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'Did Imran sulk? You bet!'

Ravi Shastri is very un-Indian, the way he throws caution to the winds and speaks his mind at the drop of a query.

There is a performer in him, lurking in everything he does, and a sense of vanity which makes one wonder if he could have been as successful in films as he was in cricket.

Shastri is in Bulawayo, having checked in along with the Indian team and a few journalists. A couple of hours later, Shastri was ensconced in the Rainbow Hotel -- an old stamping ground for him, for much before he visited Zimbabwe in 1992 along with the touring Indian team, he was the captain of the India Under-25 in 1984 that toured this country, which had Kris Srikkanth and Mohammed Azharuddin among others in the ranks.

"That was a tremendous tour. I mean Zimbabwe had good talent, quite good if you looked at the bowling with Peter Rawson, Kevin Curren, Duncan Fletcher and of course John Traicos. But our worse troubles involved umpiring," said Shastri.

"It's a good thing now that even for one-dayers, Zimbabwe has top umpires like Ian Robinson and Russel Tiffin. When we were here, the umpiring needed watching," recalls Ravi. "There was a game in which we were `forced' out of the middle for only 100. The Zimbabweans were 40 for eight but the ninth wicket pair was allowed to prosper and they managed a one-wicket victory. It squared the series since we had won the first game.

"Those tours still served youngsters enormously," he goes on. "Look at the guys who made it from the tour, even Azhar. It was a tough tour and I suspect it would be one again this time around."

Shastri then enquired about Toronto, since he was in Kuala Lumpur doing Commonwealth duty for television. "I tell you, the game against Australia (which eliminated India) was not easy. They were 80 for five and could have been 80 for six had Tom Moody not survived a close chance. I remember remarking on mike: 'What if India wins? They will be in medal contention and perhaps it would be time for the Toronto guys, and not the other way around, to rush to Kuala Lumpur and serve India's cause since the Sahara Cup seems lost for all purposes."

A wicked thought, articulated deliberately by the ever-impish Shastri.

Shastri is a delight to talk to because he is off and running and needs little prodding. "I tell you," he says, when asked about India-Pakistan games and the underlying tension, "Pakistan usually does well against us because we don't give it back, in talk, to them. Once they realise they can get away with anything, they will be all over you. That's why when I played them, we exchanged greetings but they realised I was no different than them. So they maintained their distance. And it helped my cricket.

"On one occasion, it was Javed Miandad. There was an umpiring dispute in the one-day series in 1987, and Miandad blamed me for not telling the umpires the truth. As I crossed the Pakistan dressing room, Miandad's prodding got me angry. It could have really turned nasty had not Imran intervened.

"One other occasion involved Imran Khan. I was leading the young Indians against the visiting Pakistanis in 1987 at Faridabad. On the second day of the match, Imran Khan, who was playing in the game but had not turned up on the first day, wanted to bowl. I said no way. Did Imran sulk? You bet!

"The point is, if you as captain stand up to rivals, aggressive rivals, and are aggressive yourself, your entire bunch is charged. When the captain means business, and gets away it, the players know that they too can stand up to any nonsense, they can refuse to be hustled. For me, that attitude always helped.

"Don't ever for a second believe Miandad or Imran were my enemies. No. Indeed, I feel Miandad was truly great as a batsman. I am sure he must have had a large role to play in Pakistan's triumph in Toronto. I would not be surprised if the news comes that it was Miandad who motivated Wasim Akram to come out of retirement. He can really forge this Pakistan squad into a fighting unit. His stature and experience could mean a word of difference to Pakistan's chances," said Shastri.

Shastri is the lone Indian commentator here, since Kirti Azad's political commitments have kept him occupied in New Delhi. The rest of the commentators are from South Africa. The telecast is arranged by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and Doordarshan is beaming the matches live in India.

"But I won't be staying for the Test," informs Shastri "Only for one-dayers."

As is known, the one-day series is sponsored by Hero Honda of India while the one-off Test got a sponsorship only on Thursday, when the local unit of Ford got into picture. Test matches are obviously cricket's forsaken children, and the victim of growing neglect, what with one-dayers alone drawing TV sponsors and advertisers.