If the string of surprises Indian cricket has kept throwing up in the last few months needed a climax, it came with Sachin Tendulkar's dramatic proclamation at the proverbial last minute that the captaincy of the Test team didn't interest him any longer.

Always a reluctant national skipper — and given his captaincy record, that is no shock! — and particularly in his second stint in 1999, Tendulkar was perfectly justified in turning down what is considered the ultimate honour in Indian cricket, though the men who have occupied the hot seat might have a different tale to tell.

After all, the pressures of captaincy when the hopes of a billion are complemented by the probing eyes of a teeming, rapidly growing media contingent are bound to be enormous, as Tendulkar himself, Sourav Ganguly and more recently Rahul Dravid have found out.

Where Tendulkar could have shown more maturity is in the manner in which he turned the offer down. As good as having committed himself to the captaincy when he was approached by selection panel chairman Dilip Vengsarkar nearly a month back, the 34-year-old made a completely unexpected about turn, leaving not just Vengsarkar red-faced but also sending Indian cricket into a tizzy.

Having grappled with the prospect of captaining the Test side for at least the next six months — he is believed to have asked for a 'longer run' when he confabulated with Vengsarkar on this issue — Tendulkar had made up his mind even before leaving for the Guwahati one-dayer that he didn't want the job.

A day before India and Pakistan renewed rivalries, he called up fellow Mumbaikar and Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar to inform him of his decision. Much like Dravid had done in September.

Only, unlike Dravid who didn't tell the Board who he thought should be his successor, Tendulkar deemed it fit to voice his opinion, seemingly throwing his weight behind one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. As huge as Tendulkar is in Indian cricket, whether it falls in his domain to anoint an Indian captain is open to question. That is the job of the selectors, one would imagine.

Needless to say, it is not binding on the selection panel to take Tendulkar's comments on board. As he has so emphatically shown, and particularly in the last month or so, Vengsarkar has a mind of his own and isn't averse to coaxing and cajoling his four fellow selectors into seeing his point of view. When the five wise men meet in Mohali on Thursday, their job will be to set aside the embarrassment caused by the Tendulkar pull-out, and think seriously about the options at hand.

The Test series against Pakistan is less than a fortnight away; next month, India travel to Australia for four Test matches, and upon their return from the Antipodes, will run into South Africa in a three-Test series on home soil, in between myriad other one-day commitments. Three hugely challenging assignments, the rapidity with which one follows the other merely magnifying the enormity of the task lying ahead of the new captain as much as the team.

Dhoni is the unquestioned front-runner to assume the Test captaincy also, though whether that is the path to tread should occupy the attentions of the selectors. The Jharkhandi has acquitted himself with great credit as one-day captain, innovative and unafraid to back his instincts, and showing that he is — thus far — unaffected by the cares of captaincy.

Dhoni's experience of the national captaincy is restricted to a handful of Twenty20 internationals, and an equal number of 50-over games. In that period, he has unveiled his own ideas, carried the team with him and without a doubt has the respect of his peers and his seniors. In fact, Tendulkar is learnt to have told the men who matter that the seniors are prepared to go out of their way to make Dhoni comfortable, and give him all the support and more that he requires.

Skippering the Test side is an entirely different ball game. Not even so much as in the long run, Dhoni might perhaps be forced to contemplate shedding the wicket-keeping gloves if he eyes a long stint as the leader of the pack. To be the wicket-keeper as well as the captain day in and day out is bound to take so much out of him that, in the worst case scenario, Dhoni the player might be lost to Indian and international cricket. However remote that possibility might appear. Is it a risk worth taking?

Who else, then? If the selectors are looking at grooming Dhoni to take over the reins in the next 12-18 months, then two candidates come readily to mind. Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman both have proven leadership credentials, though the former has only led India in one one-dayer and the latter's role at the international level has been limited to leading the Indians in their tour game in Potchefstroom last December.

At 37, Kumble's age might be held against him, as also the fact that he is a bowler and that India's fascination with bowler-captains ended with Kapil Dev in the late 80s. Laxman might be the man to go to. Often considered — and treated as — dispensable, the responsibility of captaincy could work wonders for him. To suggest that his place in the Test eleven isn't certain is the work of mischievous forces with several motives, though Laxman too knows in his heart of hearts that the vice-captaincy of the Test team in South Africa was no more than a convenient sop.

So Dhoni it is most likely to be. But hey, this is the season of surprises, isn't it?!