Dravid appointed captain till World Cup

Rahul Dravid's 100th Test match dawned sweet as the Board of Control for Cricket in India appointed him captain of the Test and one-day teams till the 2007 World Cup. In an almost unprecedented move Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, announced that the national selection panel decided it was best Dravid be appointed captain till the end of the World Cup.

Traditionally, India only name the captain for a series, and only recently they broke with convention and gave Dravid the reins for two one-day series, against Sri Lanka and South Africa. Only once in the past has an Indian selection committee appointed a captain for a lengthy duration, when Mohammad Azharuddin got the job for the whole year in 1998.

The selectors, who met in Mumbai late on Friday evening, thought it was best to give Dravid a long-term tenure so that there would be stability in the team as India prepared for the forthcoming World Cup. Dravid, has led India in 32 ODIs so far and has an impressive 18-13 win-loss record. Of these 14 came when he stood in for Sourav Ganguly. As full-time captain he has won 11 out of 18 games, a win percentage of almost 65, beginning with the series against Sri Lanka at home in late 2005.