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ASSEMBLY POLL '98
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'Azharuddin's capacity for strategic thinking resembles Mother Hubbard's cupboard'
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 4:42 PM I sincerely think India lost the match because of lack of fighters. It is not difficult to score 17 runs with 3 wickets in hand, but all of them went down as if they owed something to Pakistan and it was a sin to have a positive attitude. There was no point in staying on a turning wicket and the best thing possible was to go down fighting ie, by playing aggressive cricket. Ajit Agarkar and Robin Singh are the best choice in such situations, instead of Sunil Joshi and Venkatesh Prasad. Azhar must be shameful of his deeds. He is not a good captain as far as rotating the bowlers and field placements is concerned. He never leads from the front. Not once has he shown aggression on field and the signs of giving at least 50 per cent (forget 100 per cent). He is the captain of the Indian team for a long long time and he does not feel ashamed in saying: "Our fielding is not up to the mark." My question is what was he doing for such a long a time. He could have put pressure on the team to field well, to put in some hard work and in case some players were not up to the mark -- he should have brought it to the notice of the board for necessary action. I sincerely think he lacks the will to bring anything good for Indian cricket now. He is only concerned with his survival. Such people should not be in the team. In both the Test series, he and Jadeja were dropping catches, especially off the bowling of Venkatesh Prasad. Look at the greatness of Tendulkar. After losing he made a statement that "I should have stayed there for some more time." Even at this moment, he is not blaming anyone else but himself. He expected his team to make a handful of runs which these paper tigers could not make. Ganguly was not out, and in his absence India lost by 12 runs. This is an example of our greatness. My only sympathy is for Sachin. Gaurav
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 12:45 AM I just read your article. It was nice. I wonder if our selectors, coach and the captain get a chance to read these articles? Our players do not show the attitude required to win. True. One more thing, I am not sure about others, but according to me our batting looks strong on paper. While they were batting I thought: "I know they can stay and bat through, but will they do it?" But my inner self said: "Uhh, I am not sure." Hope you are getting my point here. It is not the lack of potential, just lack of application. Hope they keep the opening pair intact for some more time, not making them scapegoats for the loss because they can't remove the bigger players. After getting used to ODI fielding, our players seem to have the impression that fielding is not an important factor in Tests. I hope our cricketers realise this. I read some of the comments on chat, and understand why you've stopped chat. Keep up the good work. Srinivas Madabhushi
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 9:59 PM Was reading your column and agree 100 per cent about the need for a sports psychologist. In fact, Azhar even says, 'We started off a little negatively in the morning." How can you do that? What the Indian team needs is a real motivator who can motivate each one of the players to give his 100 per cent irrespective of the situation. Wonder what needs to be done for the team to get a sports psychologist!! Arvind
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 2:40 AM After every loss we blame our poor batting, bowling or fielding but never wonder why they have stayed so poor, so inconsistent for so long. Simple reason is that there is no accountability. There is no motivation (real gain) to win and real fear of loss. Indians fail because they don't have the urgency to succeed. To understand this, one will have to look into the Indian psychology. Accountability and responsibility is not in our mental build up (thanks to our "God does everything" culture and long history of socialism for that). Only very few of us are self motivated and disciplined to always try our best for positive results. Rest of us try very hard to get to a position and after that our only worry is to retain that. Have you ever wondered why there is hardly any work in government or public offices in India? Why government officials are one of the most inefficient bunch of people in spite of being talented and passing a tough test? Reason lies in the lack of accountability, there is no direct reward for good performance and no effective punishment for bad work. The same is true of our cricketers too. They are talented people with no real will, motivation and determination to win; no real fear of loss. There is no accountability. That's why after every poor performance Azhar gets away with "We batted badly, we bowled badly and we fielded badly." Who are 'we?' Remember 'we' is nobody in particular and it's just a coward's way to resign responsibility. Why cannot we name players who did not bat, bowl or field well? Why cannot we cut compensation of the players who didn't bat, bowl or field well and give bonus to a player who performed well? Today there is no real loss which our cricketers have to suffer if India loses no real gain if India wins. So we have a bunch of people whose only interest is to retain their place in the team with some exceptional performances here and there. Make our players lose money for every misfield, every catch they drop, award them for good fielding and the fielding will improve dramatically. Pay batsman for every run scored (if they don't score your pay is significantly cut) and they will bat far more responsibly. Pay bowler for every wicket, for every maiden, for every good performance and they will work a lot harder. Cut the entire team's (including coach) compensation by half in case of a loss, double it in case of a win and India will win far more matches than it does. Doing this will be far more effective than just having some coaching camp under Simpson or Bradman for that matter. Because to become fit first you need the 'will to be fit.' To become a good fielder first you should have 'real will to field well.' Will (read need) and determination to learn and improve should be there first to make any training or coaching camp successful. Motivation, accountability, fighting spirit and determination are the most important factors missing in the Indian cricket team. Once you instill that in every player, rest will automatically follow. Arvind
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 12:08 AM > We lost by only 12 runs. And that too when there were only 17 needed and SRT was still playing. The other three guys couldn't score 17 runs!! I am still not out of the shock. A seamer who takes 5 wickets in 14 balls without conceiving a run gets only one over during the day -- that does not make any sense to me!! Laxman has not scored a single half century yet!! (Not that I remember). SRT said in his in chat that a single player cannot win a game. I will not blame this Test on umpires too. I desperately think someone owes an explanation for what happened in this game -- and that 'someone' is Azhar. Why cannot we apply a 'no performance-get out' policy? I am already seeing the outcome of the second Test. It is a draw. Pak will suck the entire energy out of our attack on the Kotla pitch and leave a mere one and half day for our first inning -- that is the end. 'Match finished with mutual understanding of the two captains, without bowling the mandatory overs on the last day!' Ashish Joshi
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 9:03 PM I follow your columns religiously. You are a wonderful writer. Couple of comments --- 1. Sachin was fired for losing a series to SA and WI. Nothing happens to Azhar for losing to Zimbabwe and NZ. Ridiculous! 2. May be our cricketers represent the underlying Indian way of life, what happens will happen, that's destiny. 3.What is the similarity between a parrot and Azzu, they can repeat the same thing again and again, "We did not field, bowl, bat well;" "This match is behind us, we are looking forward." 4. Difference between a parrot and Azzu, the parrot can be made to say different things. R
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 1:50 AM I read your article, and as I usually find, it has been well thought out and written. In addition to the two points you mentioned as being behind India's inability to win, I would add a third one. This, I believe is an issue that is much more fundamental to our culture, and to the way Indians think and act. I followed the Chennai game to its disappointing end on IRC, and right after it ended, I was chatting with an Indian Australian (Indian brought up in Australia), who is an avid follower of Indian cricket and turns up on the chat for most games. And he made a very valid point: that India does not seem to have the desire to win, even when at times presented with the game on a platter. At 254/6, he said, the Indians probably could not believe they were actually going to win this, a crunch contest against their arch-rivals, and hence found a way to self-destruct. This is so true. Just look at most of the Indian newspaper reports. Most of them have created this warm-and-fuzzy image of this Test, in terms of the wonderful crowd behaviour, Sachin's great knock, a victory for Test cricket, etc. The general mood is one of wonderment at having been able to witness such a close game. Very few reports, if any, have dissected the performance of the Indian batsmen in the 2nd innings, for eg, that apart from Sachin and Mongia, the rest together contributed just 30-odd runs. In effect, the inadequacies of the rest of the team have almost been covered up by the gaga press reports. The key problem here is that winning is not a priority in our culture. The end result is deemed to be less important than the way we try to achieve it. We prefer to be popular and liked, as opposed to being hard-nosed and victorious. Having worked in the US for 12+ years, one sees a completely different attitude here. The attitude here is win-win; a defeat is always looked upon as a failure, no matter how well the team played or how close the game was. This transcends to the work place as well; the priority is not to get everyone's approval and be popular, but to get the job done. The Indian team is popular wherever it goes, but the results are zilch. Contrast the Indian newspaper reports to one I read in Pakistan's paper Dawn. In spite of being on the winning side, the report criticised Sachin for throwing his wicket away. While describing his knock as "epoch-making," the article also referred to his throwing his wicket away as "criminal." Wasim Akram, too, while showering unqualified praise on Sachin for his innings, thanked him for "throwing his wicket away." You can clearly see the difference in attitude; to the Pakistanis, the result is much more important. It is this lack of result-orientedness that prevents India from winning more games. Cruel though it may seem to direct any criticism at all towards Sachin after his great knock, I have to say this: A Miandad, in Sachin's place, would, back sprain or not, have gritted his teeth and taken Pakistan through to victory. For me, the result is everything: a 12-run defeat is as bad as, possibly worse than, what a 100-run loss would have been. From a position where we needed 17 with 4 wickets standing (including that of Sachin), India found a way of losing that Test. At 254/6, I had assumed we had made it! The Indian team can certainly be very entertaining, but winners they are not! Popular and likeable they are wherever they go, but victors they seldom are. We create some of the closest contests ever played, but end up generally on the losing end. Until we are able to find a result-oriented leader (captain or coach), I doubt this is going to change. Narayan Menon, Colorado, USA
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 10:56 PM I always find Azhar speaking like a (political) party spokesman when he gives explanations for the results. We do not have an aggressive captain to handle the Indian team -- one who can lead from the front. It is really a shame that he was part of both the defeats (Bangalore 10 years back, and now at Madras) India tasted against Pakistan, could not contribute much and is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. We want an aggressive leader by example -- not only by winning tosses and in press conferences but by winning battles too.
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 12:56 AM This is the first time I am writing, so pardon me if I make any mistakes. I live here is California, USA and am an ardent supporter, lover of cricket, especially Indian cricket. But what has happened in recent months to Indian cricket, hurts me a lot. I read quite a few articles about the just concluded Test between India and Pakistan. And to my surprise and horror, the post-game comments by our worthy captain remain the same. "We batted badly." "Our tail-enders messed up..." When will Azhar realise that he has to lead the team by example? If you look at winning teams like South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka and now Pakistan, you will see that the role of captain is so important. It is to be noted that these captains have done more than just direct the fielders or the bowlers. They have chipped in with that extra bit, which have transformed their respective teams to perform at their best. So instead of what the team did not do, Azhar should first admit that he himself batted badly in both innings. PS: This the time we all should support the team, for this can really bring them close and enable them to perform better. Ramit
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 5:46 AM I'm glad you raised the issue of the Indian team's attitude in your recent piece. I think India has a specific problem in mental strength which, just off the top of my head, I will define as the ability to stay cool and focus on the task immediately at hand, regardless of the current circumstance. The human body responds to stimuli from the brain in threatening conditions by tightening muscles and taking shorter breaths. This response is fine for defending yourself in a physical attack, but hampers timing and balance which are more critical in skill-intensive tasks like batting and bowling. I am an avid amateur tennis player and have taken/read courses on this subject which happens to be very important if you want to play tennis well. I think this is equally true in cricket. It is amazing how much there is to learn from and improve on based on this training. With the kind of money at stake in professional cricket today, I think any team would greatly benefit from training in mental strength. Joseph Mathew
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 8:58 PM I am a regular reader of your column. In fact, after every game I just wait for your columns on the net. The Indo-Pak match just shows that we don't have the killer instinct that's required. It seems that our players are just there to make personal records. Talking about VVS Laxman, don't you feel he has been given enough chances to prove himself? I just don't understand why some players eg, VVS Laxman, Rathod are given so many chances to play. We just talk about our fielding to be poor and we have been talking about that since ages. Why can't the our board do something about it? We can just forget about the World Cup if we have to give individual performances. Shaji Chandrashekhar
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 11:17 PM It is getting a bit of a routine now, a match, a postmortem, a couple of days off, a match, a postmortem...... For a die-hard cricket fan like me, it is getting a bit boring to keep up with the Indian team's matches, day-in, day-out. I can very well 'feel' the fatigue in our team members. Haven't Lele and Dungarpur ever travelled to know that it takes some time before our bodies can adjust to an alien climate? Anyway, it's like crying over spilt milk. You can't drink it, you can only clean it, or let it to rot there. Sadly, in our case, rot is what is happening. Our euphoria on winning is so strong that very little, if any, postmortem is done on a winning day. There are no 'what could have been done better' questions asked, no 'what do we do next' questions answered. It's only 'off we go to the next ground' hurrah!!!! It may look like a knee-jerk reaction, but Azza is not what he used to be. I look at him as India's 'luckiest' captain, not India's 'most successful.' I remember reading on Rediff's erstwhile chat site, where someone mentioned that if Azza hits a century, you can be sure that it will be a dry patch for him in the next few innings. It does seem to be true now. I feel sad, really sad. Shyam Chulki
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 12:36 AM Prem, as always, enjoyed your comments on the shortcomings of the Test team, and agree with most of it. Sorry that your chat feature is suspended, but what can you do with overgrown juveniles hogging all the cyberspace these days? Anyway, my disagreement with you on the shortcomings (I have harped on this before) is that you were far too lenient towards the Indian captain. I have felt for some time now that Azharuddin's capacity for strategic thinking resembles Mother Hubbard's cupboard in all respects. Couple this to his lack of aggression, lack of positive or negative reinforcement on the field, and his laissez-faire attitude, and you have all the required elements of a non-functional "leader." You talk about the attitude on the field. How much is this a reflection of the captain's attitude towards the game? You hear Azharuddin lament about our "woeful" fielding on numerous occasions, but why doesn't he assert himself more?? Pull up errant fielders, encourage the good bits, and insist on some sort of tougher fielding practice. Surely he has to take the lead here, rather than Simpson? Why do we always need some expert to tell us to correct something we already knew was wrong? I will also say this regarding the Indian team as a whole: they don't mind losing. It's the "chalta hai" attitude. Tendulkar, Srinath, Dravid, Ganguly probably will fight to the end, but the captain himself does not believe in gritting it out. Anyway, I am sure there are enough people who are Azhar fans who will want to set fire to my effigy... Subbu
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 1:50 AM Good to know you still have hopes for this side. First of all a side is a sum equivalent of its 11 members, not just 1 person! Second, we need Azhar the batsman, not Azhar the captain. The gentleman we are referring to is a far sight from being a thinking captain. Third, we don't have the will to WIN! We are scared of challenges; to say we choke under pressure is an understatement! I think this team will not win any title or any test series against a stronger, more determined opposition. Surprising isn't it when two of our batsmen are ranked within the top three batsmen in the world! The likes of Dravid and Ganguly fail when it matters most. We, the loyal fans of this Indian cricket team will have to put up with a mediocre performance of a bunch of individuals who are showered with dollars by contracts from multinational firms, have diverse interests (other than cricket) like acting in movies, setting up restaurants, and even indulging in betting to make more dollars! The Lord pity us fans! Mani
Date: Tuesday, February 02, 1999 1:55 AM Cricket seem to be doing a lot better in South Africa than in your part of the world. Since our last tour to your country, I must admit to reading your columns on virtually a daily basis. In my opinion, the Indian cricket side is the most talented of all cricket sides. I personally rate Tendulkar as the second best batsman in the world after Aravinda deSilva, and although I have not seen him bowl lately, I rate Srinath as the best bowler in world cricket, better than Allan Donald, although I must qualify my statement by saying that if Donald's IQ was higher than 10 he would be one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. The problem with Indian cricket lies in politics, and as an outsider it is possibly a lot clearer than for you people that live in the country. Your politicians and cricket administrators have too much power, to the extent that I do not believe that you need a selection panel to select your players. Let me explain: 20 years ago, when I started playing 1st division cricket in my native province Natal, a much older, and more experienced team member of mine, played regularly for the Natal 2nd side. (Btw, to be selected for South Africa you have to play for one of the provincial sides, like Natal now renamed KwaZulu-Natal). Me as a very junior member of the side asked my senior team mate, if he thought he would possibly be selected for the Natal A side. After thinking for a while he said to me: "Theuns, it is harder to get dropped from the Natal A side than to get into it." Prem, think about what my friend said and apply it to your Indian cricket side. There is no real pressure on the players to perform as they know they will not be dropped from the side. Now ask yourself what price they put on their own wickets and on the opposition wickets for that sake. It is not that your side is a bad side, on paper they should be the best, it is just that out of 11 players there are probably only 2 places that are being competed for. After taking into account what I am saying, read your own article and answer your own questions about dropped catches and bad fielding. I know that you read all the email sent to you, therefore I will share another point with you, also taking into account what you wrote about the poor umpiring decisions in the 1st Test. I am a businessman. As a businessman I will always strive to get the biggest possible gain from the smallest possible investment. If I was a bookmaker, and keeping in mind that bookmakers are business people, I would not try to buy every member of the two opposing sides to get to the result that I desire. It is just to expensive. I would much rather buy the umpire, to ensure that half the decisions in the game go my way. Think about it, what is Shane Warne's annual income from cricket directly and indirectly? So $5000 or $10,000 is not going to be that attractive the him to throw a game. He earns too much money as it is. But $10,000-00 to the umpire -- a completely different scenario. He has a full time job and takes up umpiring to supplement his income, or balance his budget. $10,000 has a whole different meaning to Shane Warne as to Steve Dunne. Take a good look at the videos from the test series between SA and England last year. SA did not lose the series, the umpires won it for England. What am I saying? I don't really know, but I say again as a businessman, I always strive for the biggest possible return from the smallest possible investment.
Theuns Botha
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 11:46 PM Why is it that after every loss the whole country, including our great captain goes on crying about bad fielding? We had a simple task in the last match. With all world class players, we just had to make 271 and we failed. I think as a punishment to such a miserable failure, the entire Indian team (excluding Sachin) must be asked to jog to Delhi (the venue of the next match). Or maybe they should be give tickets to travel third class by Indian Railways and they must make it in time. What do you say? Umang How Readers responded to Pritish Nandy's last column
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