"The tour of South Africa was not disastrous"

Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar and cricket manager Madan Lal arrived in Bombay on Tuesday, along with other team members, after a three-month tour of South Africa and a brief stopover in Zimbabwe. In this period, India played three Tests losing two and drawing one, then played an ODI triangular series in which it won one, tied one and lost five games, and then went on to lose the only ODI on a truncated tour of Zimbabwe.

Naturally enough, the first question asked was, "Was the tour of South Africa a disaster?"

"No," came the prompt answer from Sachin Tendulkar. "Because, in the end, we did play well. In the final analysis, it was a tough tour in course of which, some boys became men, while others will take a while longer to attain that level."

Asked whether the recent criticism, levelled by former Test players who had opined that the team selected for the tour was flawed in the first place, Sachin Tendulkar chose not to give a direct answer. "There is no point in going into that question now, it is all over and done with. But yes, there were times when we had to struggle with team composition, maybe one extra player would have helped a lot."

And what of the tour of the West Indies? "Well, there is scope to select a good team, learning from the South African experience," said Tendulkar, while refusing to elaborate.

Reverting to the S'African tour, Tendulkar said, "You must remember that we went direct from the slow wickets of India, to the superfast wicket at Durban. Incidentally, the only practise match we got before that Test was played on the slowest wicket in South Africa, which does not really prepare you to play at Durban."

Sachin maintained that he was not holding these factors out as excuses, but merely mentioning them in response to questions. "It was sheer bad luck that we could not win the third Test, the team badly wanted that win." Asked whether the umpires had delayed re-start on the rain-ruined final day, when South Africa was in big trouble with 7 wickets down for 95, Tendulkar said that he would prefer not to discuss the umpiring.

Asked what he thought were the bright spots, Tendulkar said, "I would like to emphasise the flowering of Dravid and Ganguly, and the gallant performances of Srinath and Prasad who have altered the spin-based history of Indian cricket."

Asked if the two quick bowlers had been over-bowled, Tendulkar said, "Yes. But then, what option did I have?"

Was Anil Kumble a failure? "Anil is too good a bowler to remain a failure. The trouble is, we all expect too much from him, every time. So if he has one ordinary tour, then he is singled out as a failure."

Asked what he identified as the biggest problem for the Indian team on the recent tour, Tendulkar was emphatic: "The lack of a good start. The only time when the opening stand lasted more than an hour was in the third Test, and we did very well then. Unfortunately, the search is still on for two good openers."

Tendulkar, asked specifically whether in his opinion he himself had given his best, and whether the burden of captaincy was getting to him, was equally emphatic: "I always give my best, I do not think I have it in me to give any more."

Madan Lal was less vocal than the Indian captain, and contended himself with the opinion that the team needed to learn how to finish things off, when once it had the opposition down. "We need to learn to go for the kill," Lal said. "Our boys also need to emphasis physical training. The average Indian cricketer is considerably slower than his international counterpart."

Asked about the progress the team had made, Lal said, "This tour has served as a good learning experience for this young side. Once a couple of problems, such as the opening pair and a backup bowler for Srinath and Prasad, are sorted out, this can go on to become a winning combination."

Lal and Tendulkar both said the two teams had enjoyed cordial relations through the tour, the only aberration worth mentioning being Allan Donald's outburst against Rahul Dravid in the last match of the SBI ODI series.

Administrative manager Sunil Dev for his part said that there were certain matters he was not happy with during the tour. "But nothing ever goes one hundred per cent right," he added.

Asked if the facilities and umpiring were satisfactory, Dev did not answer directly, contending himself with the statement that "There were times when I was surprised by certain decisions, both on and off the field. I cannot elaborate here, but I will be mentioning them in my confidential report to the BCCI," Dev said.

Asked about the overall performance of the Indian side, Dev said that there was much to be positive about. "The bowling of Srinath and Prasad, who constantly troubled even the South African batsmen who are accustomed to playing top quality pace, and the knocks played by Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have been praised uniformly in South Africa and will be talked about for a long time to come. Also, even the harshest critics of the Indian team praised its discipline, and the gentlemanly way it conducted itself in the face of adversity," Dev said.