Viswanath backs Dhoni as Test captain

Former Indian captain Gundappa Viswanath has said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni should be India's next Test captain. The Indian selectors will meet in Mohali on Tuesday to pick the squad for the rest of the ODIs against Pakistan and they may announce the Test captain as well.

"The wicketkeeper-batsman [Dhoni] has been doing well in all departments including in his new role as skipper and I see no reason to deny him the job in totality," he wrote in the Hindu.

Viswanath cited examples of wicketkeeper-captains like West Indian Gerry Alexander, Pakistan's Moin Khan and Rashid Latif to dismiss concerns that Dhoni would be overburdened if he was given the captaincy in addition to his responsibilities as a keeper.

However, if the selectors were to look beyond Dhoni, wrote Viswanath, they should choose Anil Kumble because he had retired from ODIs and "there would be no real clash with Dhoni's current responsibilities" unlike in the case of other contenders like Sourav Ganguly.

The question of who would captain India's Test team arose after the selectors appointed Dhoni captain of only the Twenty20 and ODI side after Rahul Dravid resigned in September. Sachin Tendulkar was widely tipped to be the Test captain but he declined, citing personal reasons two days before the selectors are scheduled to decide on the position.

Viswanath wrote that he was "shocked" by Tendulkar's refusal to accept the Test captaincy.

"In the context of the team preparing to take on not one but three tough Test nations [Pakistan, Australia and South Africa], he [Tendulkar] should have accepted the job for the team's sake once he was turned to by the selectors."