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Kapil backs Tendulkar

Beleaguered captain Sachin Tendulkar received a vote of confidence from coach Kapil Dev on Monday as India returned empty-handed from their Australian tour of woe.

"Sachin will continue, he is the right man for the job," Kapil said before the Indians flew home after one of their most disastrous overseas tours in recent times.

The Indians not only lost all three Tests and seven of the eight one-day internationals during the two-month tour, they never seemed capable of reversing the trend.

Tendulkar's lone century on the tour blemished his reputation as one of the game's great batsmen, reigniting fears that the burden of captaincy was taking the toll on his batting.

'Sack Sachin, Save Sachin' screamed the headlines in one cover story of an Indian newsmagazine, although Tendulkar has already been appointed captain for the entire season till April.

Kapil backed Tendulkar, blaming the defeat instead on his young team's inexperience at playing the rising ball on fast wickets.

"Frankly, Australia were much stronger than us and Pakistan had the advantage of five regular bowlers in every match," Test cricket's leading wicket-taker said.

"Ours is a young team which grew up on wickets where the ball comes shin high.

"Then they go abroad and suddenly find the ball buzzing round their ears. For them it's a new ball game, something they find difficult to adjust to.

"The only solution is to make fast wickets at home and play our domestic cricket on lively tracks. The change must come now."

India have won just one Test match abroad since 1986, even though they have not lost a home series in the same period on doctored wickets that assist spinners almost from the start. It is unlikely the Indian wickets will change their colour so soon when South Africa play two Test matches in India from mid-February. Even the nucleus of the team is expected to remain the same, despite the lacklustre performance over the last two months. Former captain Mohammad Azharuddin's hopes of a recall appear remote after Kapil indicated the best available team was selected for the Australian tour.

"There are not many people we left behind when we came to Australia," he said. "This is a young team which needs to be given more chances. You cannot discard people after one bad tour."

Azharuddin, 36, was reportedly not wanted in Australia by Tendulkar and Kapil, and there is little to suggest there has been a change of heart by the team management.

"When I took over in October, I was surprised to find that Azhar was not very popular among his team-mates," Kapil said. "Having good team spirit is very important, and I want it to stay that way."

It remains to be seen whether the dismal batting performance, especially by the younger players in the team, will force the selectors to have a rethink on Azharuddin. Seasoned batsman Ajay Jadeja is, however, certain to return after missing the Australian trip because of a shoulder injury.

As the Indians return home, Australia and Pakistan get set for the opening match of the best-of-three-finals to be played in Melbourne on Wednesday.