Inzamam praises Dravid's captaincy

Inzamam-ul-Haq has praised Rahul Dravid's leadership qualities following India's comprehensive 4-1 one-day series win against Pakistan.

"It goes to Dravid's credit that he has turned his team into a winning combination," Inzamam wrote in his column for the Daily News. "The way he enabled his team make a comeback in the one-dayers shows that he is a cut above the rest as a captain."

In Inzamam's view, the tour of Pakistan had been a great learning curve for Dravid. "I believe like cricketers, captains also gain experience and confidence when they lead their teams in series against traditional rivals because the pressure and tension out there is too much and only (those with) steel nerves can survive,'' he said. "I am sure he will get better on the captaincy front also. The only 'disadvantage' Dravid has is that he will always be compared with his predecessor Sourav Ganguly who is India's most successful captain."

Inzamam, however, heeded Dravid against the capriciousness of success. "Dravid has leadership qualities that should take him to new heights. But I must stress here that captaincy is tagged to the team's success," he said in an interview to PTI. "Therefore his team needs to win on more regular basis and in both forms of the game. Every victory in the lead up to the World Cup counts and matters a lot. So, in that context India are heading in the right direction. Let us see how they perform in the events that follow."

On his own team's task of bouncing back, Inzamam said it was a matter of time before Pakistan would be on the winning road. "I promise the cricket supporters and lovers that, encouraged by the way they have shown solidarity with their national heroes, this same team will soon embark upon a journey of new victories."