Is this the worst tour ever by an Indian team?
We've done nothing in terms of performance to write home about. But then, we are rebuilding the team. This is just the start. We'll find a solution. We have to be hopeful. It'll take time.
How long?
It can happen in the next Test, in a month, or it could take a whole season. Going through a bad patch is a cycle Test-playing nations have to go through every now and then. Australia, West Indies, England have all been through it. Now, it's us. We've got the talent, we only need to play to our potential.
Why do Azhar and the team seem so completely clueless?
Because we haven't been playing enough Tests. We must play at least eight Test matches every season. Instead, we have been playing one-day matches without a break. It's becoming difficult for the players to switch from one form to another. The players still have to get over the hangover of one-day cricket.
Do you blame the board for it?
It's nobody's mistake.
What specifically is going wrong?
First, we had a problem with the weather, then the Navjot Singh Sidhu episode occurred and now our frontline batsmen are out of form. Plus, we have been hampered by a whole load of injuries.
What happened in the Sidhu scam?
I can't comment on that. The board is handling the issue. I shall be filing a report on the incident at the end of the tour.
But hasn't the episode cast a shadow in the dressing room, affected the team's morale, sown insecurity?
No. We've forgotten the entire episode. Nobody talks about it. We don't discuss it. After all, we have to look to the future and not brood over the past.
Who are those on the injury list?
Sunil Joshi has a hairline fracture on his spinning finger. Manjrekar has sprained an ankle. Saurav Ganguly has pulled a thigh muscle. Hirwani has a bad back. And Azharuddin has a tennis elbow.
Earlier, poor performance by the bowlers was blamed on cold weather, what is the excuse now for the batsmen?
It's important to have an established opening pair to lay the foundation for a good total. Unfortunately, that did not happen in the first Test. Although Jadeja and Rathore scored heavily in the county matches, they failed to hit it off in the Test.
What does it prove?
That the Test matches are quite different from county matches. Also, this is our first full-fledged foreign tour after a long time We have had a good run on home soil—beating England, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, New Zealand. But foreign tours are a different ball game.
Does it also perhaps prove that Azhar is a great leader only on tailor-made home pitches?
We can't say that. His record as captain is awesome. He is India's most successful captain. Not just Azhar, any captain will find it difficult on a foreign tour after such a long time and so many one-dayers.
But Azhar's batting has been fairly mediocre?
Who says so? He was man of the series in the one-day matches. He had a bad first Test, that's all.
How are the rest faring?
We have only got Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar among the seniors, and they have done very well. The others are new and are still learning.
Don't you still miss Kambli?
I'm not missing anybody. My job is to work with the 16 who have been given to me, and to do my best. I'm not here to complain about who has been given to me and who hasn't. I can't keep cribbing that I miss Gavaskar or Kapil Dev or Bedi.
But your decision to ask Salil Ankola to join the team after Sidhu left was seen as a signal to selectors that they had given you one seamer less and one spinner more?
There will always be such stories when a team is not having a good run. Azhar and Sachin wanted Ankola because of the weather that was following us—even our spinners were finding it difficult to grip the ball—and the kind of pitches we were being given. I backed their request and we were proved right.
Have there been any gains?
Oh yes. We've finally found a brilliant opening bowling pair. People were saying India was incapable of producing quality seam bowlers. To see how wrong they were, all you need to do is to take a long, hard look at Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. They have been superb.
You've been in favour of players being together with their wives on tour. Is that becoming a distraction?
It's not in my hand to allow or not allow wives and girlfriends. It's the decision of the board and the administrative manager. But what the hell, it's not happening for the first time. It's being blown out of proportion because of our performance so far on this tour.
Kapil Dev says the dressing room was sacrosanct in his time.
Even in my time, wives had been going to the dressing room and accompanied players in the team bus. Success has many fathers; failure is an orphan.
Will Azhar survive this series?
It's up to the board. He's been our most successful captain. He's been a big success with the bat. Can anybody dispute that?
What about you?
The board took the decision to appoint me manager after seeing my performance as coach for eight years. Five years in charge of Madhya Pradesh and three in charge of the India 'A' and India under-19 teams. I hope they do not decide whether I should stay or leave on the basis of three short months.
