India

Mohammad Azharuddin: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Mohammad Azharuddin Questions Vinod Kambli’s Class

What he said:

"What Vinod is saying is absolutely rubbish! He must have been sleeping in the team meeting."

Former India skipper, Mohammad Azharuddin, rubbishes teammate Vinod Kambli’s allegations that the 1996 World Cup semifinal against Sri Lanka was fixed.

The match was forfeited by the home side due to crowd violence; the Indians were on the verge of a humiliating defeat.

Speaking to Star News, Kambli said:

I’ll never forget the match because my career ended after it. I was stunned by the decision to field.I was standing on one side and on the other end my fellow batsman was telling me that we would chase the target. However, soon after they quickly got out one by one. I don’t know what transpired.

Something was definitely amiss. However, I was not given a chance to speak and was dropped soon after. Our team manager at that time, Wadekar, was aware of everything.

Ajit Wadekar, the then team manager, contested Kambli’s version of transpired events, saying:

I did not even think there was anything suspicious in that loss. It was purely because we misread the wicket and were slightly overconfident after beating Pakistan in the quarterfinal.
Why did he wake up suddenly after 15 years? During my four-and-half year stint (with the national team), I used to frequently have dinner with Vinod. Had he told me about his suspicions then, I would have requested the board to probe the matter.

Wadekar added:

“During the team meeting, only (Navjot Singh) Sidhu and I felt the wicket would deteriorate and that we should bat first. However, a majority of the bunch felt a wicket couldn’t deteriorate much.”

Mohammad Azharuddin, speaking to CNN-IBN, defended his decision to bowl first:

We decided to field. It was discussed and a team decision. It was a collective decision. I don’t have any regrets, no reason to shy away from this. What Vinod is saying is absolutely rubbish! He must have been sleeping in the team meeting.

We wanted to field first and chase against Sri Lanka, wanted to do something different in the match. Very sad that people are questioning the decision. For Kambli to talk like this, it shows his class (pedigree).

Vinod Kambli on so many occasions has said that I was the best captain he has played under. It’s very annoying the way the statement was made.

The former India skipper’s fight against the life-ban handed out by the BCCI  in 2000 continues in the Hyderabad high court. Azhar’s cricketing career was cut short at 99 Test matches.

Azhar said:

"The match-fixing case is going on in the High Court. When my name is cleared, everybody will come to know the truth. I am not affected by the allegations. Kambli has made a fool of himself.”

What Azharuddin really meant:

“By way of explanation, we enjoyed a cosy dressing room atmosphere.”

What Azharuddin definitely didn’t:

“What kind of query is that? Sleepwalking through our innings?”

Baichung Bhutia: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Baichung Bhutia Takes Time Off To Pen His Sporting Views

What he said:

“I’d have been tending to my little children and new club instead of writing this.”

Baichung Bhutia comes out in support of the proposed National Sports Federation bill seeking restricted tenures for administrative heads.

Bhutia’s views were published by the Hindustan Times, the second article in a continuing eight-part series dissembling the issues tackled by the Sports Bill.

Bhutia wrote:

Fifa, despite allegations of corruption, is run more efficiently than sport in India. That means you can’t compare us and them where them also includes the IOC and its tradition of long-serving presidents. The truth is, 64 years after Independence, sport in India is not on the right track. And proof of that lies in the underwhelming international performance of a nation of over 1 billion people.
My point, therefore, is this: the current system of administration has failed and that means there’s something definitely wrong with it. There’s no point saying Brazil’s football isn’t run properly — well, they still win five World Cups and are expected to win one every time it comes along. If we won as many gold as China in Olympics — and they started participating regularly only in 1984 — or even 20 less than them, I’d have been tending to my little children and new club instead of writing this.

The Ajay Maken (India’s sports minister) sponsored bill has been opposed by both the Board For Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Bhutia added:

Why not restrict federation presidents to a maximum of 12-year terms and secretaries to eight? If you haven’t been able to make a difference in that time, chances are you never will.

And if you have been a game-changer, I am sure you will be asked to stay and contribute in some capacity even after your term’s over. Making tenures time-bound is also one way of increasing transparency and accountability because you can’t manipulate votes.

What he really meant:

“I care.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’m the retiring type, in every aspect.”

MS Dhoni: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

MS Dhoni Is A ‘Package’

What he said:

“I am more of a package than a specialist. I’m neither an extraordinary batsman nor a specialist keeper.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is abashed at being described as an “excellent package” by West Indian cricketing great, Jeffrey Dujon.

Dhoni said:

It’s a big compliment for me. I am more of a package than a specialist. I’m neither an extraordinary batsman nor a specialist keeper. It’s all about doing things right. It does not matter how you catch the ball, take the edges and affect stumpings. It’s important to score at that point of time when it’s really good for the side. I hope I will be a specialist one day.

What he really meant:

“Modesty’s my forename.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Fedex, same-day delivery?”

Rahul Dravid: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Rahul Dravid Is Ready For The IPL

What he said:

"I’m preparing for the IPL."

Rahul Dravid jokingly answers a query as to why and how he uncharacteristically slammed a couple of sixes in his 36th ton in the second Test at the Eden Gardens against the West Indies.

Dravid said:

For six weeks with your IPL team, you’re hitting shots all the time.But I don’t think it’s just that. Whenever I’ve been in good form in my career, everything seems to flow. I pick up the length better and get fully forward or back. It’s also about not missing out on the fours.

What he really meant:

“Isn’t that more believable?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“IPL is excellent preparation for the ardours of Test cricket.”

Kapil Dev: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Kapil Dev Bridges The Generation Gap

What he said:

"You can never compare a son with his father. The fathers never had the modern day gadgets that their sons are used to nowadays. Yet they worked tirelessly to get everything for their kids. That’s why it is unfair to compare two generations. But you always want your son to be better than you."

Kapil Dev cavils at comparing his generation of cricketers to the current one.

The former Indian captain was in Durban for the second edition of the World Cricket Legends.

Kapil called Dhoni’s boys “the best Indian team ever”.

Kapil said:

"When you have so many records, so much experience and have done so well, you can’t complain about anything at all."

The former all-rounder said that the next generation “will be better than the previous one”.

“If it is not then we aren’t moving forward as a society. If you at all have to compare, I would say this team is far better,” added Kapil.

What he really meant:

“The child is father of the man.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Gadgets R Us.”

Jeff Dujon: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Jeffrey Dujon Wants A Lively Pitch at Eden Gardens

What he said:

"At 80 years of age, he [the Eden Gardens curator] has got more life than this pitch."

Jeffrey Dujon, former West Indies wicketkeeper, is caustic about  the Eden Gardens wicket for the second Test at Kolkatta.

Prabir Mukherjee is the curator at Eden Gardens.

What he really meant:

“80+ Mukherjee could bat on this pitch.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Bend your backs, boys.”

Greg Chappell: What they said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Chappell Does Not Call It ‘A Clash Of Cultures’

What he said:

"The mistakes I made were not particularly ‘western’”.

Former India coach, Greg Chappell, ruminates on his failures with the Indian cricket team in his autobiography, “Fierce Focus”.

Chappell had a stormy tenure from 2005 to 2007 ending with the team’s first round exit at the 2007 ODI World Cup.

The Australian great regrets his tiff with icon Sachin Tendulkar when he insisted that the master bat revert to his No.4 position in ODIs.

Chappell wrote:

My biggest regret was falling out with Sachin over him batting at number four in the one-day team. It was a shame because he and I had some intense and beneficial talks together prior to that. My impatience to see improvement across the board was my undoing in the end.

Chappell elaborates:

The mistakes I made were not particularly ‘western’ but the same kind of mistakes I’d made as a captain in my playing days. I didn’t communicate my plans well enough to the senior players. I should have let guys like Tendulkar, (VVS) Laxman and (Virender) Sehwag know that although I was an agent of change, they were still part of our Test future.
When I did communicate with them, I was sometimes too abrupt. Once in South Africa, I called in Sachin and Sehwag to ask more of them, I could tell by the look on their faces that they were affronted.

Later (Rahul) Dravid, who was in the room, said ‘Greg, they’ve never been spoken to like that before’.

What he really meant:

“Autocrats are not an exclusively western phenomena, are they?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Change is a one-way process.”

Sanjay Manjrekar: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Sanjay Manjrekar Finds Test Centuries Easier To Get Than a No. 11

What he said:

“Courtney found it a little more difficult than me, but trust me Test centuries are not easy to get.”

Former India batsman, Sanjay Manjrekar, taking a playful dig at fellow commentator, Courtney Walsh, points out that Test tons are not facile.

Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his 100th international hundred once more in the first Test against West Indies at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Tendulkar has not scored a ton in his last five Tests; he averages one in three.

What Manjrekar really meant:

“Courtney made it a lot more difficult—for most.”

What Manjrekar definitely didn’t:

“Courtney was the best night-watchman you could wish for.”

Greg Chappell: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Chappell Says That Aussie Cricketers Are ‘Hippier’ Than Their Indian Counterparts

What he said:

“It was so hierarchical, it made Australian teams look like commune.”

Former India coach, Greg Chappell reveals the bureaucratic nature of the Indian dressing room during his tenure.

Chappell, in his autobiography “Fierce Focus”, salutes current Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, as his “go to man” and the voice of young players.

The Australian maintains that the young players were overawed by their seniors and would not contribute in team meetings for fear of incurring their (seniors) displeasure.

“The real ray of hope for the Indian team was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most impressive young cricketers I’d ever worked with. He was smart, and able to read the game as perceptively as the best leaders," Chappell wrote.

Chappell said:

If I wanted to know what was going on in the middle, Dhoni became my go to man. He would eventually break down one of the biggest problems in the India teams.

…the youngster would say, ‘I can’t speak before so-and-so. If I speak up before a senior player, they will hold it against me forever.’ Some were petrified, flat out refusing to say a word in a meeting before, say, Tendulkar had spoken.

Chappell elaborates on his relationship with Saurav Ganguly, the stormy petrel of Indian cricket.

His idea was probably ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

He expected I would be so grateful to him for getting me the job that I’d become his henchman in his battle to remain captain. I, on the other hand, took on a job with the primary responsibility to Indian cricket and the Indian people.

There were a billion of them and only one of Sourav. I wanted to help India become the best cricket team in the world.

If that means eventually they could only become that team without Sourav, then so be it.

Chappell adds,that on the field, "there was no bigger panicker than Sourav."

Chappell is none-too-pleased with Indian players aversion to confrontation:

When I sat down and talked with him about it, he would agree to everything I asked, but then go his own way. Some other senior players were similarly expert at Gandhian passive resistance: saying ‘Yes yes yes’ before doing the exact opposite. Each time he agreed, then didn’t do it.

What Greg Chappell really meant:

“Indian bureaucracy was truly alive and kicking in the national cricket side.”

What Greg Chappell definitely didn’t:

“Now, you know why us Ozzies love visiting Goa.”

Ottis Gibson: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Ottis Gibson Pitches For Seven-Up

What he said:

“Against this Indian batting line-up, you probably need seven bowlers.”

West Indies coach, Ottis Gibson, is none-too-optimistic about his side’s chances against a strong Indian batting line-up—in familiar Indian conditions.

What he really meant:

“In English, Australian or South African conditions, four bowlers can bowl them out every time.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“We’re going to do that. Seven bowlers, it is.”