Ajit Wadekar, a shrewd tactician and also a great man-manager: Mohammad Azharuddin

When we returned from South Africa, he was quick to figure out the problem we were facing. He came up with rules and regulations which everyone had to follow. When you are playing for the country, there is a lot of pressure on you from outside – some call you for dinner, some want you to attend functions.

But Wadekar Sir told us not to worry about all these things and focus only on cricket. He imposed restrictions on us, leaving the team hotel without the manager’s permission was not allowed anymore. So whenever people invited me for events, I used Wadekar Sir’s diktat as a shield for myself.

“Coach sahab ne mana kia hai,” I used to tell them and wriggle out of the formalities. It helped to ease the pressure of saying no, and made things less awkward.

I wasn’t in fine form before series against England in 1993. He saw that I was taking too much pressure on myself. I even asked him if I was doing something wrong technically. But instead of pointing out flaws, he just spoke and filled me with positive thoughts. I went on to score 182 runs in the first innings of the first Test. We went on to win the series 3-0. His demise is great loss to cricketing community.

As told to Devendra Pandey