Azza matter of experience, justice hasn’t been done

A good captain must have practical knowledge which breeds common sense. He must be charismatic too like Ted Dexter, Sobers or Pataudi for...

A good captain must have practical knowledge which breeds common sense. He must be charismatic too like Ted Dexter, Sobers or Pataudi for the team to look up to him. For my money, a good captain should be able to assert himself and at times be prepared to take unpopular decisions as well. Only then can he be said to be “made for the job.” This is basically the theme of our story as we analyse the captains of the nine Test-playing countries at the World Cup.

I am not finished with Azhar yet. Nor is the media for that matter. These days anything and everything about Azhar makes a good copy. “Azhar, third time lucky?” screamed one headline. My daughter, whose interest in cricket is just beginning to flourish, asked, “What, is Azhar getting married again?”

The statisticians have made us all aware that Azhar is emulating Clive Lloyd by leading in the third consecutive World Cup. So, from the experience angle, Azhar has nobody to beat. But then, if experience was the only criteria, you won’t need tointoxicate someone who has already drowned a barrel.

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Leading by example; innovativeness; ability to motivate; reading the game correctly; communication and preparing for the opposition. On all these counts, Azhar’s experience has not quite done justice to the continuity of the job. In my book of assessment, Azhar has a lot more to do to get four marks out of 10.

Hansie Cronje is leading the favourites — South Africa. His recent exploits have shot up his status manifold. He comes closest to Richie Benaud. On all counts, Cronje has to be the best captain around, especially now that Mark Taylor has retired. Cronje scores eight points out of 10.

Steve Waugh had a long apprenticeship under Taylor. To his credit, Steve never got restless. If experience really means something, Cronje has good competition in Steve Waugh. Since both Australia and South Africa are expected to battle it out in the finals, Steve too deserves eight points. No, nine maybe, for not letting Australia choke in a crisis.

The PakistaniWasim Akram comes next on priority list. His enormous all-round ability would uplift any side. Akram’s strength of character to rough it out against any administrative hurdle, speaks volumes of the man’s commitment towards his country.

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Former skipper and coach Intikhab Alam has an interesting story to tell. Once during a Test match, Akram had the ball slip out of his hand while on the run up. Akram did not stop and go back to his bowling mark. He simply bent in the running motion, gathered the ball and delivered at great pace to rattle the stumps at the other end. That is pure magic! Akram is just like our own Kapil Dev.

Javed Miandad’s surprise resignation may upset Pakistan’s plans somewhat but you can trust Akram to over come that. Again, eight out of 10 for him.

Arjuna Ranatunga had a wonderful run in the last World Cup, leading them to an incredible win. This time, both Ranatunga and his men are struggling. The Sri Lankan cricket administrators are in no way inferior to their counterparts in Indiaand Pakistan as we observed in their last AGM. Ranatunga must feel the pressure as he is greying pretty rapidly and would hate to be a liability on his team. For him, six points out of 10.

Brian Lara’s recent tryst with rejuvenated greatness against the Aussies was confined to Tests only. His fitness is the enemy within. Lara is brilliant one day and can be quite ordinary the other. He has to do a lot of catching up as far as captaincy is concerned. Five points out of 10 for him.

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Alec Stewart of England will probably feel the heat the most because of the home-crowd expectations which would be very high. Stewart, like Azhar, has been around for a while. His problem is whether to keep wickets or not. Frankly, if I was bowling, I would prefer a specialist ‘keeper any day. Stewart is not one. But, for the sake of balance, Stewart is having to do all the workload; captaining, opening the innings, keeping wickets and thinking/plotting strategies. It is a shade in excess of what other skippers would be doing.For that reason alone, Stewart gets seven points out of ten. If his versatility can get England the World Cup, Stewart may even get Tony Blair’s job.

Mathew Fleming of New Zealand and Alistair Campbell of Zimbabwe are not likely to be considered big threats by any of the Big Seven, and that is their strength. More often than not, it is good to be an underdog. Both Fleming and Campbell have already jolted some tough opponents. I have an inkling that either of the teams is going to cause a major upset in the Cup. It is just that as well that they gel well with their respective coaches — Steve Rixon and Dave Houghton. For their utter willingness to lead by example I would give both Fleming and Campbell five out of 10 points.

Bedi’s Scale of Captaincy

1. Hansie Cronje

2. Steve Waugh

3. Wasim Akram

4. Arjuna Ranatunga

5. Brian Lara

6. Alec Stewart

7. Mohd Azharuddin

8. Stephen Fleming

9. Alistair Campbell