রোহিতের পর India-র ক্যাপ্টেন কে হচ্ছেন? উত্তর দিলেন শশী থারুর
~ED.2~
~ED.2~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00In the case of Rohit, he's of course the oldest of the lot and he's had the longest experience.
00:07He probably felt he had nothing more to prove.
00:09I mean, he's had five centuries in the T20 format, he's had everything, he's captained
00:15India.
00:16I think he just decided that it was time to start now, beginning to take it a bit easy
00:21and looking, frankly, at his desire to extend himself as India's next test captain.
00:28It's not a bad idea.
00:29I think he will soon probably phase himself out of ODIs too before too long.
00:35And as for Rabindra Jadeja, though I like much about him as a cricketer, he had a very
00:40mediocre T20 career.
00:42If you look at his 70-odd matches, 72 or 74 matches, no exceptional performances, a top
00:49score in the 40s, not somebody who shone.
00:55I think his best bowling performance was one three-wicket haul.
00:59This is not somebody who's had a stellar career in T20s.
01:03And frankly, after this World Cup, I think Akshar had done so much better that in situations
01:08where we needed one left-arm spinner, it was one left-arm spinner, come batter, come all-rounder.
01:15It was going to be Akshar and not Jadeja.
01:17And Chahal would probably have come in in Indian conditions in place of Jadeja.
01:22So I think that Jadeja saw the writing on the wall and quit before being dropped, which
01:27I think is fine.
01:28It's good to quit on a high.
01:31And certainly when people still feel, many people still feel you're good enough for the
01:34team.
01:35I think that what is very interesting about Jadeja is his second coming as a test cricketer.
01:42He was shining in the white ball format and doing not so well in the test format till
01:47about three, four years ago.
01:49And now he's become an outstanding test player, particularly with the bat, which is something
01:54no one would have anticipated, I think, given his first years as a test cricketer.
01:59And I'd love to see him prolong his career in test cricket, becoming an absolute stalwart
02:05of the Indian middle order and also as a very useful contributor in both the field and with
02:14the ball.
02:15He's really a solid batsman capable of a century on every occasion.
02:19That is somebody who I think Jadeja could have been when he first came into the team,
02:25but spectacularly failed to be.
02:28He became in his first half of his test career.
02:31He was a far better bowler and fielder than he was a batsman.
02:35And rightly so.
02:36Ashwin used to bat ahead of him.
02:37Now it's a different, it's a different thing.
02:40He's really become a star test player.
02:42And I think that should be the good thing we can look forward to in the next few years
02:46of Jadeja.
02:47These guys are all, you know, perhaps two, three, maximum four years of cricket left
02:52in them at the top level.
02:53And they naturally want to conserve their energies and play the formats where they believe
02:58they can do most justice.
02:59I see absolutely no problem with that.
03:02Cricketers do retire, but politicians don't.
03:05Yeah, yeah.
03:06Politicians.
03:08Actually, I would like to think that I will know when to call it quits.
03:13I mean, I've always been profoundly impressed by Gavaskar's famous line back in 1987 when
03:19he shocked us all by retiring.
03:22And he said, you know, I wanted to quit when people asked why, rather than wait till they
03:26asked why not, which I think is something that politicians could also benefit from.
03:31Absolutely.
03:32So true.
03:33You know, Virat Kohli, I mean, playing that knock, which was basically, he anchored the
03:40innings for India after India lost those two early wickets, 37 deliveries he played without
03:46scoring a boundary.
03:47Yeah, and then 50 of 48 was actually rather underwhelming.
03:52And I think he was right to not acknowledge the 50 because it really was not a good 50
03:59in those circumstances.
04:01But then his last 20 yard runs of fewer than a dozen balls, I think that was that was the
04:08just the right kind of acceleration, just the right time.
04:10And he would not have been in a position to do that had he not built the platform he built
04:17with the relatively slow 50s.
04:19So it's so difficult to critique that innings because in the end, it was the innings that
04:24gave us the total that enabled us to win the match.
04:28And that's why he won the man of the match award.
04:30But had he got out just after his 50, people would not have been admiring of it.
04:35It was the 50 as a platform.
04:37And then the acceleration over the last dozen balls of his innings that made it such a great
04:42innings in the end.
04:43And, you know, the remarkable bit was everyone contributed to that win.
04:48Absolutely.
04:49Bowlers, bowlers, fantastic bowling.
04:53Those overs and particularly the fact that he did, I think his four overs for 18, wasn't
04:58it?
04:59Just amazing.
05:01But, you know, let's not forget Ashdeep also, four overs for 20.
05:04This is a remarkable stuff from the top two pacemen.
05:08And Hardik in the end, his first over was bad.
05:11His last two were decisive and they were excellent.
05:15So really, we have to praise all three pacemen.
05:19And of course, the batting of Akshar, his bowling let him down this time, the batting
05:25was very good.
05:28The extraordinary work of Kohli.
05:33I think in many ways, this was a complete team effort.
05:36And if you look at the tournament as a whole, Indranil, you find that pretty much everyone
05:41contributed in one way or the other.
05:43Punk, on paper, didn't have a great tournament, but his wicketkeeping was spectacular.
05:47And in one or two matches, he really, he really, the wicketkeeping was almost decisive.
05:52Similarly, Surya Kumar, I think he had a few good innings, but those few were really
05:58important and valuable.
06:01And of course, this catch, which is not the only catch he's taken, he's taken a few in
06:04the tournament.
06:05But this was just amazing, such a reliable player in the field.
06:10So I think you go down the list and there's nobody who didn't contribute.
06:13Kuldeep had a bad final, but he had excellent, excellent performances in all the earlier
06:17matches that he was given a chance to play.
06:20Similarly, Siraj did well when he played, but he wasn't required.
06:23He was surplus of requirements on the slower pitches in the Caribbean, which is ironic
06:28because when I was a kid, the Caribbean was noted for its fast pitches.
06:33But now it's become a place for slower bowlers.
06:37Yeah.
06:38Yeah.
06:39Yeah.
06:40But who do you think would be our next T20 captain?
06:44Well, I would personally prefer Bumrah, but I suspect that Hardik has the inside track.
06:49It's between the two of them anyway, with Shubman Gill being groomed, I think, for an
06:54understudy role.
06:55He's being asked to captain the side in Zimbabwe while both Bumrah and Hardik are rested.
07:01But I think, you know, I really like everything I see of Bumrah.
07:04I just think he's one of the smartest cricketers around.
07:08And he has led India in a test match and Hardik has led India in white ball cricket.
07:15Both of them have been tried out.
07:18I think given the power equations in the BCCI, it's possible that it'll be one of the two
07:26of them and I'm not betting on which one, but my own vote would be for Bumrah at this
07:31point.
07:32But Bumrah is...
07:33Hardik should have a longer career.
07:34I'm sorry?
07:35I mean, we should be looking at a long term solution.
07:37How about Rishabh Pant?
07:39No, sir.
07:40Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, these are all options in the future.
07:43I mean, I would even want to have Sanju Samson in the mix if he finally proves himself and
07:49He's never been given a decent chance as the number one choice.
07:53And if he can get a full tour of five T20s to establish himself.
07:59And don't forget, he's got an ODI century as well.
08:02I think he could be a very, very good option as a white ball captain too.
08:06He's very calm, very sensible, handled the Rajasthan Royals extremely well now the last
08:12few seasons, brought them to the finals twice, to the semis.
08:17This is a very, very good and deeply underrated captain as well as player.
08:21So I'd like to see him in the mix as well.
08:24So I think we have no shortage of choices, Indranil, and I wouldn't mind at all an India
08:28level with both Pant and Samson.
08:30Pant probably being the better keeper and Samson the better batsman, the more reliable
08:34batsman.
08:35All right.
08:36But the new coach, I mean, I don't know who's going to be the new coach.
08:41Everyone is saying Gautam Gambhir, but Rahul Dravid, do you like the fact that he's going
08:46out on a high like this?
08:48Could have stayed back?
08:50I don't like the fact that he's going out.
08:53I don't like the fact that he's going out.
08:55I wish he had three more years in the job.
08:56He's just really terrific for India.
09:00He's so sensible, so calm, so mature, so self-effacing.
09:04And at the same time, he's obviously very, very much earned the respect and trust of
09:09his team.
09:10So it's a real loss.
09:11Whatever happens, I'm sorry to see him going.
09:14But if he must go, I'd rather he went out on a high because he deserves nothing less.
09:19He's a terrific guy.
09:20I might say that I know Gautam Gambhir personally, and I think he's also terrific.
09:25He'll bring a lot of intensity to the game.
09:28That's different in a way, in a different way from Dravid.
09:31Not that Dravid isn't intense.
09:33I think he's just quieter about it.
09:35Gambhir will wear it more on his sleeve.
09:38But these are both fine cricketers.
09:40I have nothing against Gautam coming in.
09:44It's just that I think he could have waited a bit while Dravid had a little longer.
09:48Because Dravid didn't want to continue, I gather.
09:51I know.
09:53It's just kind of sad.
09:55The way Virat went and gave that cup to him, and the way he held it and lifted it, and
10:03he was behaving…
10:04First time I've seen him behaving like a kid, Rahul Dravid.
10:07It was an amazing sight, sir.
10:09I was so personally happy seeing him.
10:12Such a gentleman cricketer.
10:14He never won something as a cricketer.
10:16But as a coach, he's done it in what a magical way.
10:19But from here on, what do you see?
10:21Indian cricket progressing further with giant steps.
10:25We should be winning all the tournaments.
10:27Because this was the jinx we had to break.
10:29And looking back from here, the kind of talent we have in the country…
10:35I'd like to see us entering an era of dominance to rival the West Indies of the 70s, 60s,
10:4470s, 80s, and the Australians of the 90s and the first decade of the century.
10:51There have been teams that have had that kind of dominance, where everyone expected them
10:55to win against anyone, any conditions, anywhere.
10:59And that's what I want India to be.
11:00We've never been that.
11:01We won tournaments and then promptly failed to, you know, keep that up.
11:06I remember in 83, we won the World Cup in England.
11:09And later that winter, the West Indies came to India and won up to us 5-0 in the test series.
11:15I mean, you know, we just haven't had an extended run of dominance in the sport.
11:24And I'd love to see that happen.
11:26I'd love to see India becoming that kind of team.
11:29For all the reasons you yourself mentioned, Indranil, the existing amount of talent we
11:33have, which is so considerable, the fact that this talent involves people coming up at all
11:40levels from all over the country, from all sorts of backgrounds, it's a much more diverse
11:44pool now.
11:45Yes.
11:46Cricket is no longer an elite sport.
11:48It reaches every mahala.
11:51We have railway ticket collectors and rickshaw drivers' sons who become international stars
11:57playing for India.
11:59We've got all of this going for us.
12:00And I think that with this kind of talent pool, this kind of depth, this kind of population
12:05base, this kind of resources and money coming into the sport and the fan base to encourage
12:11people, I don't see why we shouldn't be by far the best team in the world.
12:16I want it to be a situation where the Indian second or third eleven is better than the
12:21next best test country.
12:22And we can be like that.
12:24So I'd like to see really a formidable machine coming into place.
12:28And if with all the advantages we have, we can't do that, then I have to ask what's wrong
12:33with us as a people, because we really should have every reason to be as formidable as those
12:39great teams, as I mentioned earlier in the past, like the Westernies and the old Australians.
12:45I hope it happens, sir, you know, as they say, aapji mooh mein ghee shakkar.
12:49But you know, how do you celebrate the win?
12:52I mean, it's been more than 24 hours.
12:57I'm still struggling to sort of find my feet and make myself believe, yes, we have won.
13:03Well, politics doesn't leave me any time to celebration.
13:05We finished the match around midnight, watched a few minutes of the emotions on the screen
13:10on both sides, which was really moving.
13:12I mean, I really felt what these guys had gone through, Hardik Pandya in tears and the
13:20South Africans in tears, David Miller in tears.
13:22It was just, they all went through so much and it was, it just showed how much the whole
13:26game meant to everybody and how intense it all was, you know, no one was flat at the
13:35end of it.
13:36Everyone had been rung dry, but they weren't flat.
13:38It just was an amazing thing.
13:39Then after that, I tried to go to bed because I had to wake up early in the morning and
13:42resume my political work, which is to conduct a thank you tour of the last seven games.
13:47This is just the starting of all the good things in cricket world.
13:52Thanks.
13:53Thank you, Harood sir, for coming on Pitch Battle and sharing your sentiments.