Positives

from the just concluded Mumbai - Karnataka Ranji game

1. Mumbai 3 pts Karnataka 1
2. Anil Kumble is DEFINITELY not India captain material irrespective of what Sanjay Manjrekar says.
3. Rahul Dravid worked himself into some semblance of form.Here's hoping that he can pile on the runs against Himachal. There will be nothing better going into the first test against Pakistan than the knowledge that Rahul Dravid is stroking the ball as well as he ever did.

And finally, what a man!

Anil Kumble's captaincy

and why he wont be getting my vote for India captain.

First reason

	R Vinay Kumar	15	5	37	0	2.46
	NSC Aiyappa	13	2	43	2	3.30	(6nb)
	B Akhil	12	1	45	0	3.75
	A Kumble	22	2	85	1	3.86	(2nb)
	SB Joshi	20	1	67	3	3.35
	C Raghu	3	0	20	0	6.66

Despite being not the best bowler on view, Anil Kumble bowled more overs than others on the second day.
Add to this the fact that he brought himself on as early as the 13th over and the warnings signs are already there that he is going to over bowl himself in the game.

Reason 2

Fall of wickets1-118 (Jaffer, 33.5 ov), 2-121 (Rahane, 34.5 ov), 3-125 (Kukreja, 35.2 ov), 4-173 (Muzumdar, 52.6 ov), 5-217 (Nayar, 59.3 ov), 6-231 (Powar, 61.4 ov), 7-274 (Naik, 79.4 ov)

When defending 195, how does a team allow the opposition to get onto a 100 plus run opening partnership?

And when you have the opposition down at 4/173 and then 6/231 with only the tail to follow, what on God's green earth are the opposition doing still batting at the end of the day's play?

The one thing that particularly upset me about Rahul Dravid's captaincy was his innate ability to let the game drift.

The inability to force the issue and to hold on to the initiative is a particular failing of Indian captains and from what has been on display so far, Anil Kumble is neither better nor worse than his predecessors.

Great bowler he is, but captain he is not.

And finally, can someone this explain to me

Vijay Bharadwaj, Karnataka's coach, wore a rueful expression at the end of the day but refused to criticise the bowlers, saying that the pitch had eased up considerably. "It has gone flatter. I won't blame my bowlers."

How does a wicket go from a first day rank turner with all signs of not lasting the distance to becoming a "flatter" wicket the very next day?

Sudhir Naik believes that the Karnataka bowlers did not give the ball enough revolutions to purchase turn and that is the difference between the two teams. And that makes more cricketing sense than "It has gone flatter. I won't blame my bowlers."

I mean, seriously, is this the best explanation Vijay Bharadwaj has for his team squandering away the advantage?