Say Mahi to the Wall

 

 

It was a misty December morning at the Bangalore Airport in 2001 when I boarded a flight to Chandigarh. Even before I settled down in a window seat with a copy of Beyond A Boundary, a book by C.L.R James, a familiar voice interrupted, “Can I sit here?” Puzzled, I looked up and saw the Great Wall of Indian cricket smiling tentatively at me.

Rahul sat in the aisle seat; I was by the window and between us there was no one! Once the plane took off and steadied, he started talking to me. In past nine years I interviewed Rahul Dravid only twice and the third interview has been pending since the last two years. But, I am proud to say I gave one, and the only interview of my life, to him! That was during the 2 hour 40 minute flight from Bangalore to New Delhi. The Q&A session went up to almost 40 minutes. Rahul asked more than 20 questions about my family, education, profession, likes-dislikes and the last question was, “Do you enjoy what you do?”

I told him, “Of course,” and threw the question back at him. He laughed and said, “Yes, at present I am enjoying it. Once I stop enjoying I will quit.” Even after six years, the words are still ringing in my ears.

When Mr Cool gave a shock to Indian cricketing world last week by quitting the captaincy, many conspiracy theories did the rounds. There was that theory of internal tussle in the Indian dressing room, Mumbai lobby's hard work against him, senior players acting tough...it goes on. But insiders think he gave it all up without a fight.

According to former Indian cricketer and Rahul’s teammate, Sunil Joshi, “It was a surprising decision. Rahul did a fairly good job as captain.” Others who know him have not taken kindly to his abrupt decision. “If Rahul has decided to give up his captaincy then there has to be a transition plan. However, he should have told about his decision much earlier,” says fomer Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath. On the other hand, what actually happened in Rahul Dravid’s case no one knows, except the man himself. One thing is sure: the environment in the Indian dressing room and outside suffocated Mr Cool. If BCCI continues to behave in an ad hoc manner in the future, each and every person who will take on the mantle of the Indian cricket team will become a scapegoat. Take the case of Rahul himself. There was not even a designated coach with him for the last six months. There is no proper media manager for the team. On each and every instance like, the Oval follow-on controversy, the captain has to give justification to the team, the board, media and 130 crore Indians! No one can withstand that much of heat and dust without a proper support system. It’s like undergoing a heart operation without oxygen and anaesthesia!

Due to such unhealthy pressures, even great players and captains like Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly became scapegoats. We always produce great cricketers individually. But we always fail to produce a great leader. Until now we didn’t have a single Alan Border or Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting or Stephen Fleming in India. Why?

Nevertheless, as far as captaincy is concerned, Dravid is history and Saurav Ganguly, despite an overwhelming thumbs up from Indian cricket fans, is not someone the present cabal running Indian cricket will approve of. In the event, it has been a stop-gap arrangement and M.S. Dhoni has been made the captain for the forthcoming one-day series while it is almost certain that Sachin Tendulkar will be asked to lead the Test team in the future-again as a stop-gap arrangement.

Can Dhoni handle the pressure?

“He has to. It is a wonderful opportunity and Dhoni has to encash it,” says the former Indian wicket keeper, Syed Kirmani, and he sums up saying: “Knowingly or unknowingly BCCI has selected a deserving player like Dhoni as Indian ODI captain. He has a good temperament, consistency and maturity. Let them stick by him. Let them give full support. Don’t make him another scapegoat. Even if he fails in these two biggest ever series, judge him for his overall performance. Have a long term plan. Groom him properly and make him a leader, a true leader.”

Wise words no doubt. But sadly, there is simply no sign of the BCCI even making a pretense of working out a long term solution to the problems affecting Indian cricket ever since the great Greg Chappell fiasco destroyed a once well-knit and proud team. But there is a difference this time - there is Subhash Chandra and ICL lurking in the corner!