Pataudi

Sydney: Former Australia captain Bill Lawry has been a keen watcher of Indian cricket. On Sunday, as the second Test headed towards a stunning finish, he spoke to The Telegraph on the Indian captains.

The following are excerpts

On captaincy

I think, generally, captaincy is a little bit overrated... Without going into names, some very good captains led ordinary sides and nobody even recognised them... But if you’re captaining Australia, well, you could win 15 Tests on the trot...

On what captains need to do

Do their best and get the best out of the talent available to them... Of course, if they don’t have the socks, then they can’t pull them up.

On his role model captain

Richie Benaud. He set the standard for others to follow.

On the (regular) Indian captains he played against in Australia and the ones he has seen lead in these parts (in chronological order):

Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi (1967-68): Tiger, I thought, was a very good captain. He was, in fact, a courageous batsman as well... Tiger led from the front and, obviously, had the respect of his players.. What I remember most is Tiger’s gutsy batting in that series and the way he handled Erapalli Prasanna... Not all Indian batsmen were fond of facing quicks, but Tiger was game... He didn’t flinch. Tiger didn’t have a genuine pace attack and, so, was handicapped. Still, in my book, Tiger has been India’s finest captain.

Bishan Singh Bedi (1977-78): Bedi was hugely popular, but I don’t think he was in Tiger’s class as a captain.

Sunil Gavaskar (1981-82): Certainly one of the all-time greats as a batsman, in the Allan Border mould. However, good captains don’t try to get their batsmen off the ground (as Gavaskar attempted at the MCG in that series, with current manager Chetan Chauhan being the batsman in question)...

Kapil Dev (1985-86): Never too expressive, I thought, but a beautiful player... I can’t think of any outstanding moves he made as captain in Australia, but stood tall as a cricketer... He was certainly positive... Of course, it’s known that he took India to its only World Cup win (1983).

Mohammed Azharuddin (1991-92): Had tremendous flair as a batsman and was another who tried to lead by example... I remember the hundred he got at the Adelaide Oval, it was so fluent... He was also a terrific fieldsman and it makes a difference if the captain’s such a fine fielder... It lifts the team... The big problem with the present Indian side is its fielding... To compete with the best, you need to have 7 of the 11 as top-class fielders.

Bill Lawry

Sachin Tendulkar (1999-00): A great batsman, but probably didn’t want to be captain... It’s hard being the team’s best batsman and captain... Without the captaincy, he’s got no fears as a batsman.

Sourav Ganguly (2003-04): I found Ganguly to be an interesting captain... His 144 in the first Test (Brisbane) was an outstanding innings and set the tone for that series... Despite the perceived weakness against the short-pitched deliveries, he didn’t take a backwards step... India did win at Adelaide, but Ganguly must take the blame for not being able to force a win at the SCG... India, in my view, should’ve won that Test... They weren’t positive enough.

Anil Kumble (2007-08): I haven’t seen much of him... His bowling changes have been fine, but some of his field placements have been suspect... On the first morning at the MCG, for example, one saw mid-on and mid-off so deep... Kumble needed to create pressure... Having said that, I’ve liked the way he has been handling the media... He’s been saying the right things.

Finally, on the captains who’ve impressed him besides Pataudi

Ian Chappell... Border in the later years of his career... Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting... But, then, we’ve also dominated world cricket from around 1989... Taylor and Steve had it easy because Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath were available throughout... The real Test for Ponting is now, when both have retired.