Leave team-building to the captain

Dileep Premachandran, writing in the Guardian, criticises Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, for using the IPL as a vehicle for his self-promotion, as well as for his comments about team captain Rahul Dravid.

Before everything went up in smoke, perhaps appropriate given their TV commercial, the owner of the Indian Premier League's Royal Challengers lapped up the attention. No matter what the function or the photo-shoot, Vijay Mallya's portly frame would be there, providing stark contrast to the athletic physiques that surrounded him. He even drafted in cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins, missing no opportunity to be photographed with them.

In response to Mallya's statement: "Unfortunately in cricket, unlike in any other sport, the captain is the boss," Premachandran says…

Unfortunately? Is Mallya suggesting that he was better equipped than Dravid to select a side? Things may not have gone Bangalore's way for a variety of reasons, but Dravid has forgotten more about cricket than Mallya and his number-crunchers, some of whom have allegedly been sitting in on team meetings, will ever know.

When I spoke to Dravid in Mohali on Monday, hours before another humiliating defeat against the King's XI from Punjab, he was still in shock at the owner's outburst. Weeks of being ridiculed over the "Test" team that he was leading had clearly taken their toll, but he would not be drawn into a riposte.