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January 21, 1999

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The Rediff Cricket Interview/ Jayant Lele

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'It is unfortunate that our captain is harping on the same thing'

Coming back to our discussion about Indian bowlers. If they appear tired, if they are unfit, if they are bowling badly, is it not because the BCCI makes them play too many one dayers day in, day out?

Jaywant Lele No, I don't think so. You have to be totally professional in this class of cricket. If you see the South African bowlers, they don't bowl wides and noballs. In Test cricket, Allan Donald may be bowling four noballs and four wides because he is trying to bowl fast. But in one day cricket he doesn't because he doesn't have to bowl a bouncer. Bouncers will be noballed here. So he bowls within the stumps, bowling from the crease -- there are no wides, no noballs. If Donald and Pollock and others can do this, why can't our bowlers?

It is not necessary that you have to bowl just to take wickets. You have to contain the batsmen. If you try to contain them, they will themselves get out. If you make the batsman strokeless for two three overs, in the next over he will try to do something silly and you can get his wicket. In one day cricket Donald does not bowl 5 overs at a stretch. They nurse him by giving him 3 overs, 3 overs, 3 overs. He takes necessary rest in between.

What does it imply in India's case?

It implies that we are not confident about our bowlers.

Does it not mean we depend too much on Srinath?

We are. But then he is our best bet. And the No 2 bowler is Mr Anil Kumble.

Don't you fear that Srinath may burn himself out one day?

No, I don't think so. It is just that he is not bowling well at the moment, according to me. Our strength has always been spin bowling. And unfortunately, we do not have even good spinners at the moment. And we are not very confident about our spinners. If somebody can do something and take wickets, it is our spinners. We play 3 fast bowlers in the team. In spite of Sunil Joshi's presence, we do not take him in the playing XI.

If Harbhajan did not bowl well, you should have taken Joshi in the team. He can take wickets, he can deliver the goods. But he wasn't played at all. What we need is a genuine turner of the ball. One who can turn the ball 100 per cent. What is McGill doing? He only turns the ball. He may not have a good line and length, but he turns the ball so much. The Englishmen don't know how to play spin bowling. Joshi did not play a single Test, a single one-dayer. Then why was he taken there at all?

Mohammed Azharuddin has been talking so much about the improvement our players can make in their fielding…

It is unfortunate that our captain is harping on the same thing. He goes on and on talking about our bad fielding. We know it is bad fielding. What are the others doing? Only fielding may not win matches for you. But certainly you can't afford to lose. What are our batsmen doing? What are our bowlers doing? Ok, for the sake of telling our fielders that they should field better, it is a fine argument, I agree. I don't deny. He himself is the best Indian fielder without any argument. But we have seen even the best of fielders dropping catches.

I have seen Ajay Jadeja dropping catches. I just can't think of Jadeja dropping catches. But I have seen him dropping catches in the last five, six games. He is absolutely a first-class fielder. In my mind there is not a shadow of doubt about Jadeja's fielding. He is very athletic, very fast -- everything is good about his fielding. Yet, he also tends to drop catches.

Now that more revelations have been made about betting, bribery and match-fixing in cricket, will the BCCI conduct one more inquiry into the allegations, particularly if the Indian government insists it has to?

No, we are satisfied by Mr Chandrachud's findings.

But wasn't the Chandrachud committee a big joke in itself, considering the way it was conducted?

Mr Manoj Prabhakar is talking from the top of his voice only. If you can't prove anything, why talk about anyone and anything? All his talk about threats and other things are nothing but a cheap publicity stunt. Let me tell you that Mr Chandrachud did conduct his inquiry in a right and very serious manner. There were two lawyers with him during each of his interrogation. Everything was tape-recorded.

The BCCI stands accused of releasing the Chandrachud Report to a national newspaper while denying others of the benefit…

No, we did not release the report you are talking about. I don't know how it got published in some sections of the press. I am told excerpts of the report were carried out in the newspaper you are referring to, although I have not read them for the simple reason that I do not get that paper here in Baroda. The fact is only the report for the president came to me in a sealed envelope in the president's name. I went and gave it to the president. He told me there were two copies of the report and asked me to keep one with me. I said; 'Sorry, I don't want to read it. Don't give me any copy.'

Mr Suresh Kalmadi has come down heavily on the BCCI and its players for giving India a 'bad name' at the Commonwealth Games.

Mr Kalmadi is talking as the IOA president. Does he know cricket? J Y Lele can't talk on anything other than cricket. I am not interested in why India failed in other disciplines. It's not my cup of tea. He is a sweetwilled man, he is a politician.

Was there any compulsion, any outside pressure, to include Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian team that went to Kuala Lumpur?

Not at all. Nobody forced us to pick Sachin for the Commonwealth Games. We had selected two strong teams for both events and that's all. But it was sad to see Mr Kalmadi accusing Indian cricketers of many things the way he did.

'It's pathetic that we have to field Srinath and Prasad in the slips'

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