HOBART, DECEMBER 16: Had the Indians scheduled their practice session for the afternoon, rain and seagulls would have greeted them at the picturesque Bellerive Oval, which is surrounded by hills from three sides and the sea from the other.The players had a satisfying session of football and baseball before the rains forced them indoors. The smiling faces of the players did not convey the impression that it is a sulking team, unlike the image the newspapers here are subtly trying to build.The day after the Adelaide Test, newspapers here were full of what their Indian counterparts had written on Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal. And what has been written has not been liked here. So, Tendulkar and Kapil Dev, have been besieged by the press since Wednesday, seeking a quote or two on the issue which would add fuel to the fire.The press, no matter from where, thrive on sensationalism. And what better way to stoke the fires of controversy than to get the captain or the coach to say: ``We are going toprotest.''The Australian, a widely-circulated paper here, went a step ahead, and took a dig at Indian newspapers (The Indian Express being prominent) at having delved too much on the controversial dismissal and reminded its readers the kind of umpiring the Australians have to face when they go to India. The paper highlighted the 1997 Chennai Test which Australia lost and despite a spate of poor decisions against his team, captain Mark Taylor had refused to blame the umpires.The paper's advise to the Indians was to find ways and means to improve their overseas record instead of trying to find a scapegoat in umpire Daryl Harper's controversial decisions. Very true. No Indian would want to disagree with it, except that no one is trying find excuse for the defeat, least of all the Indian newspapers, who even before the Indian team had embarked on this tour, had harped on the unequal nature of the contest. If pointing out a mistake, not committed once but twice, that too against the sameplayer, is wrong then one pleads guilty. Perhaps, the Australian press is irritated by the composure and diplomacy of the Indian captain and coach.On Wednesday, a couple of newsmen tried their best to get some response from Kapil. When they got nothing, he was told in jest: ``You should be in politics.''Kapil seems pleased by the manner in which his team has not sulked and mourned the defeat. The hardest job on difficult tours like this is to keep the boys together. The battles ahead would be even tougher and the very thought of a rout can make people lose heart and give up without even making an attempt to fight back.Tendulkar, too, has mastered the art of giving nothing away without looking evasive. He ducked controversial questions but was forthcoming on his team's problems in Tests because of playing too many one-dayers.He said the team needed to ``play more Tests and less one-dayers.''Then came a tricky question: Is it because of financial considerations your Board is arranging moreone-day cricket?The Indian captain replied: ``I don't know whether they make more money or not, but we should play more Test cricket and there should be more breaks between each series.''
