May 10, 1999
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ON THE BALL Live and play As One Forget unfamiliar conditions and homesickness. Get together and make merry on and off the field. By Kapil Dev
An important factor which all of us tend to overlook is homesickness. Compared to other teams we have always had young sides. A more mature player can quickly bounce back after a defeat. But a youngstermay not have the capacity to do that. They are kids at the end of the day and feel homesick and insecure on the flight out. Also, a young team is more prone to distractions. I have seen a few youngsters forget their priorities when so much is suddenly available so easily. I feel quite a few problems are self-created. For one, we need to stop making excuses. Everything cannot continuously go against us. Only when we learn to accept our weaknesses can we rectify them. Along with this it is the responsibility of the captain, manager and senior players to keep the morale up. I feel it is imperative to relax and that too together. In our time we had something called the Sunday Club. The whole team would gather at one place and put up a variety show. There would be songs, dances, mimicry, anecdotes -- whatever one wanted. This was one occasion when the captain, manager and the juniormost player were on a par. The point I am trying to make is work hard on the field and let your hair down off it. Players need to enjoy themselves if they have to deliver the goods consistently. Of course, the fun has to be healthy and balanced out. Should wives be taken on the tour? Why not? A wife can relieve a great deal of stress and burden of a player after a hard day in the field. I agree it may not be healthy for the unity of the team to have players constantly closeted in their rooms with their wives. But how many actually do it? Most often the wives strike up strong friendships and one tends to go out with the players because the wives have fixed up the evening meal together. Some years ago when wives were banned on a tour, I remember a fellow cricketer candidly commenting on how the chances of us turning gay were bright -- a four-month tour and no wives! Food is another area which could cause problems abroad. Vegetarians, especially the south Indians, seem to bear the brunt of it. But again we are at an advantage compared to the westerners. With our lead-lined stomachs we can digest virtually anything without a problem. And in England there are Indian restaurants everywhere. I read somewhere that the Australians had their beer and baked beans flown in on their last tour of India. I remember on my first tour of England I terribly missed my mother's cooking but I knew I had to give myself enough nutrition if I had to perform. I used to hate English food, especially the cheese. Then one day someone told me that cheese was exceptionally nutritious and introduced me to, of all the cheeses, blue cheese. I nearly threw up. But where there is a will there is a way. If I could eat karela (bitter gourd), I could eat blue cheese, and I did. Today I can eat no other. I firmly believe togetherness holds the key to this campaign. England fortunately caters to it because the players will be travelling together in a coach to the match venues. Playing away from home this time will also relieve some pressure. But the most important thing is to relax. Former India captain and allrounder
Kapil Dev will be writing a regular column exclusively for |
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People often wonder why the Indian team
does not perform well on foreign tours. I wouldn't attribute this solely to the Indian
team as most visiting teams are at a disadvantage playing away from home. A visiting team
has to familiarise itself with the playing conditions, the wickets, the weather and the
grounds while the home team knows them all. 
