MUMBAI, 4 January 2007 — There is one very important aspect of cricket tours which is so often neglected, especially by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The reference is to a right person being appointed with authority to speak for and on behalf of the team and its members.
Suddenly, there is a rude awakening of its necessity when a situation gives rise to an embarrassing moment, as it happened in the aftermath of India’s defeat in the first Test against Australia at Melbourne. Yuvraj Singh was made the center of a needless controversy by an out-of-turn and irresponsible utterance of assistant coach Lalchand Rajput. In order to facilitate the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh in the playing eleven, the Indian team management had to completely change the batting order. The Punjab lad, who had made his claim for a Test place with scintillating performances in the shorter version of the game, flopped and so did the Indian batting in both the innings.
Try hard as he did, skipper Anil Kumble could not hide his disappointment. He said all he had to at the media conferences. It was then time to put the big debacle behind and prepare for the next battle. But someone had to have his two cents worth. And not surprisingly, it was the known publicity-seeker Lalchand Rajput.
In the absence of the coach-designate Gary Kirsten, Rajput’s role is one of an assistant coach. Former Test opener Chetan Chauhan has been appointed manager and as such the spokesman for Team India. But Rajput decided from the start of the tour to come before the media after every practice session and before the start and at the end of a match.
Asked before the start of the Test as to who would accompany Wasim Jaffer as the opener, he quipped “any of the 15 players could do the job of an opener.” No one from the media nor any of the players thought the remark to be funny.
But Rajput really ruffled the feathers when he was quoted by the Australian media a day after the Test was over, saying that the India team members were disappointed with “Yuvraj’s attitude and air of indifference “
Whether this was a matter of fact or not, it was hardly appropriate for a team official to air such remarks that go against the team. Rajput’s patent rebuttal that he was misquoted did not carry much water.
Before embarking on a tour, the BCDCI must define the role of each of the support staff of the team, more particularly as to who should be the official spokesman. There is a code of conduct for players in place, as there is for the selectors. Why should the team staff also not come under similar disciplinary control? Remarks, such as made by Rajput, can have a highly demoralizing effect on the team.
