MUMBAI, Jan 2: Then leave him out. Indeed, he is not fit Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene I.In a Shakespearean twist to India's cricketing saga, the National selectors unseated Sachin Tendulkar as captain and handed back the reins to his predecessor Mohammed Azharuddin.
The no-confidence motion on Tendulkar was `unanimous'. Which was to be expected, keeping in with the tradition and history of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) -- even when the five wise men with intrinsic zonal conflicts and loyalties debate for hours together. It's a case of public consumption that very few swallow. The logic to bring back Azhar is one of convenience and necessarily temporary. Azhar is in the twilight of a magnificent career while Tendulkar has years of cricket ahead of him. The gamble in making the latter captain quite early in his career has not been too successful, but it's an investment that cannot be frittered away in the future. The loss of captaincy is just a break -- something which should be
viewed with a sense of relief than grief.
Captaincy is an art. It is a test of leadership and man-management skills. Which is why some of the most outstanding players have not made good captains and some of the most cerebral captains have not been good players. Sir Gary Sobers is an example of the first category while Mike Brearely is a classic case of the second.
Hopefully, Tendulkar will reflect back on his days as a skipper, discuss, debate and dissect his tactics with his erudite cricketing peers and emerge an older, wiser and mature leader of men and matters. The demotion from a general to a foot solider is undoubtedly a blow, but it also affords him the time and the space for meaningful analysis which will contribute towards a better future for him as a captain.
One perceptible and significant change in Azharuddin since he was deposed as India captain is his attitude towards the media. Gone are the days when he tended to look upon the vast majority of the scribes as an avoidable evil and banned
the press en masse -- a mistake that even Amitabh Bachchan finally realised and made amends.
In Azhar's case, it was cricketing suicide as he just could not afford to distance the important link between him and the cricket-crazy masses when he was one of the spokesperson for the team as India captain. A role which needed him to be accountable and answerable while leading the nation's honour and aspirations. And in the days of his professional and personal crisis, the rift only widened as the press wrote stories that did not have the Azhar side of the story. But it was a situation of his own naivete making.
Azhar is not the suspicious Aurangzeb he once was -- remember how the untrusting Moghul Emperor even made his cook eat the food he had cooked before serving him, just to ensure that it was not poisoned? Azhar is more accessible to the media and has learnt to accept constructive and unbiased criticism. The change in his media and public relations -- if sustained -- is a factor that will contribute to
lessening the pressures of his high-profile office.
There were two phases in Azhar's captaincy -- the first when his natural goodness made him a soft and weak leader, unwilling to be assertive. Then, under mounting criticism and defeats, his shed his sensitive soft exterior. In place, emerged a hardened man who played a near autocrat.
``After calling me soft earlier, you cannot complain now,'' he tried to justify his belligerent stance to the media. It was a mistake. His clouded and confused mind could not see the path between the two extremes that any good leader would take.
His lack of diplomacy and cavalier attitude saw him rub both officials and fellow-players on the wrong side. He once embarrassed the then-BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya by contradicting his (Dalmiya's) statement to the national press and was in the centre of the storm which led to Navjot Sidhu's unprecedented walk-out from England. His popularity plummeted and despite having the best track record by any Indian captain, it was
almost inevitable when he was finally sacked.
It's human to err. But one has to learn from one's mistakes and if Azhar is able to translate the welcome change in his second innings as the national captain, Indian cricket can only go up from the depths of despair it finds itself in at the moment.
In Tendulkar, Azhar has one of the most committed players in the Indian ranks who would give his 100 per cent, irrespective of who the captain is. It's a boon considering that Tendulkar, by virtue of his powerful stature, can easily choose to be disruptive, divisive and disgruntled to make things difficult for Azhar. Indeed, one can well see Azhar turning to Tendulkar for advice and the latter giving it spontaneously.
A strong and qualitative team will only help Tendulkar's cause. Azhar is only a stop-gap option and when he is asked to hand over the captaincy to Tendulkar -- expectedly before the next World Cup, the latter would have learnt from his mistakes as one expects Azhar to be.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
