NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

'No panic', says Azhar

Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and coach Anshuman Gaekwad accepted with some reservations the defeat in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe last week.

Arriving in Mumbai from Harare on Tuesday morning, the two spoke to the media. While Azharuddin agreed that the defeat will reopen the old issue of India's inability to produce positive Test results abroad as it does at home, Gaekwad said that the visiting sides have the same problem of winning and losing away from home.

Azharuddin and Navjot Singh Sidhu left for their respective home destinations, but most of the cricketers will stay back to take a flight to Ahmedabad for the Challenger Trophy after which the teams for the Dhaka Mini World Cup and Sharjah three-nation tournament will be picked.

Azharuddin's second term of captaincy also ended with the Zimbabwe tour, but it is expected the selectors will re-nominate him to lead the side through most of this year's remaining engagements. The Indian skipper opted out of the Challenger series, while Sidhu was not picked for any of the three teams.

This could spend the end of Sidhu's cricketing odyssey, which curiously enough started in Ahmedabad, about 15 years ago, against the West Indies under Clive Lloyd.

Azharuddin said it was the sudden impact of a few mistakes India made that resulted in the defeat. "Anyway, the win should help Zimbabwe and that is good for cricket," he said. "We cannot take it as a serious setback because if you have preparations for the World Cup in mind, then the road is still long and there is plenty of time for things to fall in place."

Azharuddin hinted that there should be more quality than quantity in India's cricket schedule. Perhaps a longer Test series could give a side an idea of its real value, he added.

India, ever since the departure of Sunil Gavaskar and K Srikkanth, has been searching for an ideal opening pair. When asked about this, Azhar said, "We are still searching."

Azharuddin said that the use of Mongia at the top of the batting order was to keep the lower order's balance intact. "I am happy that Rahul Dravid justified our faith in him, and that he has not lost his sense of purpose despite often being left out of the one day side," Azhar added.

Judging by the number of Tests, Azhar is the longest serving India skipper, but has only one Test win in Sri Lanka in 1993-'94 to balance innumerable defeats abroad. However, when asked about this, he said there was no panic in him or in the side for losing to a team which got Test status only a few years ago.

The Indian skipper said that Kumble's form was another plus that arose from the tour. The fastish leg-spinner from Karnataka was once thought to be burnt out and was dropped for a period, but on this tour the fizz on the ball was back he was the highest wicket-taker.

Gaekwad for his part said the grinding schedule was bound to take its toll on the players.

Ajit Wadekar, chairman of the national selectors, said he was not unduly perturbed by the fact that his first exercise in team selection, as chairman, had resulted in the defeat against Zimbabwe.

"Fancied teams do lose in cricket, as I should know only too well, it is nothing new," said Wadekar.

The fact that India became only the second country after New Zealand to lose Tests against every single Test-playing country away from home appears not to justify that sanguine assessment.

But Wadekar said the result wouldn't cause the selectors to panic, and run helter skelter. "We will discuss the result and all related matters at Ahmedabad and we are sure to find solutions, that won't be a problem," he added.

UNI