Cricket fallout: Captains of Kangaroos, Proteas and Kiwis bow out

The captain of the mighty Australian cricket team Ricky Ponting has stepped down following the failure of his side in the World Cup Cricket 2011. So have the long-time skippers of South Africa Graeme Smith and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori. Their teams also excited the tournament, dashing hopes for any chance of winning the cup that has so far eluded both the countries. South Africa and New Zealand came to South Asia with great hopes of faring well, if not winning the trophy. But South Africa even failed to reach the semi-finals. But what was a kind of ignominy for the reigning champions Australia is that such a strong team this time could not even reach the last four, let alone winning the cup for the fourth time. The World Cup Cricket 2011 has caused cheers for some - particularly the South Asian teams barring Bangladesh, which was the fourth nation from the region in the tournament. While Sri Lanka and India have reached the finals, Pakistan made it to the semi-finals. Bangladesh bowed out before reaching the last eight - the quarter-finals. This is a big failure for the Bangladesh team which is fondly called "Tigers" by the countrymen with love and affection. True, only few had expected Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals, but it was not impossible. But the co- hosts made their somewhat early exit because of their own mistakes that can not be justified. Who would seek to defend the team when they score too paltry runs and easily capitulate? Why did they let the nation down in a humiliating manner? These are the questions that need to be answered. And to achieve that, investigations are important and authorities are reportedly mulling with this idea, which is imperative for the interests of our cricket. Anyway, hats off to Rickey Ponting for relinquishing the captaincy in the aftermath of the Australian debacle. He is a great batsman, who is coming to Bangladesh as a player with the Australian team. Ponting led his country to many victories in the long stint as captain. This time he failed and quite miserably - losing to two South Asian sides - India and Pakistan. As he quit, the Australians including the prime minister showered accolades on him. As the skipper of the "Kangaroos", Ponting led from the front on many occasions leading his side to victory. He has also been a fantastic fielder. But we all want to see him score more runs in tests and one-dayers. Ponting is following Indian great Sachin Tendulkar, although he is a distant second. The "Proteas" are known as "chokers" since they collapse at one stage and have never reached the semi-finals. Luck has also been against the South Africans. Smith is leading the team for several years, taking the side to many successes barring the world cup performance. This time too, the world cup proved unreachable for them as they lost a seemingly favourable encounter to the New Zealand at the quarter-finals. Captain Smith too was not in good form, raising criticisms about his leadership. As such, he quit the one-day captaincy. Daniel Vettori is a superb slow blower and bowlers are not much made captains although some great skippers are not the batsmen. The New Zealand captain has been one such skipper for last few years. But the "Kiwis" were very unfortunate for not crossing the barrier of the semi-finals, which they had reached several times earlier. This time too, they fell short of expectations. We wish all the best for the captains of the three teams, who voluntarily stepped down from stewardship. They all are big names in cricket and we will look forward to see them in action though not as captains. zaglulbss@yanhoo.com