Playing It My Way: My Autobiography (19 page)

The Sri Lanka series was followed by a four-nation tournament in Sharjah in December 1997. We played some very poor cricket against England, Pakistan and the West Indies, losing all our matches and failing to make the final. The match against Pakistan on 14 December highlights how things were just not going my way. I was batting at number four in this competition, at the selectors’ request. Sourav and Navjot Sidhu had given us a good start against Pakistan, and when Sidhu got out at 143–2, I sent in Robin Singh, the all-rounder, to accelerate the innings. It was a strategy I had given considerable thought to. Manzoor Akhtar, the leg-spinner, was at one end bowling around the wicket to the right-handed batsmen. The theory was that Robin, a left-hander, would be able to negotiate his leg-spin better and also hit some big shots. However, Robin got out without scoring after just three balls from Azhar Mahmood, the medium-pacer, and the experiment proved a disaster.

In the press I was criticized for sending in Robin ahead of me and the move was blamed for our defeat. A month later, however, in January 1998, Azhar, back as captain, repeated the very same move in the final of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Dhaka against Pakistan. Robin was sent in at three to keep up the momentum after Sourav and I had got off to a flier and this time Robin played a terrific hand, scoring 82 and setting up the run chase. This was arguably a bigger gamble, because he was pitted against the off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and it is no secret that left-handers find it more difficult against off-spinners. The same experiment was now hailed as a master stroke. Not without reason is it said that success has many fathers while defeat is an orphan.

The Sharjah losses were followed by a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home. After we’d taken a 1–0 lead in the series, the second match was a washout and Sri Lanka played well to beat us in the third game in Goa. At the end of the series I was unceremoniously sacked as skipper. No one from the BCCI managed to call me or inform me of my removal as captain before someone from the media called to say I was no longer captain. I was actually with my friends in Sahitya Sahawas. I felt extremely humiliated to hear this, but the manner in which the whole thing was handled strengthened my resolve to be a better cricketer in the years to come. I told myself that the BCCI mandarins might be able to take the captaincy away from me, but no one could do the same as far as my own cricket was concerned. The sense of ignominy and the pain were still there, however. During my tenure as captain some of the players used to call me ‘skip’, so when one of the players shouted out ‘skipper’ in our next engagement in Dhaka, I automatically turned around to answer the call. That’s when it really hit me that I was no longer the captain of the Indian cricket team. Now I simply had to focus on my batting and win some matches for the team. So that’s what I did. In fact, not long after this, I was so focused on doing well that I ended up shouting at someone who has since become a good friend. This incident, which has caused us both much embarrassment, took place in the second of the three finals of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Dhaka in 1998. There was a lot of movement in front of and around the sightscreen and, despite my repeated complaints, things did not improve. I was distracted and lost my wicket soon after. On my way back to the pavilion I was livid and, when someone came across to apologize, I just screamed at him, saying Bangladesh did not deserve to host international cricket if the basic fundamentals were not in place. Only later did I realize that the man I had yelled at was Ashraful Haq, then president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and currently chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council. Ever since, whenever we meet, we start by saying sorry to each other for what happened!

One-off Test. Delhi. 10–13 October 1996

Australia 182 (MJ Slater 44; A Kumble 4–63, AR Kapoor 2–30, SB Joshi 2–36) and 234 (SR Waugh 67*; A Kumble 5–67, BKV Prasad 3–18)

India 361 (NR Mongia 152, SC Ganguly 66,
SR Tendulkar 10
; PR Reiffel 3–35) and 58–3 (SC Ganguly 21, M Azharuddin 21,
SR Tendulkar 0
)

India won by 7 wickets

India won the series 1–0

1st Test. Ahmedabad. 20–23 November 1996

India 223
(SR Tendulkar 42
; AA Donald 4–37) and 190 (VVS Laxman 51,
SR Tendulkar 7
; AA Donald 3–32)

South Africa 244 (PS de Villiers 67*; SB Joshi 4–43) and 105 (WJ Cronje 48*; J Srinath 6–21, A Kumble 3–34)

India won by 64 runs

2nd Test. Kolkata. 27 November–1 December 1996

South Africa 428 (AC Hudson 146, G Kirsten 102; BKV Prasad 6–104) and 367–3 dec (DJ Cullinan 153*, G Kirsten 133)

India 329 (M Azharuddin 109, A Kumble 88,
SR Tendulkar 18
; AA Donald 3–72) and 137 (M Azharuddin 52,
SR Tendulkar 2
; L Klusener 8–64)

South Africa won by 329 runs

3rd Test. Kanpur. 8–12 December 1996

India 237 (
SR Tendulkar 61
, WV Raman 57; PR Adams 6–55) and 400–7 dec (M Azharuddin 163*, R Dravid 56,
SR Tendulkar 36
)

South Africa 177 (G Kirsten 43; A Kumble 4–71, J Srinath 3–42) and 180 (WJ Cronje 50; J Srinath 3–38, SB Joshi 3–66)

India won by 280 runs

India won the series 2–1

1st Test. Durban. 26–28 December 1996

South Africa 235 (AC Hudson 80; BKV Prasad 5–60) and 259 (AM Bacher 55, AC Hudson 52, BM McMillan 51*; BKV Prasad 5–93)

India 100 (SC Ganguly 16,
SR Tendulkar 15
; AA Donald 5–40, SM Pollock 2–18, BM McMillan 2–27) and 66 (R Dravid 27*,
SR Tendulkar 4
; AA Donald 4–14, SM Pollock 3–25, L Klusener 2–16)

South Africa won by 328 runs

2nd Test. Cape Town. 2–6 January 1997

South Africa 529–7 dec (G Kirsten 103, BM McMillan 103*, L Klusener 102*, DJ Cullinan 77; BKV Prasad 3–114, J Srinath 3–130) and 256–6 dec (BM McMillan 59*, AC Hudson 55, DJ Cullinan 55; J Srinath 3–78)

India 359 (
SR Tendulkar 169
, M Azharuddin 115) and 144 (VVS Laxman 35*,
SR Tendulkar 9
; AA Donald 3–40)

South Africa won by 282 runs

3rd Test. Johannesburg. 16–20 January 1997

India 410 (R Dravid 148, SC Ganguly 73,
SR Tendulkar 35
; L Klusener 3–75, AA Donald 3–88) and 266–8 dec (R Dravid 81, SC Ganguly 60, NR Mongia 50,
SR Tendulkar 9
; AA Donald 3–38, PR Adams 3–80)

South Africa 321 (SM Pollock 79, BM McMillan 47; J Srinath 5–104) and 228–8 (DJ Cullinan 122*, L Klusener 49; A Kumble 3–40)

Match drawn

South Africa won the series 2–0

1st Test. Kingston. 6–10 March 1997

West Indies 427 (CL Hooper 129, BC Lara 83, S Chanderpaul 52; A Kumble 5–120) and 241–4 dec (BC Lara 78, S Chanderpaul 48; A Kumble 3–76)

India 346 (NR Mongia 78, VVS Laxman 64,
SR Tendulkar 7
; FA Rose 6–100) and 99–2 (R Dravid 51*,
SR Tendulkar 15*
)

Match drawn

2nd Test. Port-of-Spain. 14–18 March 1997

West Indies 296 (RIC Holder 91, S Chanderpaul 42; A Kumble 5–104) and 299–6 (SC Williams 128, S Chanderpaul 79; SB Joshi 3–57)

India 436 (NS Sidhu 201,
SR Tendulkar 88
, R Dravid 57; CEL Ambrose 5–87)

Match drawn

3rd Test. Bridgetown. 27–31 March 1997

West Indies 298 (S Chanderpaul 137*, CEL Ambrose 37; BKV Prasad 5–82) and 140 (BC Lara 45; A Kuruvilla 5–68, BKV Prasad 3–39)

India 319 (
SR Tendulkar 92
, R Dravid 78; FA Rose 4–77, IR Bishop 3–70) and 81 (VVS Laxman 19,
SR Tendulkar 4
; IR Bishop 4–22, FA Rose 3–19, CEL Ambrose 3–36)

West Indies won by 38 runs

4th Test. St John’s. 4–8 April 1997

West Indies 333 (BC Lara 103, RIC Holder 56; SB Joshi 3–76)

India 212–2 (A Jadeja 96, VVS Laxman 56)

Match drawn

5th Test. Georgetown. 17–21 April 1997

India 355 (R Dravid 92,
SR Tendulkar 83
; CL Hooper 3–34, FA Rose 3–90)

West Indies 145–3 (S Chanderpaul 58*, SC Williams 44)

Match drawn

West Indies won the series 1–0

1st Test. Colombo (RPS). 2–6 August 1997

India 537–8 dec (
SR Tendulkar 143
, M Azharuddin 126, NS Sidhu 111, R Dravid 69; ST Jayasuriya 3–45)

Sri Lanka 952–6 dec (ST Jayasuriya 340, RS Mahanama 225, PA de Silva 126, A Ranatunga 86, DPMD Jayawardene 66; SC Ganguly 2–53)

Match drawn

2nd Test. Colombo (SSC). 9–13 August 1997

Sri Lanka 332 (PA de Silva 146, M Muralitharan 39; DS Mohanty 4–78) and 415–7 dec (ST Jayasuriya 199, PA de Silva 120; A Kumble 3–156, A Kuruvilla 2–90)

India 375 (SC Ganguly 147,
SR Tendulkar 139
; M Muralitharan 4–99) and 281–5 (M Azharuddin 108*, SC Ganguly 45,
SR Tendulkar 8
; M Muralitharan 3–96)

Match drawn

Series drawn 0–0

1st Test. Mohali. 19–23 November 1997

Sri Lanka 369 (MS Atapattu 108, ST Jayasuriya 53; A Kuruvilla 4–88, J Srinath 4–92) and 251–6 (PA de Silva 110*; J Srinath 3–75)

India 515–9 dec (NS Sidhu 131, SC Ganguly 109, M Azharuddin 53,
SR Tendulkar 23
; M Muralitharan 3–174, ST Jayasuriya 2–59)

Match drawn

2nd Test. Nagpur. 26–30 November 1997

India 485 (SC Ganguly 99, R Dravid 92, NS Sidhu 79, A Kumble 78,
SR Tendulk
ar 15
; KR Pushpakumara 5–122)

Match drawn

3rd Test. Mumbai. 3–7 December 1997

India 512 (SC Ganguly 173,
SR Tendulkar 148
, R Dravid 93; KR Pushpakumara 3–108, HDPK Dharmasena 3–144) and 181–9 dec (R Dravid 85, NS Sidhu 43,
SR Tendulkar 13
; HDPK Dharmasena 5–57)

Sri Lanka 361 (MS Atapattu 98, PA de Silva 66, ST Jayasuriya 50; RK Chauhan 4–48) and 166–7 (ST Jayasuriya 37, RS Mahanama 35; A Kumble 3–56, RK Chauhan 3–59)

Match drawn

Series drawn 0–0

The three-Test series in March 1998 was the first fully fledged home series against Australia of my career. It generated a lot of hype and much of it was being built up as a contest between myself and Shane Warne. It’s inevitable that there are times when battles between two individuals hog most of the limelight. For example, Brian Lara versus Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting versus Courtney Walsh, or even Tendulkar versus Lara, as had been the case in 1994. I always said that this series was a contest between two teams and not two individuals, though in my heart of hearts I knew it was a very important match-up against Warne. Shane was bowling beautifully and had just had a great series against South Africa in Australia, taking twenty wickets in three Tests.

Knowing that I would soon be facing him, I studied Warne’s bowling in that series carefully. It appeared to me that his biggest strength was the drift he managed to get, which meant that the batsman was somewhat blinded by the delivery if he was batting with a traditional side-on stance. Because of the extra drift, the ball would tend to go away from the vision of the batsman and it became that much more difficult to negotiate the extra spin. As a result, I decided to open up my stance a little to Warne and to stand slightly outside the leg stump. I also planned to play him more from the crease and as late as possible. I hardly stepped out to him all series and, more often than not, kept hitting him towards midwicket with a horizontal bat whenever he tried to extract extra spin from leg stump or slightly outside. By playing from the crease and by using the horizontal bat, I reckoned I had opened up the option of punishing him if he bowled short and could also play the cut shot on the off side. While there was always the risk of a top edge, I was prepared to accept it to surprise Warne. After all, he was Australia’s most potent weapon and I had to have a strategy against him.

Having worked on the theory, I now needed to practise against the kind of deliveries Warne would use when under pressure. I started training in late January, with still a month to go before the series, and asked for the best spinners available in Mumbai to bowl at me from round the wicket into the rough outside leg stump. I was certain that’s what Warne would do if I succeeded in attacking him when he bowled from over the wicket. All that practice in Mumbai against Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni, both of whom played for India against Australia in 2001, and subsequently in Chennai against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, now a respected television commentator who played for India in the mid-1980s, proved immensely useful, and by the time the Australians arrived in India in February 1998 I felt ready to face Warne.

The first game the Australians played was against Mumbai on 24 February. I was captaining Mumbai and knew it was crucial to establish a psychological advantage over the visitors at the start of the tour. The most important thing was to attack Warne. I had instructed all our batsmen to take Warne on whenever he came on to bowl. I did not care if we lost wickets, but there was no way we would allow Warne to settle into his groove and dictate terms.

When it was our turn to bat, Amit Pagnis, opening the batting for Mumbai, did exactly what we had planned. Though we lost an early wicket in Sulakshan Kulkarni, Pagnis and I attacked Warne from the start. While Pagnis hit Warne for four boundaries in two overs, I hit him for a six in his very first over and continued to attack him right through the innings. His sixteen overs cost him 111 runs and that was far more important than my own double hundred off 192 balls – though I was particularly pleased with my effort because I had made a conscious attempt to dominate the bowling and it was my first double in first-class cricket. Having conceded a lead of more than 100 in the first innings, the Australians collapsed to 135 all out in their second innings, with Nilesh Kulkarni, who had first played for India in 1996, running through half the side. We finished the match without losing a wicket in our second innings, handing the Australians a ten-wicket defeat.