Please read the RD interview below.
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http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakvind/content/story/231543.html'You don't want people with insecurities'
Cricinfo staff
January 3, 2006
Rahul Dravid, who is about to embark on his first foreign tour as Test captain, has said that building a team is as much about finding the right people as it is about not having the "wrong people around them". Dravid was speaking to Cricinfo Magazine which is scheduled to be launched in the Indian market on January 4.
Asked if he's getting a sense of the kind of captain he'd like to be, Dravid said it would take time. But he said he had a sense of the kind of team he'd like to have: "Tough, competitive - a team that is looking to improve and have some fun along the way. Not taking things too seriously as at the end of the day it is sport and we must have a lot of fun playing it and must play it hard."
And he was clear about the kind of people he didn't want to have. "You don't want people whose own insecurities, whose own problems and whose own fears drag everyone else down. That can be a big dampener in teams.
"I want to say that at this level I shouldn't need to motivate anyone. If I'm needing to motivate an international cricketer then there's something wrong actually. The challenge is to not demotivate anyone.
"If you're going to be spending time in the team always having to cajole and look after a few people in the team, you're doing a disservice to the rest because you're wasting and investing too much time and energy in a few people who're taking away from the group.
"Players need to understand that they need to give energy to the unit. There are times of course when you're not doing well, and your form's not good and you'll need the support of other people. But most of the time you've got to give to the team and make sacrifices to the team and give back to the team."
While Dravid believes that a team needs different kinds of characters, he was clear that were certain non-negotiable rules in a team sport. "You've got to understand that your behaviour, the way you conduct yourself affects other people and you have a responsibility to all of them. Those are the broad rules we work under. But within those non-negotiable rules I think it's important to allow people to express themselves."
Asked for his views on Harbhajan Singh, who stood resolutely in Sourav Ganguly's corner in the wake of the scandal over the leaked email from Greg Chappell, Dravid replied, "Well, Harbhajan's a champion performer. One of the great things about Harbhajan is that he really cares about his bowling. He's a very proud cricketer. And it's not hard work with people like that. I've no problems working with people who want to be champions, as simple as that. I think he figured out for himself that he needed to focus a bit more on the game and not worry about anything else, get back to what he was doing when he was successful. It's credit to him, it's not about what I've told him."
He made light of perceptions about Chappell's domineering nature. "I don't know where that has come from. I've not found him domineering at all. He's been more than willing to listen to my ideas and my thoughts and I get a very good say. At the end of the day I think he believes that a captain must get what he wants. In fact, in a lot of ways we do a lot of things in my way."
Rather, of the initial friction between Chappell and a section of the team he said that, "like anything, sometimes it takes a bit of time for people to understand what the other person is trying to do and achieve. I think the guys have responded very well. I've really enjoyed it. In a lot of ways he's trying to bring in some new thoughts, some new ideas. We have our opinions and sometimes we agree and sometimes we might disagree. At the end of the day he's done a really good job. He's trying to coach teams in a slightly different way. I think it's a good way."
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Now, is it just me or does it appear to you guys that this line of thinking is a rehash of what we have heard from Greg (at least in 3 different interviews) and Rahul (at least 2 diff interviews) during this season. Are these references just general in nature, aimed at a group of complacent / needy individuals or are they pointed to, well, you know who ?
I wonder if the last possibility holds a lot of water -- that there is a pointed reference to this one individual which gets repeated in each and every one of the interviews.
And if you read the references to team and what kind of person you DON'T want, hark back to the accusation in GC's email about SG's alleged insecurity ?
Which raises an interesting question -- did SG act in an insecure fashion during the ZIm tour ? or are these comments (if at all directed to SG) in reference to the "interview to harsha" incident ? -- After all, telling reporters what happened between captain and coach would be considered an act of insecurity (insecurity instigated -- brought about by the coach's lack of confidence in him, the captain, but insecurity nonetheless).
In the backdrop of all this, consider the following:
Was GC able to use this incident to retroactively justify his earlier complaint about SG to RD ? Did RD buy into GC's indictment of SG ?
or
Did the dressing room leak incident madden RD enough by itself that he turned against SG ? And if so, did the SG's prolonged absence from the team and RD's continued interaction with GC reinforce RD's initial impressions about the incident without the benefit / scope of independent introspection and judgment ?
If you read into the different events, it appears there has been a definite hardening in RD's stance vis-a-vis SG.
Wanted to know what your thoughts on the issues were (Please note that the above are general scenarios, not established truths as of yet, which is exactly why your varied inputs are being sought).
Note: please be reasonable -- irrespective of whetheryour argument is pro or anti SG / GC/ RD)
AuthorTopic: Rahul Dravid's interview (Read 869 times)
February 28, 2006, 12:40:06 PM
