Gaekwad, Dravid, Dias and other subjects

The Harsha Bhogle column:
Karun Kandoi: karunkk@hotmail.com: Totally convienced. Hope everybody will realize this for sake of our country and cricket.



The Rahul Dravid interview:
Rama Ramachandran: nikkidata@vsnl.com: Hi, It was a good piece by Rahul. He talks straight very much like he plays. As far as the WCC99 team goes, we have to change our strategy a bit. We need guys who can work around the ball a bit for singles, and rotate the strike at the top. A guy like Dravid can be used effectively at the top of the innings along with Saurav, and spare Sachin for the middle order, say No.4. Ajit Agarkar, who is a clean striker of the ball, could be our surprise pinch hitter, who could make a big impact in this WCC99. Since Ajay is in terrific form now, and Azhar is groping around for that elusive form (remember he was in bad shape even during our last trip to England), Ajay should go at No.5, and Azhar should be like an insurance at No.6, just like Sri Lanka used Roshan Mahanama (an otherwise opener till then, and having a slump in form) during the last World Cup, to great effect. The team could then be like this:

1. Saurav Ganguly 2. Rahul Dravid 3. Ajit Agarkar 4. Sachin Tendulkar 5. Ajay Jadeja 6. Mohd. Azharuddin 7. Robin Singh 8. Nayan Mongia 9. Javagal Srinath 10.Anil Kumble 11.Venkatesh Prasad 12th Man: Debhashish Mohanty

The pace attack would be taken care of by Srinath, Prasad & Agarkar. The seam bowling will be taken care of by Saurav, Robin, Jadeja and Sachin. Spin will be in the hands of Kumble, Sachin and Dravid.

This would be the best team to play, but against South Africa, one could drop Robin and bring in Chopra.

I know there will be 500 million suggested combinations, but this could be a winning combination in the circumstances. Ramesh should be tried only against weak teams, as his footwork is awful, and on a seaming pitch, he will cut a sorry figure, as his defence is pitiable. Mohanty could be very handy too.

That's all for now.

The Rahul Dravid interview:
Tatu: kayparis@excite.fr: I didn't know about your magazine. Just recd. it today thru a friend. It's pretty good.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Aseem Rangnekar: arangnekar@yahoo.com: Anshuman Gaekwad is a weak minded, mediocre apology for a team manager. Like the equally pathetic Azharuddin, he provides a highly customised excuse for every Indian failure. The Pakistanis have Akram, we have Azhar. The Pakistanis had Miandad, we have Gaekwad. Is it just me or just anyone else see a glaring disparity in their respective competitive spirits and drive and desire to win?

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Srinivas: smurthy01@sprynet.com: "Ajit Agarkar was not on that tour, and we lacked penetration". Mr.Gaekwad, does it mean that you are saying Srinath and Prasad are two bowlers who cannot "penetrate"? I thought we lost our matches in New Zealand because of our poor batting, despite some excellent performances by a few of our players!

Guest column - High stakes poker:
Raj: raj_sridhar@hotmail.com: This article gives a good insight into the behavior of erstwhile Paki captains. But Mr.Hussain would do better to remember that Miandad is no saint. One of the duties of a coach is to instil team-spirit and ensure that each and every player is comfortable. Some glib talk is required here. Not the "rough and ready tongue" that is part of Javed's armoury. This weapon was instrumental in Javed not having as long and successful a stint as captain as he would have liked. Such people are good players, not leaders (or coaches).



Guest column -- Leadership is the key:
sulabh: sulabhs@hotmail.com: what a wonderful article, showing us the facts and telling the indian team the right thing. These kind of articles should be sent to the indian team and specially there captian so that even they can get some inspiration from this. Once again a beautiful article and writers like this should write more often on rediff.

The Harsha Bhogle column:
SANTOSH PAWAR: santi@mcbl.iisc.ernet.in: Dear Harsha Bhogle, This reply comes a little late as the Indian team has already landed in England and there's no way any changes can be made in the composition as well as Captaincy of the team. But that doesn't change the facts regarding Azharuddin's captaincy. Sure, we and our wishes, are behind our Indian team, but one thing is for sure, that we don't want to see the performances that the Indian team has put on display in the last two months which is nothing short of lack-lustre, spineless, confidence-denter of a billion Indian Cricket fans and lackadaisical. No, that doesn't mean that we want the Indian team to win every match and the World Cup and return or else we are going to make Indian Cricketer's life miserable on return, no its not that. The least we expect is to go down fighting, there should at least be grace in the defeats and not the Indian heads hanging in shame. Coming to Azzu Bhai's captaincy, he may be the most successful captain India has ever had, but don't forget that he has been successful only on Indian soil, and there are only rare events when any Captain for that matter has failed on Indian soil while on foreign soil Azharuddin's record as Captain is as dismal as any other Indian Captain. Now since he has been the longest serving Captain, he ought to be the most successful also, as in Indian soil, India rarely loses. That much for his success as Indian Captain. Coming to the reasons for success, well last more than a year or so, there's this one-man-army called Tendulkar which has razed every opposition to pulp and single handedly won, forget matches, but tournaments for India. On the background of this the faulty captaincy of Azharuddin has been shadowed and that was not realised until this "one-man-army" was out of the game due to injury. Azzu's impotent captaincy has done so much damage to Indian Cricket team and the Cricket fans' confidence that it was a foregone assumption by one and all that even minnows Kenya is going to thrash India in the World Cup, till such point that Jadeja came in for the job. India was competing with its own results of failures, match after match, under Azzu bhai's captaincy and trying to lose worse and worse. Jadeja brought a fresh wave of confidence in the teams' players and the fans and the way India fought those matches, showed that all is not lost for India, and that again was till Azzu bhai came back in the Pepsi Cup final and there India was, back to the sinking depths it has embraced for the last two months against Pakistan. Match after Match, Azzu's prematch comments were, "last failure is behind us and our team morale is high and we are looking forward to winning this game and more" and postmatch comments were "we didn't bat well, field well, bowl well and the opponent played beter than us" . He should also have added that his own performance and captaincy was pathetic and awful which is the major cause of India's defeats. How come a Wasim Akram can raise the Pakistan side from dust to the skies, by his captaincy? How come you and others talk of captaincy there? And when India has been going from bad to worse, all of you including Azzu bhai has been harping "Cricket is a team game, one person does not affect the teams' victory and defeat". These are all saving-the-skin kind of statements. Ask Akram and see the absence of Tendulkar and one knows how much does one man mean to the whole team and the country. We all have seen it. Azharuddin should have not only been kicked out of Captaincy but out of the Indian team as well for the World Cup. What is his performance as a Captain and as a batsman for the Indian team in the last one year or so? In batting, he plays shots like a idiot who has never played cricket in his life before, and that too when he is expected to play a captain's knock and save the team? How many times has this Azzu saved India from the jaws of defeat and pulled India out of nowhere to the doors of victory, at least i don't remember any such occassion. Even as a captin he hasn't come to the teams rescue any time. The only time he played a bit responsibly was when he was recalled after being kicked out of the team from the Independence Cup. Once that was over, he has been back to his miserable show of batsmanship and these days its a pity watching him play. I am sure the World Cup captaincy has come to him only because Tendulkar refused the Vice-captaincy in NewZealand tour and the sparkling of Jadeja as Captian came a little too late as Azzu Bhai was already placed on that saddle, and it could not be changed. Harsha Bhogle, if you want to see Azzu's performance as captain, read Prem Panicker's review of the game at this very site, whenever India plays, and you will find what kind of captaincy he was doing. Ask any average Indian fan and he will tell you about his captaincy. Ya, its no use now discussing about it, but we only hope, that some kind of sense prevails on Azzu Bhai, and he lifts the morale of the team by leading, and i literally mean leading, the Indian team from the front in all aspects of the game. Only then can India even think of going into the supersix league and think beyond that stage in the World Cup. Or else we just will have to listen to the prerecorded cassette from Azzu Bhai " we didn't bat well, field..........." and thats the last thing me or the Indian Cricket fan wants to hear now.

The Rahul Dravid interview:
Roshan D: droshan@hotmail.com: I think Rahul is a thinking cricketer..just like Jadeja...Little bit of aggression is needed from his side if he has to get on top of his bowlers..No doubt Rahul has the ability to lead the Indian side one day.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Lalit: ylalit@hotmail.com: Can Mr. Gaekwad tell me why we can't perform against Pak?

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Raj: raj_m98@yahoo.com: Mr. Gaekwaad,

You always have excuses for anything that goes wrong. Rather than giving excuses, it would be better if you come up with good strategies against the other teams in our group. But I seriously doubt your capabilities.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Mahesh: jmahesh@hotmail.com: Gaekwad is absolutely Justified in supporting his captian. I think we Indians expect too much from our players. We want them to win everytime they walk into the field, forgetting that players too have their personal high's and low's. I wish Azhar and his team the very best of luck.I know and believe the world cup will be ours. Jai Hind

The Rahul Dravid interview:
Chandra: chandraks@hotmail.com: I read both the parts of the Interview. The second part too much questioning on Sledging. Instead Shariff would have asked on the Strategies part of India and what they have in Mind about the World Cup' 99. Particularly tackling the Swing in England. What are the steps they are taking to improve the batting like that ? Thaks, Chandra.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
amol: amol_patwardhan@hotmail.com: Anshuman seems to be very reluctant to agree that our team has not been performing to its potential. I cannot believe that he feels drawing the series against NZ is good enough. If the Manager himself has such mediocre expectations we cannot blame the players for lacking the desire and fire to win consistently.

The Rahul Dravid interview:
pandiarajan: pandiarajan@hotmail.com: Open, Clean and focused

The Roy Dias interview :
JAYAKUMAR JANAKIRAMAN: jaykumarj89@hotmail.com: I don't agree with diaz that , Luck plays an important role in fielding, it is the effort. Example is set by South Africans JAY

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Patric: pbenzi@hotmail.com: No one is accusing no one. Agreed that we were not playing with the full strength. But, is that an excuse for not winning against a team like New Zealand. Ok. Agreed that we lost because we did not have Tendulkar and Azhar. But, we win three matches and then for the finals, we have Azhar - a man with such a vast experience- and we lose it. No, I am not blaming Azhar for our loss. Our team batted badly. But, after two early wickets, what an experienced person would have done. See the history. In the infamous World Cup semifinal (1996), after we lost few wickets, Tendulkar curbed his usual self and started playing very judiciously. It is unfortunate that he got out in just a flash of second, credits to Kalu. Recently, in the same Sharjah tourney, in the first match, after losing 4 wickets, did not Robin and Dravid stand their without flaying the attack so that they stay there for 50 overs. I would have preferred Azhar staying there for the 50 overs instead of going for such a bad shot. And, what the coach did all these days for Azhar is getting out for that particular shot for quite sometime and nothing has been done. If that is not sort out, Azhar will be getting out easily in England for the ball is going to swing. The coach should, yes, should be optimistic. But, I would have preferred some other way of being optimistic. That we are not technically sound against real pace, so we are trying our best so that we can face the fiery Allan Donald properly. We won against England is not important for we are not against England in a one-day tourney, but this is, damn, a World Cup. So, instead of finding lame silver linings, I hope, our team learns from the mistakes and get ready to face the likes of Donald, Pollock, etc., for we can't give excuses there that we did everything badly AS USUAL. We have to win and first, let us learn from our mistakes, dear Coach. All the best for our team. Even if we don't win, does not matter, make sure that we are giving our best. And, as an Indian, I hope you people come with the World Cup.

The Rahul Dravid interview:
God in Heaven: god_inheaven@mailcity.com: Dravid,When a critic tells something that should not deter you,you should fight and prove him wrong. During one day games if you see quick wickets fall that does not mean that you should defend and settle the sinking ship,in fact when you defend the bowler tend to bowl a more better line so that you are not able to score runs.Once if you diturb his line by wacking a four or a six his thicking will automaticall change. try doing this once atleast.Don't be bothered if your will be in the team only because you score runs all the best

The game of the century:
Shridhar: shridhar@bom3.vsnl.net.in: Clear Message of Wise Holistic Thinker, guides open mouthed comman people like me to think more.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
: : asinine

Guest column -- Strategic alliances:
nandu: kgnandu@hotmail.com: Hi, Thanks for nothing. You look like you have figured out how the Indian team can win the world cup and so do other millions of Indians. The batting lineup and bowling strategy cannot be determined now. It will and should depend on the playing conditions, the given day, opposition and whose batting first etc. Besides I disagree about selecting a team depending on whether the opposition team is a super-six contender. We don't want to select a weaker team and end up losing against either a stronger / weaker team. Every match / Every ball has to be played with the one intention "TO WIN". Though acclimatising is a very needless suggestion. I believe the Indian team should try concentrate on their strengths and not waste their time improving their fielding or other weakness. If they have'nt improved by now, I don't think there will be a big difference in 3 weeks time. But smoothening out the edges in batting and bowling could possibly have more bearing on the team's success. Regards Nandu

Guest column -- What is Gaekwad up to? :
Shah: nihars@usa.net: The tendency of Indian cricket fans and sportswriters to always overplay India's "natural talents" and underplay the talents of teams like South Africa and Australia is worrisome, not to mention delusional. Don't kid yourself into believing that South Africa or Australia are not blessed with players of the 'stature and class' of India's; yet win solely on the basis of their brilliant teamwork. Nobody would dispute the effectiveness of their awesome teamwork, but a batting line-up of Kirsten ( AVG:41+), Cullinan (AVG:34+), Kallis(40+), Cronje(39+), Rhodes(39+) and Kluesner (39+)is nothing short of awesome. Donald and Pollock are in a class of their own, but I cannot see any evidence to say any of the others are in anyway superior to ANY batsman on the Indian team with the singular exception of Tendulkar. The same holds for Australia: Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan and Adam Gilchrist are unquestionably among the best in the world. McGrath and Warne need no introduction. You can say New Zealand and Zimbabwe have teams with medium talent and high levels of teamwork, but certainly not Australia or South Africa. Indian fans are a patriotic bunch but could also do with a reality check, we do NOT have a monopoly on talent in international cricket, and there are at least 3 teams , Pakistan being one of them that have more absolute strength and world-class skills , both as a team and player-by-player, than India does. We should realize that,and play that much harder.

The Rahul Dravid interview:
sadat khan: sadat85@hotmail.com: Well atlast along with the Indian spectators the team members started keeping everything on sachin who I guess has not produced any winning stikes except one or two. Why keep confidence in others when you can do it? The statistics show that you I mean Rabul Dravid is much better than sachin on foreign tracks. So every team member should keep confidence on him rather than Others.....

The Rahul Dravid interview:
Makarand: patmak@cheerful.com: Cool.... Dravids a good batsman and even good speaker! I bet he'll go down the lines of Sunil, shastri and manjrekar one day. Keep such interviews coming.

The Harsha Bhogle column:
sunil: sunil@heveaengineers.com: nice touch of patriotism harsha. but the fact remains that not justjadeja but almost anyone elsewould be a better captain than azar.what can u say of someone whose intelligence is limited to batting,bowling and fielding well as his sole strategy for winning matches.

The Roy Dias interview :
BR: rajeb2hotmail.com: It is a very good intw.

Guest column -- What is Gaekwad up to? :
venky: venky@informix.com: Very accurate....one other thing to mention about using balls in one over. How about defending 5 balls in an over, sort of get desperate and heave the sixth one, get out. And not just that, create a situation where the next new batsman has to get 'used" to the pitch, the bowler (of course, by defending). We simply waste a few overs with nothing but a (loss of) wicket to show for. Gaekwad seems to be niether a cricketing brain nor a management/psychological guru. So, with these limitations but the great opportunities, I would only be too happy if I were Gaekwad. The question is who hired him, and further who were they hired by. Idiocy and Politics, baby. *Venky

The Harsha Bhogle column:
ramprasad: rpmvadi@hotmail.com: Hi Harsha!!! You have a point there but it was made too late. Enough cacophony was already created by the press by saying that Azhar should be replaced. Somehow our press, more often that not, seems to play the role of someone who passes judgments without any responsibility or understanding. I find most of the articles very condenscending as if the I-told-you-so writers would have scored centuries if they were on the field and would have torn the opposite batting lineup apart. Add to that some hyperbolic phrases, expressions and what not. Its a mess. This pattern is very iscouraging and shows the Paper-tiger attitude of the press. We are good at complaining and a few other things. That's it. I can only wish that our cricketers are not distracted by all this non-sense and will do well in the World Cup.



Weatherwise and otherwise:
Haraprasad Tumuluri: hstumuluri@imation.com: http://www.the-hindu.com/tss/tss2218/22181000.htm

Care to comment?

Sure thing, HT. Bobby Simpson wouldn't have a vested interest in being based in Leicestershire, would he now? And by the way, with all those facilities (if you can practise for batting in English conditions by having nets in an indoor facility, then you might as well have done it right here in India, I would think, wouldn't you?), care to take a guess what the team has been doing after getting there? Working in the gym, swimming in the pool, and attending dinners. -- Prem Panicker.

The Roy Dias interview :
Shielesh Damle: sdamle@pacific.net.sg: I am surprised that Dias is making statement as 'Batsmen who go for the bowling will fail badly'. It seems that he has forgotten first two matches of Sri Lanka of 1983 World Cup. In the those matches their opponents Pakistan and England scored more than 330 runs in 60 overs and Sri Lanka replied strongly by scoring more than 280 runs. Dias means they did scoreed all these without going after bowling?

The Wasim Akram interview:
priya: p.rajoria@student.unimelb.edu.au: Hi! I think Wasim is a fine captain, one of the best ever. He is cool under pressure, gets results when they count and best of all he always has time for his fans. I had the pleasure of meeting him. He is absolutely delightful.

The Roy Dias interview :
Thamilan: : Dear Sri Lankan team players, Many Tamils are still supportive to the Sri Lankan Cricket Team in Cricket. What they hate is the Government of Sri Lanka's attitude of making sports to divert poor Sinhalese from the reality of the country's civil war. I hope the team of the captain would not allow it. Thamilan

The Harsha Bhogle column:
sunil gautam: sunil@performancememory.com.au: Feels good to see there is a sensible voice in the chaos that's too easily stirred up everytime India fails. Quickfix solution seem to be our forte with no one even trying to look at the big picture or think long term. Thanks for your wise words Harsha, and I hope fellow sports writers learn a thing or two about not fabrication an opinion without having any only because the situation allegedly demands it.



Guest column -- Strategic alliances:
Shashank Sharma: tendulkar@goplay.com: Good article, Sri. I agree that we should play a different team depending on the opponent. I also agree that Agarkar should be moved up the order as he has potential as a batsman. However, putting Srinath ahead of Mongia is a bit too much.

The Harsha Bhogle column:
seema chawla: noseema@aol.com: ALL THE BEST TO THE BEST CRICKET TEAM IN THE WORLD.AND I DO LOVE SACHIN AND THE GANG..keep it up guys and try ur best and make india feel proud of u..



The Harsha Bhogle column:
Poonam: p_samant@excite.com: Hey guys. My heartiest wish to all of you. I have confidence that WORLD CUP 99 is ours. Love

The Rahul Dravid interview:
sunil: bobby_sunil@rediffmail.com: rahul dravid's comparision of jordan's bulls&sachin's india is absolutely right.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Nikhil Lad: nabadu@hotmail.com: I guess with this interview things are pretty clear that our coach is passive kind of person.

Just consider the answers he has given, "Forget the test defeats"....How can we expect our team to perform well in tight situations when the coach thinks like this. After every defeat it is said that things are behind us and we are looking forward.

And answer to the last question is simply too much. First thing is that he cites absence of Ajit Agarkar as our defeat in NZ. I want to remind him that South Africa won the Wills international cup in Dhaka without Donald, Pollock and some more regular players.

After this interview i am forced to think that it is time for us to let go of this man. We need an active/smart type of coach who can get the best out of our players and good at making plans/stratergies.

Anshuman Gaekwad :
Deepak: raven@hk.super.net: Dear coach, Just admit the weak link in the Indian team is the coach (you) You are a lousy planner & motivator, anybody can do this ordinary work you are doing. sometime it feels that you don't even have cricket knowledge, How could you sent Azhar and Vinod in 47 and 49th over. You dumb, you spoil Kambli future and may be Azhar down fall. any many other stupid decision as such. you were never a good player and nor you are good in coaching. you are only good in making excuses and keeping everything in your behind. but we don't forget the humiliation we get. Azher must be sorry to have coach like you. Have you seen other counties coach, they are much smarter than you. You don't deserve to be in such important job. PLEASE RESIGN

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