Short-term pain for long-term gain

When a person like Rahul Dravid gives up the Indian captaincy, straight after a historic series win in England, you wonder about the kind of toll the job takes. Dravid is a methodical, organised, intense and introspective cricketer. He had been groomed for the leadership role for some time, and so knew what he was in for. And yet, after two years in the job, he couldn't take it anymore.

The selectors have chosen to look to the future in handing Mahendra Singh Dhoni the one-day captaincy. Now they must give him the time and space he needs to grow into the job.

Dhoni is unlike Dravid in all the obvious ways. He rides a big, fast motorbike, wears his hair fashionably long, and isn't quite the model of technical correctness with bat in hand. And yet, if you got close to him, Dhoni the man isn't desperately different from Dravid. He is mild-mannered, earnest, hardworking, and keen to learn. And he'll need some breathing space to learn on the job, not least because he's been thrown in at the deep end, in a sink-or-swim situation, perhaps sooner than expected.

The first indication - and it should be hailed as a positive one - that there was change in the air came from the three elder statesmen in the side, Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, when they removed themselves from contention for the ICC World Twenty20. That took a tough decision out of the hands of the selectors. For those who have watched Indian cricket over the last decade and a half, it's strange to see a team without even one of the three in it.

But the future of Indian cricket belongs to other men. The best years of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly are behind them. Given their obvious pedigree and quality, you can still expect the odd jaw-droppingly good performance, but the main body of their work is done. India have been spoiled by having three cricketers of this quality, backed up by the likes of Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman, all at one go. The inevitable flip side is that all these players will leave at around the same time. And it wouldn't be mere nostalgia when, a couple of years down the line, you look back and say, "They don't make them like the class of '96" - the year Ganguly and Dravid joined a Tendulkar who was hitting the high notes.

Given this scenario, the responsibility that Dhoni has been vested with is a grave one. If India are serious about rebuilding - and there's going to be no easy way, rather no way at all, to fill the vacuum left by the departure of these heavyweights - then they must be ready to take some short-term pain in search of long-term gain. Dhoni is going to have to preside over a time when games are lost while players are built.

The one factor in his favour, although the public with its selective memory may not agree, is that India are barely world-beaters in one-day cricket. While they have enjoyed patches of strong results where they have wrapped up series in quick time, winning the first three games of a five-match series, or four of a seven-match series, they have never shown consistent signs of improving as a team. There have been personnel changes, but barring a couple of young fast bowlers you'd struggle to pick someone who has emerged fresh and cemented a place for himself. In short, India win some and lose some, with no real method to the madness.

With this as a starting point, Dhoni should have no trouble building in earnest. The problem, though, is that this is easier said than done. As Dravid and Greg Chappell found out, it's all very well trying to ring in change when the team is winning everything in sight. At the first instance of loss, the board and the selectors find it impossible to resist the temptation to make knee-jerk changes that reverse the - pardon the use of a dirty word - processes put in place.

One thing in Dhoni's favour is that he seems to have inherited a happy team. From all accounts the dressing room is a more relaxed and happy place than it was a year ago. There's little or no talk of cliques or rifts in the team. The three senior pros, the odd ache and pain apart, are settled into their roles and performing well enough to keep questions about retirement at bay. Equally, there's no one questioning the choice of Dhoni as captain. It's merely the timing - and this is no fault of his - that has come under scrutiny: Dhoni has been fast-tracked into a position he might have been eased more gently into in different circumstances.

Now that the decision to give Dhoni the job has been made, judgment should be suspended for the moment. Sure, everyone is keen to see just what sort of leader of men he will make, but till he is secure in the job he should not be put on trial. Instead, he must be supported from the outside. The selectors need to work closely with him, understanding that his style will be different from Dravid's, and give him the teams he wants, to the extent possible. The board must seriously consider putting a solid administration in place around the team, allowing them to concentrate on the business of bat and ball. The senior players have a critical role, ensuring that the dressing room is a stable one.

All this has never happened before, and it would be incredibly optimistic to expect it to happen now. But when making a fresh start at least there's room for hope.