| The antics of politicians can be unending. Our last 10 cover
stories have been on politics. We thought it was time to take a break. If there is
anything that excites the country as much as politics, it's cricket. And if there's
anything more challenging than running a government, it's running an Indian cricket team.
So this week we bring you a study of the man in the hot seat: cricket captain Mohammed
Azharuddin. Azharuddin is a comeback man.
During his first innings as captain, he was criticised for being uninspiring. Snide
remarks were made about his penchant for designer clothes and the good life. Struggling
for form and acceptance, Azharuddin was dumped and simply stopped talking to the media.
Today, under his leadership, a seemingly wimpish team trashes the mighty Aussies.
Azharuddin is a changed man. He seems to communicate more with his team, and is more
focused on the field -- as if he knows he must make the most of this second coming.
But the key to his rehabilitation is a new openness with the
media. To analyse Azharuddin's second coming, we flew down Associate Editor Rohit Brijnath
from Delhi and Senior Photographer Hemant Pithwa from Mumbai to Bangalore. Azharuddin
discussed subjects he had never spoken on before. In his affable new avatar, he posed in a
Versace suit, Bijan tie and trotted obediently around Bangalore's West End Hotel, smiling
and joking with surprised autograph hunters who had been waiting hours to get a glimpse of
the man. "A man who would not talk to me, spent three hours with me," said
Brijnath. "I was astonished." Now, if only our politicians could surprise us
like this.
(Aroon Purie) |
