The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Tendulkar felt let down by Dravid's declaration: Wright

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Tuesday, Aug 01, 2006

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Tendulkar felt let down by Dravid's declaration: Wright

Christchurch: A high-voltage behind the scenes drama was sparked off in the Indian dressing room by Rahul Dravid's abrupt declaration in the Multan Test, which left Sachin Tendulkar stranded only six runs short of a double century, the then coach John Wright has revealed.

Tendulkar, batting on 194 in the first Test against archrival Pakistan, left no one in doubt that he felt let down, Wright says in his just-published book Indian Summers, disclosing for the first time the tense moments the Indian camp went through although publicly every effort had been made at that time to play down the controversy.

Acknowledging that the team management had a hot potato on their hands,Wright says he spent a sleepless night whereas captain Sourav Ganguly, who missed the Test because of an injury, was worried that the issue would snowball and end up dividing the team.

Wright says no one could be blamed in particular for the situation, which could have been avoided had he himself been able to convince Dravid to declare earlier.

``Midway through the final session, Dravid declared, as you do when you're 675 for five. What Indian captains don't tend to do, however, is declare when Sachin Tendulkar is on 194 not out,'' Wright writes in the book.

``The matter became a full-fledged sensation when Tendulkar told a press conference he was disappointed not to get his double century.'' Wright says had he been the captain, he would have declared a lot earlier, allowing Pakistan to face about 25 overs and with Tendulkar on about 170.

But the former New Zealand captain also points out that Tendulkar needed to ``move on'' after tea when things got slow.

Once Tendulkar publicly expressed his disappointment, Wright knew it was a ``hot potato on our hands.''

``I talked to Dravid, who agreed that he had to have a chat with Tendulkar before things got out of hand. That combination of steeliness and serenity, so evident in Dravid's batting, is the mark of the man: nothing fazes him. He's a mature and intelligent individual; all the hype and fuss goes over his head because he can stand back and put the issue in perspective.''

As for Tendulkar, Wright says: ``He'd been playing for India since he was 16; he'd stood up for his country in bad times and tough conditions, and often been the only man to do so. Having given so much for the team, over such a long period, he probably thought this was one time the team could give something back to him.

Matter resolved

``After a sleepless night, I spoke to Tendulkar who confirmed that he'd wanted the team to cut him some slack. Then he and Dravid talked it through and resolved the matter.'' — Agencies

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