April 26, 1999
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ON THE BALL Double Bonus In their own ways Azharuddin and Jadeja are leaders of men and India needs both at the World Cup. By Kapil Dev It has been a pleasure watching India play its last few matches in Sharjah. They have won convincingly and lost desperately. But always they seem to have gone all out. A win without Sachin and Azharuddin is commendable. A loss? I cannot say people did not expect much but I must say with a depleted team nobody's expectations were soaring. Yet India pulled off unexpected victories. It has been great going. People have asked me to differentiate between the captaincies of Azhar and Ajay Jadeja. It is a most difficult task. Ajay is very dear to me and everyone used to joke about him being my son before my daughter was born. Azhar and I go back many years, and we have played together a great deal. I would not like to compare the two as they are poles apart. But it would be interesting to see how they can benefit from each other. Azhar is a mature man with a lot of experience. He has a quality rarely seen in a famous and successful man -- the power of silence. Most successful people, one notices, are prone to airing their views with great authority. Azhar maintains his silence and renders advice only when it's asked for. Sunil Gavaskar had a similar quality; he would only venture where he was invited. Ajay, however, is always there, eager to jump into every situation. His exuberance is infectious. He seems to be everywhere at the same time, encouraging, pushing, egging players on. In the match against England I noticed Ajay encouraging Sunil Joshi when he was hit badly in one over. His involvement with the game and his players is such. He is a go getter and may even border on being pushy, but always for a cause that he thinks is worthy. Because of his affable nature people also come up to him and give their opinions which they feel would benefit our team. If I was to decide which is a better asset to have, I would definitely say a bit of both. One has to know where to draw the line. Too much familiarity will breed contempt and too much silence will result in being completely cut off. A happy medium must be struck. I once wrote that as a young captain Azhar listened intently to every suggestion. Later that changed. That is unfortunate, for the best policy for Azhar would be to listen to all and ultimately use his own mind to sift for the best and most practical strategies. For instance, take the over that Ajay bowled against England. It was a bold decision and he was brave to have stuck his neck out. He got the bouquets because he succeeded. But what if he had failed? Would all of us have applauded him then? I haven't spoken to Ajay, but I got the feeling that the decision to bowl himself must have been collective. He must have had the support of his team to get the confidence he exuded. At the end of the day the Indian team needs both men. Azhar must have complete faith in his team members and encourage them whenever required. Even the slightest show of indifference is going to be detrimental to their performance. The juniors will hopefully cooperate with the captain who must set the example. A captain must believe that his bowlers can get those six wickets in the last five overs or even that his No. 11 will go for the 50 runs required to win. Every positive step will benefit the captain. This Indian team is all of ours, but most importantly it is Azharuddin's. Former India captain and allrounder
Kapil Dev will be writing a regular column exclusively for |
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