'Sachin listened to too many guys'

Sachin Tendulkar's 'not-so-impressive' stint as captain remains a paradox and former BCCI secretary JY Lele feels it was because he "used to pay heed to too many advices".

For a cricketer who has made it a habit of breaking one record after another, and is on the threshold of another - 100 international centuries - the champion batsman has a modest captaincy record to boast of.

Lele, in his newly published book, 'I Was There - Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator', writes that Tendulkar used to pay heed to too many advices and thought it was disrespectful to ignore suggestions from elders.

"Sachin could not exactly prove himself as a successful captain, though as a player, he is a legend, the greatest! I need not specially write about his unmatched batting prowess, as it is a worldwide accepted fact and volumes have gone into describing his cricketing skills. When I saw him step down as captain, I was in tears!" writes Lele in his memoirs.

"I consider myself lucky that I got many opportunities to interact with him when he was captain. His biggest problem was that he used to listen to too many people. Basically a very soft, rather shy, cultured gentleman, Sachin played international cricket at the tender age of 16-plus and from then on formed the habit of respecting elders. He thought it was his duty to implement what they suggested. While doing so, he sometimes did not apply his mind. In deserving cases, it proved advantageous, in others, otherwise," Lele writes.

Lele also says that Tendulkar, at least on one occasion, listened to someone else's recommendation and backed a player without knowing that he had been dropped by his own Ranji Trophy team.

"A classic example came at the very beginning of his stint. In the series against South Africa, after the Kanpur Test match, the selection committee met to select the team for the next match in Ahmedabad. Chairman Kishan Rungta was a no-nonsense man and the best selector, who always attended meetings well-informed, to do justice to his job," writes Lele.

"At that meeting, Sachin said that Mumbai's Nilesh Kulkarni was a fine bowler and as he had taken 26 wickets the previous season, he should find a place in the team. Rungta asked him, "Yeh wickets usne kaunsi tournament me liye? (In which tournament has he taken these wickets?) Have you seen him bowl?

"Sachin fumbled. Though he himself was a Mumbai player, he had rarely played a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai for some time due to his busy international schedule, nor had he followed the scores. 'No sir, but I know he has taken 26 wickets and is very good'," Sachin continued tentatively.

Rungta said, "Dear skipper, I might have given thought to your recommendation if you had seen him bowl. Now, let me tell you for your kind information that in the current season, Mumbai has played two Ranji matches and Kulkarni has not played a single. He was dropped from the team. Tell me, how can a player find a place in the national team when he is not found worthy of selection in the local team?"

"Sachin had no answer. The fact was that someone had strongly recommended Kulkarni's name and without cross-checking the records, Sachin blindly put his proposal forth and unfortunately had to cut a sorry figure!" Lele writes.

Lele, whose stint as a BCCI office-bearer almost coincided with the master-blaster's grand entry into international cricket, has also revealed that Tendulkar was intent on quitting the captaincy in the midst of the opening Test against South Africa in 1999-2000 and finally hung up his boots as captain after the Test series got over.

"In 1999-2000, there was a two-Test match series and an ODI series against South Africa in India. The first Test was in Mumbai, and South Africa won it comfortably in three days! There was all-round criticism of the Indian team, especially Sachin's captaincy. He was very upset and nervous. At the end of the second day, it was very clear that India would lose the match by a big margin.

"In the evening, Sachin handed over a letter to me. To my shock, it was his resignation letter as captain! I was stunned! It was very embarrassing. One Test match of the series was about to end and the second and last match was scheduled to start within a few days in Bangalore. Even if he felt humiliated or guilty, he should have waited till the conclusion of the Test series and then resigned.

"I tried to convince him but he felt enough was enough. He appeared mentally tired and wanted to quit. It was a very difficult situation," writes Lele.

Lele added that he then sought intervention of then BCCI chief, Raj Singh Dungarpur, and former all-rounder Ravi Shastri, and after they too failed in their bid, he approached Sachin's wife Anjali before the cricketer relented.

"As the last effort, Ravi and I spoke to Sachin's wife, Dr Anjali, separately. I suggested that if he did not want to lead the side, he could tender his resignation even now, stating that he would relinquish the reins at the end of the Test match series and it would be appreciated. Thank God, I do not know exactly whose influence ultimately prevailed, but Sachin led India in the second Test, much against his will.

"Unfortunately, India lost the second Test too. The selection committee named Sourav Ganguly as captain for the ODI series and confirmed him later for Test matches too," Lele added.

Afridi all set to make ODI return

The return of Shahid Afridi for next month's ODI series against Sri Lanka appears imminent after the ex-captain decided to end his self-imposed exile earlier this month.

Afridi has been assured by some political figures, who supported his comeba

ck, that he would be in the national team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka if he revoked his retirement decision, a source confirmed.

The 31-year-old had announced his retirement in late May to protest against the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to remove him as captain after the West Indies tour.

Afridi was also fined Rs 4.5 million by the disciplinary committee of the Board for breaching the code of conduct but was given permission to play in foreign leagues.

The all-rounder, an extremely popular figure with the masses in Pakistan, announced earlier this month that he was available for national selection again after President Asif Zardari appointed Zaka Ashraf as the head of the PCB in place of Ijaz Butt.

The mercurial cricketer also made it clear that he was ready to play for Pakistan again since the team management had been changed, a reference to the resignation of coach Waqar Younis after the Zimbabwe tour in September.

"Afridi is certain to make a comeback to the one-day side for the series against Sri Lanka as it was part of the deal he worked out with the political and other influential figures who were involved in his comeback," a source said.

Acting chief selector, Muhammad Illyas, has already said that the selectors would consider Afridi for national selection only after the Board gives them the clearance to recognise him for selection.

"Afridi has been assured that with a new chairman now heading the Board, he would be part of the national one-day side," the source added.

"The new chairman has come in after being conveyed by the powers that he should try to sort out the controversies involving senior players, many of whom were shown the door or forced to take the back door by Butt due to his iron-fist policy of dealing with the players," another source revealed.

Afridi, who led Pakistan to the 2011 World Cup semifinal, has not played for Pakistan since May.

Many former players had advised Afridi to take back his retirement decision and former captain and great, Wasim Akram, has told him to now just focus on cricket.

"If you look at his performance as a bowler in the last one year, that itself is enough to guarantee him an immediate comeback to the one-day side," former captain, Rashid Latif said.

Afridi is presently in Hong Kong, playing for the super stars team. He also played in the recently held national Twenty20 championship for Karachi Dolphins.

Sehwag sets sights on win Down Under

Virender Sehwag is on the verge of regaining full fitness and he is focussed on helping India win the Test series in Australia.

Sehwag, who recently went through shoulder surgery, is playing domestic cricket and is hopeful of being fit in time to play the upcoming series against the West Indies.
However, his big dream is to guide India to a historic Test series win Down Under. In the midst of it all, Viru is also spending time to put plans in place for his new sports academy in Haryana.

Speaking to a leading newspaper, Sehwag sounded confident about his recovery from shoulder surgery. "My shoulder is shaping up nicely after the rehabilitation. I'm also playing domestic games for Delhi now to check my match fitness and get back into the groove. I hope I should be able to play the West Indies series."

The Indian opener has always been viewed as someone with special talent, someone who does not necessarily have to toil for hours at the crease to get big scores. He is considered to be an exact opposite of Rahul Dravid, who works for hours together and works very hard at that. For a youngster who wants to emulate Sehwag, he has a very clear-cut take on the hard work involved in achieving one's goal.

He said: "Talent is nothing without hard work, discipline and dedication. These are the most important aspects in an athlete's life. This is what I have been taught by my coaches and seniors. My advice to every youngster is that talent is god-given but you cannot perform to your potential unless you work hard and be disciplined in your routine."

Viru has achieved staggering heights in his career. But there are unfulfilled dreams, still, that he wants to realise for the country. "There is lots left to achieve. Winning a Test series in Australia is something that comes immediately to my mind," he said.

Having come a long way ever since he made his debut way back in 2001, Sehwag sees quite a few major differences between ten years back and the present. "The striking difference as a batsman lies in the planning of an innings, knowing the importance of staying at the crease for as long as possible. Now I know better. Now I know that even if there is a slow-scoring period in my innings, I can cover up later by scoring faster when the bowlers are tired," he said.

Sehwag is happy that India are back to their winning ways, at home, after suffering the embarrasment on English soil. On asked why do even good teams like India and England struggle so much away from home, Viru said the trend is historic in nature.

He said: "Yes, we are winning again. It should be a habit, but I don't really know what went wrong in England since I only played a couple of games there. Winning abroad is never easy for any team. Even good teams like Australia at their best were beaten in India - the conditions are not what one is used to playing since childhood."

India have found some promising pacers in Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, who are bowling faster than the usual norm. Sehwag feels they should be nurtured properly so that they don't lose out on their pace in the future. "They are good future prospects. It's not always about speed but accuracy too. Glenn McGrath was not express fast but was the best around in his playing days. We need to make sure that they are on an upward learning curve by playing them more at the highest level. They should keep working on their game and fitness."

The Delhi dasher's eyes lit up when asked about his new academy.

He reminisced: "I remember the days of daily struggle as a youngster. Reaching the cricket grounds for matches all the way from Najafgarh, the hard work, the sweat and toil. It was my father's wish that one day I should come up with an academy where deserving cricketers should not only get to learn but also have residential facilities so they don't have to go through the same struggles I did. I want to build it as a centre of excellence.

"This academy will not only train budding cricketers but youngsters will also have opportunity to train with the best in other sporting disciplines. There is horse riding, swimming, tennis, badminton and wrestling, apart from cricket. Olympic-medal winning wrestler Sushil Kumar, famous shuttler Pullela Gopichand and renowned swimmer Khazan Singh are just a few names involved," he added.

On the 'Viru vs You' initiative, Sehwag said: "This is a unique offer where youngsters can bowl at me on October 29. If they can get me clean bowled, they will get free training in my academy. There have been several occasions when fans have come up to me and asked, "What's so special, so different about your batting?" Many have expressed their eagerness to come and bowl at me.

"Hundred lucky youngsters will get the opportunity to bowl and whoever is successful in getting me out will get to train in my academy for free the next summer. So here lies your opportunity to have a go. Make the most of it. I just hope they all don't get me bolwed," said Sehwag in good humour.

There has been a cultural shift in Indian batting from the "Mumbai school of batting" to the "Delhi school". More and more young players are coming out of Delhi now rather than Mumbai. Sehwag believes it has got do with the ever-increasing popularity of the game.

"In fact, players are coming from all over the country now, especially from smaller towns. This includes me too. It's more to do with the increasing popularity of the game in those corners. Also, the confidence of the young Indians in general has increased. They are not afraid to take on the world at any platform," concluded Sehwag.