There is no more coveted job in Indian sport - indeed perhaps in Indian life - than the cricket captaincy. But there is none that is also more controversial and hazardous. Cricket is India's most magnificent obsession - even greater than films I would argue - and arouses extreme passions and reactions among its followers and administrators. In triumph, a captain gets limitless adulation, but heaven help him if the team fails. After the twin overseas victories in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, for instance, there was a giant bat commemorating this performance erected in Ahmedabad;three years later in 1974, when Wadekar's side was whitewashed in England, the same bat was vandalized. Cricket captaincy in India has thrown up some fascinating characteristics. The first captain (in 1932) was Col CK Nayudu, a magnetic personality who inspired generations of players across the country. In a time when royals were patrons and players, for Nayudu to become captain was an achievement in itself.