The Rediff Interview / Ajit Wadekar

'India should play to their strengths'

Ajit Wadekar is the man who has been there and done it all. He played for India, captained the side, was selector, chairman of selectors and coach of the national team. Following India's inconsistent performances against South Africa and Kenya in the ongoing tri-series, Ashish Magotra spoke to him to find out what is needed of the team to salvage some pride. After all, he was the coach when the team tour South Africa in 1992-93.

Excerpts:

What is the selection procedure in India like?

The selectors choose players on the basis of performance. But what they also have to keep in mind is the fact that in international cricket what matters most is temperament.

The problem is we have five selectors, all from the different regions. So selection is still on a regional basis. It would be ideal if the selectors do not indulge in regional politics; but they have their jobs to keep.

What do you think of the performance of the Indian bowlers in South Africa?

The Indian bowlers are really not performing well in South Africa. Just not consistent enough. In South Africa, it is important not to experiment. Just bowl line and length. Contain the batsmen, test their patience and the rewards will come.

How do you think the senior bowlers in the side are performing?

Srinath: The man is just not applying himself. He has played 193 ODIs, but he has not learnt anything. He played with Kapil Dev for so long and had the opportunity to learn so much. It is a pity he does not use his vast experience to help the Indian team. You see his shoulders drooping all the time. It's not what you expect from your strike bowler; rather, for that matter, from any bowler.

Kumble: He has been out of international cricket for a lot of time and it is hard to see him hit top form immediately. You may take a lot of wickets in domestic cricket but international cricket is a different proposition altogether. The wickets here are different too. The batsman are not fools and they will look to exploit every loose delivery.

Prasad: He is a bowler with many limitations. He needs a pitch that assists movement, should be a little dry, so that he can use his leg-cutters effectively. Basically, he is too slow a bowler to play in ODIs; you even have tail-enders walking up when he is bowling.

So how do you think we should counter the South Africans?

This is where we have to take a leaf out of the South Africans' book. Our bowling is not up to their standard anyway, so the only thing we can do is maintain a good line and length and hope the batsman makes a mistake.

In fact, I think the Indians should play to their strengths. Go with Harbhajan and Kumble and let the South Africans play spin. They play seamers all the time so they are bound to be better at playing them than the spinners.

Play Harbhajan, because these days it is more of a physcological game then ever before. The fact that he had a very good series against Australia will also come into the picture then.

But don't go by ODI cricket; Test cricket is a different proposition. You will not have a batsman charging a bowler in Tests.

Do you think John Wright should be given a longer tenure?

One year as coach, he did not do a bad job, considering we had a victory over Australia. But then, being coach of the Indian team is very different from coaching, maybe, England, Australia, Pakistan, etc. The reason being the diversity in the Indian team. In the other countries at least all the cricketers have very similar customs and languages. Foreigners might not be aware.

In this case, I prefer having our own cricketers as coaches. Technically, the foreign coaches are better than us, but the basics are the same. All the technical aspects of the game can be learnt at academies around the world.

As a former selector, do you think selectors should get paid?

A very good move. But, then, it has its own implications. They then have to be held accountable for the team's success or failure. If the team doesn't perform, the selectors will have to go.

Interviews

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