A bold?move! That’s how former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies opening batsman Daren Ganga views the recent appointment of his countryman, Denesh Ramdin, as the new captain of the regional Test cricket team.
In fact, Ganga, who is now a TV commentator with the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), says the West Indies selectors have again dropped the ball by appointing another captain.
“It’s a big opportunity for him. I can’t say at this point in time if it’s the right decision, but what I can say is that the West Indian selectors are very bold to appoint him as captain,” Ganga said in an interview from Delhi, India, on United Insurance’s Line & Length Cricket Show on Sportsmax.
Ganga, who scored three centuries in 48 Tests, also believed the selectors should have retained Darren Sammy as the 50-over skipper instead of hastily appointing Dwayne Bravo last year.
“I don’t believe the West Indies set-up requires three individual captains. From that very first decision to appoint Dwayne Bravo as the 50-over captain was the wall for Darren Sammy,” Ganga said.
“In my estimation, at that stage, I think Sammy did a fantastic job from taking our cricket from where it was and, as a matter of fact, I believe that 50-over and T20 cricket especially, given the talent we have in the Caribbean, there is not much differentiation in terms of players.”
Ganga further noted that while Ramdin had all the credentials to be a good captain based on his history of leading junior West Indies teams, his job as Test skipper wouldn’t make sense for future development unless the selectors appointed a vice-captain.
Ganga’s choice is Leeward Islands player Kieran Powell, who has been earmarked for the position, although the selectors are yet to name a deputy.
“He is a young player [and] he’s had some success at the Test level. He’s somebody I think has a certain amount of maturity and he has shown signs that he can hold onto leadership and take leadership in good stride with his game. Apart from him, I think it is very difficult to look at anyone else, but we need to put things in place.”