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The Rediff Interview / Bishen Singh Bedi

'We are not performing well because there is no planned strategy behind our deeds or misdeeds'

Shobha Warrier

I met Bishen Singh Bedi at the MRF Pace Foundation practice ground where he along with Erappally Prasanna was giving expert advice to some young Australian cricketers, who have been sent by the Australian academy to learn the finer points of spin bowling and batting against spin.

It was a hot and sultry morning in Madras but even at his age, Bedi was on the ground till 12.30 in the afternoon, without even taking a break. One could see him wiping sweat all the time. I stood away from the ground and waited for him to finish his work. But when I saw some of the youngsters packing their bags and moving towards the bus, I ran to the ground to meet the legendary spinner.

We decided to sit under a tree and talk. As we walked, he called a young boy and said, 'Thanni... cold thanni.' "So, you have picked up a few words in Tamil?"

Indeed, I was amused to hear him say thanni. 'You have to..if you want cold water,' he laughed aloud. Immediately a bottle of cold mineral water arrived, and once his thirst was quenched, we started talking.

Is there any difference in the attitude of these young Australians and the Indian cricketers?

Well, their attitude is different, as they have come here to learn. It is worth commenting that they have come such a long way from home to learn. This is the age that these youngsters can pick a lot of finer aspects of the game.

Don't you feel here in India, we are not utilizing the experience of the senior cricketers?

I don't know. I like to ask you, why are we doing it? The Australians want to utilise our services. But what about the Indians? That's my question to you. It is not that we have got any hang-ups. This is a craft, which to my mind is international. I have talked to Australians, I have talked to New Zealanders, I have talked to the English. I have talked to the Pakistanis.

Did any young Indian cricketer come to you and ask for advice?

Yes, some of them do. Yes, I have talked to some Indians who came forward. See, you must have a very open mind as far as learning is concerned. Only if you keep your mental doors open, you can learn. You have to imbibe the philosophy of learning, first of all.

Do you feel Indians become complacent after they reach a certain level and close their minds to ideas?

I think you have really hit the nail on the head! They do become complacent, and once you become complacent, you start taking things for granted. And that is not a very good sign.

Is that the reason why the Indian team is not performing well?

Well, we are not performing well because there is no planned strategy behind our deeds or misdeeds.

Can we say, starting from the very selection process itself?

Starting from top to bottom. Any culture, to my mind -- good or bad -- stems from top and trickles downward. Any outstanding fellow, whether he is a cricketer or hockey player or an athlete or a swimmer or a doctor or a lawyer, comes from the bottom. He raises his head from the grassroots level. But all culture comes from the top. Indian cricket is suffering at the moment from lack of good culture, which can give good values. I mean, value oriented cricket culture.

How can we change this? How will you be able to inculcate good culture in them?

Yes, we can change this. The public who comes to watch the game should feel that the people who are running the show are accountable. They should be made accountable. This is not the age when you need honorary secretaries and presidents and treasurers. People who run the show should be professionals. Now, you are doing a job for your organisation. Are you doing it for free?

No

You are being paid for it, right?

Right.

And, you waited here for good two-and-a-half to three hours. This is what professionalism is. If you were working as an honorary journalist, you would have gone home early. Okay? So, this is the difference.

You mean, people who know the game should be there at the top; professionals?

That's right. It helps. I have never known a chap running a medical clinic without him learning medicine! I have not a seen a doctor practicing law! These are specified fields. So is cricket. We are competing at a very high professional level and we need professionalism from the top to the bottom.

Do you feel Indians are not professional enough in their approach to the game?

No, we are not. If the administrative set up is amateur, how can you have professional cricketers? And our first class cricket, mind you, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, etc are all amateur. Nobody is contracted to play. If you are good enough, you play, that's all. But if you are selected to play at the international level, you are able to make sufficient money. But making money doesn't make you a professional. It is your commitment that makes you a professional.

Is it because they work for some organisation and play cricket only as a pastime that their attitude is not that of professionals?

That's the impression that we get, but cricket is not a pastime anymore. No, it is not a pastime, because you spend a lot of your time for it. A lot of money is also involved. If you are playing club cricket, yes, it is a pastime. But if you are playing at the international level, it is not a pastime.

But most cricketers work for some organisation..

I will say it is good if a public sector or a private sector can offer them jobs so that they can play without feeling insecure. When they are not insecure, they can go and play cricket and put their heart and soul to the game. By putting heart and soul, I mean doing your work with honestly and integrity. Have you ever heard of a phrase 'head and soul'? It is only heart and soul!

See, this facility is not available in England or Australia. Here players have jobs; they are also playing cricket. I think Indians have the best of both worlds and yet their attitude is appalling. Why? Somebody, somewhere on the line has to take the credit or the blame for it.

In the Indian cricket team, you have very outstanding world-class individual players. But as team, we don't perform well. Why?

(Laughs) Cricket is a team game basically. So, I like to look at it as a team game and if some of these individuals have been made bigger than the game and bigger than the team, I think the fault lies with the media and the people who make these stupid ratings. They have Ceat ratings, they have Pepsi rating and so on. How can you rate an individual in a team game?

So, you feel they should only rate the team like they have rated the Australian team as the best team.

They are the number one. But just look at the ratings, we have four Indians in the top four or five, but where does the team stand? The team is number six! How can the players be at number three, four and five when the team is placed much lower? So, there is something wrong somewhere in the calculations. I don't know how it works but I don't approve of it.

Now, let me ask you something about captaincy. The selectors chose Tendulkar when he was unwilling to take up the captaincy. How important is the role of the captain?

See, in cricket, the captain is the ultimate. He is far more important than the coach.

In one of your columns, you wrote recently that you don't approve of Saurav Ganguly as a captain, as his body language is that of an aloof and arrogant person...

I didn't mean that. I was trying to analyse him. He has to be one of the boys. He shouldn't be away from the boys. As a player, it was reported that he probably did not give hundred per cent as a team member. But you can't do that when you are the captain.

What is your opinion now, that is, after watching him perform as a captain?

Still a long way to go. It is too early to assess him.

After yourself, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar, we have not produced any quality spin bowlers. Why? Kumble has taken wickets but experts do not rate him very high as a spin bowler...

I will say most of these players are victims of one-day cricket. One-day cricket will never throw up outstanding talent.

Bowlers?

Batsmen also. Especially middle order batsmen. Also close in fielders. The only good job that the one-day cricket has done is, it has improved the overall athleticism of the players in the outfield. It has improved running between the wickets. I can't think of one more point. It has destroyed the spinner, it has destroyed the middle order, it has destroyed close-in catching. Anyway I have never been a great fan of one-day cricket. The real test is the Test match. And, you ask any cricketer about his preference, he will say, Test cricket.

But there is more money in one-day cricket. People prefer watching one-day cricket and not Test matches as one-day cricket gives them instant happiness and thrill.

I agree that there is a lot of money in one-day cricket. Somebody said, one-day cricket is one-night stand! (laughs) It is as simple as that. But one-day cricket will not leave any impact.

What kind of future do you see for Indian cricket?

Indian cricket will always have a good future because passion for the game is so high among the people who play at the lower level; those who play without any help from the administrators.

Will they get a chance to come up?

They will. They will. We will always have a Sachin Tendulkar or a Gavaskar or a Kapil Dev. Somebody will come up despite the system.

Photographs: Sanjay Ghosh

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