"Sachin needs time to mature as skipper"

Former Indian cricketers Polly Umrigar, Ajit Wadekar, Erapalli Prasanna and Krishnamachari Srikkanth said in Calcutta today that they endorsed Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy and felt he should be given more time to mature.

All of them feel Sachin should not be blamed for the team's poor performance and should be given a longer rope.

Former India captain Polly Umrigar thought it would be very difficult for any captain to produce better results with this team. At the same time, Umrigar did not want to make the players responsible for the lack of results.

"I admit they are faring badly," said Umrigar, "but there is a reason for that. Our players are tired after playing such a long time without a real break. Look at our bowlers, even Kumble looked so tired during the Asia Cup, this comes from playing too long and too hard. And even when they get a break, they take part in unofficial matches. It is very difficult to produce good results with this team. I am keeping my fingers crossed about how this team will fave in the Sahara Cup," the former skipper added.

"Sachin is maturing as captain," said Umrigar, "since the last West Indies tour. I believe Saurav Ganguly should be asked to open the innings, as he gets the benefit of being a left-hander."

When it was pointed out that Tendulkar hasn't managed to evolve a strategy to contain the Lankan batting lineup, both Umrigar and Srikkanth pointed out that there was no point evolving strategy without good bowlers to carry it out.

"India does not have bowlers who can contain the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda D'Silva," said Srikkanth. "So what is the use in blaming the captain for that?"

Umrigar pointed out that when a team wins, everyone praises the skipper, in the case of a defeat, everyone blames him. "Sachin is indeed unlucky that he is having to take the blame for the defeciencies in his side."

Former India captain and manager Ajit Wadekar agreed with the assessment. "Everyone is now blaming Tendulkar for India's defeats, but if we look at the matches of recent times, you will find we are losing mostly to Sri Lanka, which is easily the best side in the world in all departments of the game, right now."

Former India spinner Erappalli Prasanna felt that the selectors were also partly to blame for the country's poor performance. "Though I don't hold the selectors solely responsible, I believe they should share the blame," the ace off spinner said.

He added that "Since this team does not have good bowling strength, Dodda Ganesh and Sunil Joshi, also David Johnson, should have been included in the camp ahead of the selection of the Asia Cup squad. Why should one blame only the skipper when a team loses? One has to analyse the real reasons for each defeat."

Another former star who endorsed Sachin Tendulkar's continuance as captain was Eknath Solkar, who felt that he was maturing with each outing, and needs to be persisted with.