock back and hand Tendulkar the job for a third stint?
Tendulkar's record as captain -- four wins in 25 Tests and 23 in 73 ODIs - is not encouraging, but the selectors could still turn to him to tide over the leadership crisis.
In a week's time, India host World champions Australia in a seven-match ODI series followed by a full series against Pakistan. It remains to be seen whether the selectors believe that the 34-year-old can handle the additional responsibility of leading the side, given his recent spate of injuries. After all, he recently admitted that back to back one-dayers are taking a toll on his body.
If the selectors, in their collective wisdom, feel that the burden of ODI captaincy need not be thrust upon the champion batsman at the twilight of his career, then they have the option of taking the unprecedented step of splitting the job and offering the limited-overs' leadership to Dhoni, who also doubles up as wicketkeeper.
Dhoni is the logical candidate for the ODI job if the selectors decide to break the high-profile task to two, though there are other claimants, like Sourav Ganguly [Images], to fall back upon as a stop-gap arrangement.
Other names like V V S Laxman [Images] have also been swirling around for the Test team captaincy, the Hyderabad batsman's name being suggested by former Australia captain Ian Chappell.
Who do you feel? Should Tendulkar lead the side in both forms of the game, or should Dhoni take charge of the ODI team? Is there any other candidate who deserves the job?
Have your say!
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