Tendulkar will come back a tighter captain (6 Jan 1998)

Tuesday 06, January 1998

Tendulkar will come back a tighter captain

Elmo Rodrigopolle

The Indian cricket selectors led by former fast bowler Ramakant Desai, as chairman have acted correctly and done Sachin Tenkulkar a lot of good by removing him as Indian captain and reinstating Mohammed Azharuddin.

When the selectors dumped Azharuddin and installed Tendulkar as captain, the consensus was that they had not played fair by Azharuddin and given Tendulkar a crown which he was too young to wear.

Tendulkar after taking over the mantle failed to live up to expectations. Not only did the burden of captaincy tell on him it also went to stall his progress as one of the best batsmen of all time.

It was our view and also the view of many Indian cricket writers, that Tendulkar had been thrown to the wolves and that he should be relieved of this burden as his batting was beginning to slide.

With Tendulkar not showing improvement it was only a matter of time before the noose was tightened. The Sri Lankan tour to India was a make or break series for Tendulkar.

With nothing to show at the end of the Test and one-day series, the selectors concluded that enough was enough and when they met on Friday were unanimous in removing Tendulkar and installing Azharuddin.

We hope that Tendulkar will take his removal in the spirit in which it has been made. There is no doubt that greatness is written in his batting. He has it in him to be one of the great willow wielders produced by India.

Tendulkar must be given a couple of more years to let his batting hit the big time. This period should be a learning experience for him and for his comeback as captain too. His removal has been done in good spirit and with his interest at heart.

However it would not have been an easy task for the Indian selectors to do what they finally did. They would have been under tremendous pressure. That they did not bow to it, but did a job that will be accepted by the majority is credit to them.

Tendulkar we are sure would come back a much tighter captain.

From the Indian cricket scene which is hardly free of turmoil, we switch to the local scene. Now that the Zimbabweans are here it will be cricket, cricket and more cricket in the coming days.

The visitors have promised that they will not be easy picking for the Sri Lankans. When they were previously here, they were mowed down by spin. This time round they have promised to fight spin with spin and have included some promising and tantalising spinners in their squad.

But whether the Sri Lankans will throw spin at them or bombard them with pace will be interesting to watch. With a much tougher tour of South Africa in the offing, it will not be a surprise if the Lankans concentrate on pace, because the wickets in South Africa will be pace friendly. So firing pace at Zimbabweans will not be a bad idea.

What is encouraging in the pace bowling scene, is the hardwork that is being done on young left arm fastman the gangling Nuwan Zoysa to get him fit and firing once again.

On the New Zealand tour he was a revelation. But unfortunately injury continues to plague him and he had to skip a few tours which would certainly have gone to stall his progress.

Former Kiwi greats who saw him in action were amazed at his bowling ability. That he did not have enough to show on that tour was a travesty of justice. He bowled amazingly for a 19-year old and beat all batsmen most of the time and just did not have that something called luck which is important not only in sport but in every day life as well.

Zoysa was a 'Lionel the cheer leader find' who coaxed skipper Arjuna Ranatunga to have a look at the youngster and what Ranatunga saw was amazing and immediately had him pencilled for the tour of New Zealand.

We are told that coach Bruce Yardley, physio Alex Kountouri, Manager Duleep Mendis and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga are doing a lot of work with him in an endeavour to have him in top fitness to South Africa.

We hope they succeed in getting Zoysa fit for on the fast and bouncy wickets of South Africa, Zoysa could be a trumpcard for Sri Lanka.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)