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The Madan Lal Chat

Pradeep Mittur, Rediff On The NeT's marketing manager in the Garden City, was then assigned the responsibility of getting Madan Lal to the CyberCafe on time. Which Pradeep did, in typical style. Madan Lal's comments were illuminating -- some questions, of course, he just would not answer -- and coming as it did just a few hours after the team for the Asia Cup was announced, the Chat was certainly a coup!

Please note: We have altered the way a Chat transcript is brought to you. So do let us know what you think of it.

PremPanicker (Mon Jul 7 1997 20:0 IST)

Guys, Mr Madan Lal is here, and in the process of logging in... give me a moment here, okay?

Hi Mr Madan Lal

Good evening, Mr Madan Lal. What a pleasure, Sir, to have you with us this evening.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I am here and ready for your questions now.

Good Evening, Mr. Madan Lal, Sir!!

The vice-captain is Anil Kumble. Dravid was not considered for the vice-captaincy. This is his first year, we would like to give him more experience and not put him under additional pressure at this point in his career.

Mr Lal: What has been the reason that India hasn't well in the last seasons?

Hey, your bowling is very slow... where are the questions?

Mr Madan Lal, In the days you played cricket watching gutsy cricketers like you play , it seemed like you were honored to play for the country. That was evident to anyone watching , the grit the enthusiasm was a pleasure to see. Now we very less of that. I remember Rahul Dravid scoring a century and kissing the crest of his helmet. We don't see enough of that. What in your opinion has happened ?

We played the top two teams in the world, in SA and West Indies. We did it with a new, young team. We have to give this side time to get some experience, I believe that with time, this side will begin doing very well.

I do agree that we have to have a passion to play for your country, to do well for sake of the side and the nation. Like I said just now, these are young boys, they are learning. I keep emphasising this to them, that 950 million Indians are watching you, their hopes are on you and that therefore you have to perform for their sake as well.

Mr Madan Lal what has the conditioning camp in Bangalore done for the 27 probables. Is the final team selected on the basis of their talents in the nets?? How else do you account for the omission of Vinod Kambli and Nayan Mongia who did no wrong during the last essay??

Despite bad form, Azhar has remained in the team? Any particular reason?

Hotu>> The selection was based not on the nets alone, we called all 27 players because the captain and vice-captain have not had much chance to see the top domestic players, they have been busy on the international circuit. The selection was purely on the basis of the best available 14. We wanted a balance, as far as Kambli is concerned, he is young, he is a good player and he has time to come back. As for Nayan, we wanted a long batting line-up, so he made way for Karim. BINNY>> I still believe that Azhar is a very good player. We did not drop him, we merely gave him a break to think about things, about his game, to analyse. And now he is back, we believe he is one of our match winners with the bat, besides being a very good fielder.

Madan, any special strategies to contain the likes of Jaysuriya, D'Silva, Anwar and Afridi??

Mr Lal. During the Windies tour, time and time again Azhar batted without keeping the team's priority in mind. Isn't that true? If so, have you talked to him about that? If not, why did you drop him, and then take him back??

Raj>> Yes, we have discussed ways and means of containing the opposition batsmen, worked out strategies... but for obvious reasons I would not want to talk about it here, in public. \ Bharath>> I am very strict about these things, there is no question of someone not playing with the team's priorities in mind. So that is not true, to say Azhar did that. See my reply to Binny just now for the reason why Azhar was dropped and taken back.

Good evening, Sir. It is an honour to speak with you tonight. The man who did so much to bring glory to India. Sir, how many years would you need to make this team a side of world beaters? Do you think Indian coaches should have a five year contract like the Aussies do?

June>> One thing is you cannot build a side overnight, it does take time. The good thing is that when you do build a side, it can stay and play together for five, six years. As far as the contract question goes, yes, I definitely think the coach should have a longer contract... at least three years. This gives players and coach to learn about each other, to get used to one another and that in turn lets the coach shape each player individually.

Mr Madan Lal, What is the point in picking and dropping old players (Azhar, Sidhu, Robin Singh) when we have young players (Laxman, Jaffer, Pagnis, Agarkar, Kulkarni etc) who can use some valuable experience in an overseas tour under less gruelling conditions like SL?

Why do the selectors feel that the team doesn't need a fitness expert ? If it does, why are we stuck with Ali Irani?

FAN>> If you see the average age of this side, it is very very young. And it is ideal if you can have at least one or two players with age and experience to guide the younger ones. Manish>> I most definitely agree that we need a physical trainer on a full time basis. It is a necessity. The board, I am told, is thinking on those lines now.

will there be any changes from these fourteen for the test matches and remaining one-dayers. if not, will karim continue to keep wickets in the tests?

What are your comments on the corruption scandal? Don't you think there is too much money in the game today?

Mr. Madan Lal, Do you think sending Azhar as a pinch hitter in the first 15 overs would be a good idea?

Griller>> Yes, there will be changes after the Asia Cup and before the Lanka series, it will depend on the performance of the players. As far as Karim is concerned, the decision will be taken on July 24. Rajesh>> I never believe anything I have not personally seen. And I have not personally seen any evidence of betting, bribery and match-fixing, during my days as player and as coach. Pummy>> Not really, Azhar is one of our main batsmen and we wouldn't want to risk him in a pinch hitting slot.

Mr. Madan Lal has carefully side lined the issue of Zonal pressures. Why else would we have a Navjot Singh Sidhu in the side? If we are in the process of building a side we come have done with new talent instead of one who is by now known for excuses.

what's all this naatak about a psychologist? can't we have a proper appointment, not just someone who calls in and gets invited. this gentleman may be good, but as a nation, is this the way we go about it>

Your team is the most talented in the world today, but the worst when it comes to thinking and strategising. Any reasons?

Mr Madan, do you think that Sidhu has a chance of coming back in the team, especially when Ganguly is playing so well as an opener in ODIs. Now don't tell me that Ganguly will be again shifted down the order to make way for Sidhu.

Hotu>> No, no regional considerations have come into the reckoning. Most players select themselves, only one or two of the marginal berths require discussion and thought. griller>> There is no naatak, we tried someone, he gave the players a talk, but it was not an official appointment for the duration of the camp. Manish>> No, we have no plans to shift Ganguly down the order. Sidhu will play in the middle order. RAJESH... Yes, the boys are talented and yes, I agree that the boys have in recent times lost matches they were winning... but as I said earlier, that is because this is a fairly new side, and everything begins to come only with experience.

Is it right to keep playing Pakistan all the time? We are playing six tournaments against them. Why this sudden enthusiasm?

Madanbhai>> What do you do with your notebook computer?? Do you play solitaire??

Is your primary responsibility "MANAGER" or "COACH" of the team?

Griller>> I agree that we seem to keep playing Pakistan, we need to have a gap. RAJ.. we keep stats on various players, how they bat, which side they score runs on, things like that, both our own players and the opponents. At the end of each da I am in a position to tell the boys how they have played, which side they got more runs in or how they bowled... also, we keep track of opposing players, how they bat and bowl... ANURAG>> When we go out on tour, we have a manager to look after public relations and things, while I look after the cricketing part, so that makes me a coach, not a manager.

Madanji: Forget about the present day cricket, Madanji, Tell about the world cup 1983, did you expect to win the prudential world cup??

Raghu>> We had a very good side, we also got good experience playing against the West Indies just before coming to England but no, we didn't think we would win the Cup. We knew we would do well, but not THAT well. Then we won our first game, against the West Indies, and that gave us confidence to keep doing well.

Do you think the concept of zonal selectors should be abandoned with? It is not right. How else would a Noel David get into the squad without you or Sachin even hearing about him? Can you confirm that Sachin said Noel who ???? I know the answer Shivlal Yadav bulldozed him into the squad .. Both are from Hyderabad by the way .. So am I :)

Ravi>> The system we have today is such that one selector is picked from each zone. And that is all that I can say about this question. A three member panel, with the coach and team captain also sitting in during the selection, could be a good alternative.

Oh DRILLMASTER, Why don't you answer ANY of my questions? What is FlukeMaster Jadeja doing in the team with an average of 25 in last 10 matches?

Mr Madanlal: Till this day, I have not been able to figure out from which state you belong to>>> Also, I would like to know what are your other hobbies besides cricket????

ARVIND>> We think Jadeja is a good number six, it is an important slot and the job is to get quick runs in the end overs, and we think Jadeja does that job well. HEMANT>> I belong to Amitsar, in Punjab, but my grandfather hailed from Himachal Pradesh. I play golf as another hobby, but my love is for cricket so I find myself spending a lot of time trying to give something back to it, I teach/coach young kids, poor kids, free of charge whenever I have the time.

Madansahab, I am given to understand that Shri Ali Irani, the physio cum major domo of the Indian cricket team, sits in on the team's strategy meetings. Is it true?

Why don't we have a sports psychologist to accompany our team

What about the allegations about match-fixing made in Outlook?

JOHNNY>>> Yes, Ali Irani does sit in on meetings but that has nothing to do with strategy decisions and such. BINGO>> We don't require a sports psychologist, one of my jobs is motivating the boys. The main thing we need is a fitness trainer, that is far more important than a psychologist. HEMANT>> I have no idea why these things are happening of late, it does put the boys under a lot of pressure. But Indian players are not like that.

Madan Sir, You have not answered my question about Dodda Ganesh. I am repeating it. Why was Dodda Ganesh not picked up even for the camp. And Mr Ramakant Desai's comments that-"He has been given two tours and has not improved one bit, we do not think he, at present, deserves a place in the side. He is young, he should try to improve and force his way back into the team.". What signals it will sent to the young players.

SHAIL>> The question about Ganesh has been answered. Repeating, Ganesh has time on his side, he can work on his game, improve and come back into te side. Sometimes, being dropped makes you stronger, more motivated. OK GUYS, BEEN NICE TALKING TO YOU BUT I HAVE TO GO IN A HURRY, THERE IS A TEAM MEETING IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES... SO I AM LEAVING NOW... Thanks for your company, have a nice day...