No such thing as a ‘team decision’, says Kumble

Mumbai, October 3

Former India captain Anil Kumble today made light of the cliche ‘its a team decision’ and said decision-making always lies with the captain.

“Ultimately, it’s a captain who decides. He might take the advice of a player or might lean towards one or two. In the end, it’s his responsibility,” Kumble said while delivering the seventh Dilip Sardesai Memorial lecture at the Cricket Club of India.

“The two cliches in the game are untrue and unnecessary. First, ‘it was a team decision’. There is no thing ... there is a team suggestion, even a team proposal, but its always a captain’s decision,” he added. To prove his point, Kumble, who led India in Tests, gave the example of Sourav Ganguly’s decision to bat first in the India vs England Test in Headingly in 2002, which India eventually won. “The second cliche is that ‘the captain is only as good as a team’. I feel the reverse is true, the team is only as good as its captain. Very good teams have been undone by mediocre captaincy. A good example of the latter is the current New Zealand team led by Brendon McCullum,” the 44-year-old said.

On the issue of different captains for different formats, Kumble said he does not see it as an issue.

On the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ controversy involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, he said he did his job as a skipper. “As I discovered in Australia during the Monkeygate controversy. I was now a diplomat, a bridge between the players and the cricket board and the face of Indian opposition in Australia,” he said.

“I was sitting in the dressing room when the incident happened and it was 100 metres away. Whatever was said, was said, but I think it was important to understand how we started moving ahead as a team. It was important for me to convince the players and Bhajji in particular...who was affected by the things that were happening.. Players stood by me .. So all these players (Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Laxman, Sehwag) being there helped...” — PTI