From: 9063iyerm@vms.csd.mu.edu (Murali Iyer)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
Subject: A gist of the interviews - Prabhakar, Kapil, Baig....
Date: 8 Apr 92 18:31:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: vms.00958CB8.5F771AC0
Reply-To: 9063iyerm@vms.csd.mu.edu
Organization: Marquette University - Computer Services

A couple of days ago, I got a chance to catch up on the past issues of Times Of
India.  By catching up, I mean mainly cricket. The period covered was the last
week of march. Luckily, the papers contained the article on Prabhakar's
interview,  Azhar's reaction and also Kapil's and Abbas Ali Baig's interviews.
I have not scanned the interviews, so will rely on my memory(aargh!) to relate
this piece.

First, Prabhakar's comments. Prabhakar's quotes were made in an interview for a
video sports magazine. He does not say outright that Azhar was bad as a
captain, but just repeats that Azhar was too meek and soft, never really told
the players what he expected them to do, and was generally quite unimpressive.
He also says that the players who were not playing a particular game --he
stresses on the youngsters here-- were absolutely not involved in that game and
could be seen wandering around and not looking to see how they can help the
team. Prabhakar say that they should be involved, whether they are playing or
not. He also says that Shastri or Kapil should be made captain. He says neither
Manjrekar nor Tendulkar is senior enough to don the mantle. He feels that the
captain should be a man who comands respect from all players.

He says Azhar should have impressed upon the board that the team should have
had a break after the test series before starting the world cup. He says the
tour was too long, and the longest he has ever been on (How many has he been
on, could someone tell me please?). Also, his offer to open the innings in the
face of repeated failures of the openers seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. He
also feels that the management thought that there were no openers other than
Srikkanth and Shastri (A tinge of bitterness?).

And the interview was conducted by Pataudi. So, maybe there was some confusion
as to who made what statement, after all. :--) I am referring to the earlier
reports of Pataudi saying something about the board.

In the next day's paper, Azhar dismisses Manoj's comments as childish.

On to Kapil. He sounds so mature and responsible in this interview. Asked what
went wrong on the tour, he says that the team did not realise its full
potential despite having the talent, _team-spirit_ and desire to succeed. He
refuses to comment on Azhar's captaincy and post-tour comments, saying that
Azhar is the best man to clarify what he is talking about. He does not say
whether Azhar is right or wrong. He says that Azhar has been making statements
about "junior players, senior players. So, ask him what he means. I am not the
one to talk about it". When asked whether he would like to be captain, he
almost chides the interviewer that such things should not be spoken about :--)
He wishes to utilise the land that the CM of Haryana has promised him, to set
up a health-club and training facilities, not just for cricket, but also for
other sports. 

Kapil says the rules were the same for every team and there was no point in
cribbing about them. He, however, feels sorry for SA because they came so close
yet failed to reach the finals. He does not want to predict whether he will
play 200 tests or not. :--)

Kapil says he enjoyed bowling alongside Chetan Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar.
Regrets that Chetan has been injury-prone which cost him his place in the 
team. The interviewer observes that there is a good crop of pace-bowlers all of
a sudden and asks whether he, Kapil, has been the idol for many of them. Kapil
rightly says "Ask them". He also feels Madras is too hot for the MRF camp and
recommends Bangalore as the ideal venue. 

He says that he runs a lot and works out in health clubs twice a day. He says
he loves to run, which helps him keep his legs strong. He does not lift
weights, since he finds himself tired at the end of the day even without it. He
thanks his parents and wife for being so understanding and encouraging. 

Abbas Ali Baig does not hide his feelings when he talks about the umpiring in
Australia. He says they were done in by very bad umpiring and he points out
Adelaide as the worst case. He also said that he could not utter what the team
felt while still in Australia because of the code of conduct they had to
follow. But he says he complained to Mike Smith and others who were the
observers from ICC. 

He praised Kapil for his involvement and the fact that he attended every team
meeting on tour and made valuable suggestions. Shastri, Baig says, was dropped
for his own good because they did not want him to aggravate his injury again on
tour.:--) Also, Baig admitted that Shastri's job was to drop anchor but hastens
to add that it did not mean that he should refrain from placing his strokes and
turning the strike over. This, Baig, seemed to say, was not the desired result.
Shastri was expected to do better in bowling too, and his "loss of confidence
in his bowling" was a major setback. And Shastri is reported to have put his
foot down and stuck to opening the innings instead of helping the team in the
slog overs. Atleast the team management seemed to have confidence in his
slogging ability. 

Baig calls for mandatory fitness tests for every member before selection. He
says he does not believe in yelling at players but expects each one of them to
know their responsibilities and roles. He says Azhar did a good job, though he
was out of form at the beginning of the tour, which did not help any. 

There was also a column about Srikkanth and he seems to be cool and believes
that he has not done a bad job, though he feels that he was not very lucky(he
admits to relying on luck and reflexes to succeed). He points out that he has
scored about 600 runs in 19 OD matches which is not bad.  He says he is happy
that Pakistan won the cup, but adds --tongue in cheek-- that good play and a
bit of luck helped them along. He is determined to do well and feels that
people who judge him should do so objectively.

That's about all I can remember. And this has grown quite long, I see. Hope
people find it interesting enough to go thru the whole thing.

-Murali.

                               Murali Iyer 
Office: (414) 288 6890                             Home  : (414) 288 8576
Marquette University                               722, N.13th Street, #511,
Computer Services Division                         Milwaukee, WI 53233.

Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket