Dubai: The legendary Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist is an embodiment of a true sportsman. Though he was one of the most aggressive batsmen in world cricket, he played the game in the right spirt and was renowned for walking when he considered himself to be out. In an exclusive interview to Gulf News at the Gulf News office following his visit to Dubai as the brand ambassador of University of Wollongong, Gilchrist spoke about various aspects of the game.
How do you think the present Australian team is shaping up after top players like you have retired?
It has been years since I have left so there is, maybe you could say, a few different permutations of Australian team. Rickie [Ponting] played on as captain for a while and then Michael Clarke’s captaincy period and the team has a new feel under Steve Smith. What I see now is players fighting for positions in the team and I don’t see a stable lot. There is not a lot of stability at the moment and this is not a criticism of those players. It is just that the team is getting evolved at the moment. It is sort of trying to get that continuity and consistency both in results and in team selection. So it’s hard to know what comes first, good results or good selection so on and so forth and which one feeds off the other. It is a team that is trying to find a stable base.
What should be the approach of the Australia team since they have lost the first Test against South Africa at Perth?
I think they should continue to back their ability and believe in their own ability. You don’t get to international cricket standard without being a talented individual player. So they should have the belief in their skills and go out there and mix up with the best, moving from an individual mindset to a collective team unit. It’s got to be important they are all working together around the edges of Australia cricket at the moment. There is a lot of discussion and conjuncture and topics of past players and clashing personalities and they must remove themselves from it. I am sure Darren Lehman [coach] and leadership team are trying to do it. The more they can move away from it, they can focus on the job at hand.
Is Steve Smith the right choice as the captain of the Australian team?
I don’t know Steve in depth though I have spoken to him a lot. I have never toured with him nor played cricket with him. So on judging from afar and talking to those that are around him, he looks as definitely the man to lead the team. He is going to learn as he goes. He looks to me like a young man that is hungry to do it. He loves the game and is a good thinker of the game. I think he is the right guy and I think it’s just a challenging period that will help him learn the role of a captain. It looks to me that David Warner has really embraced the role as vice-captain and he’s thriving on that and it is truly important that those two are working together to get through this challenging time and lay the foundation to move ahead.
Sledging was one of the weapons Australia used extensively but do you think it is no longer their weapon after the retirement of the terrorising bowlers you had?
It seems that opponents are saying that Australian team is now a toothless tiger compared to what it used to be while talking about the verbal clashes on the field. It doesn’t matter what you say on the field and it does not matter if you are abusing someone smiling. It also means nothing if you are backing it up with performance. The Australian team is in a little phase where they are lacking a bit in confidence and with that they may be losing the desire to go out there and posture. They are not feeling like doing it now because they probably must be thinking that they should be focusing on the cricket. I think there is more speculation about sledging as a tactic than actually what happens. In our era, we did not sit down and make a match plan on whom we are going to sledge and what we are going to say. It’s an emotional game out on the field and it happened on the spur of the moment. Some players react better than others and some are more balanced and calm and I guess that’s the beauty of sport that you get to watch the emotions. The great players withdraw the emotions from it and then rely on their skill and that is what makes them succeed. So this current team at the moment, all that I know is, that they haven’t said they are no longer sledging anymore but it looks to me like they are down in confidence and that is not part of their mindset.
How could you keep off sledging when it was happening around?
Don’t put me down as an angel; I was involved in a few scraps. I did not go out there with the intention to get into a fight. I always felt that as soon as I said something I felt really nervous because if you are batting you can get out the very next ball. As a wicketkeeper, I have thought that after I said something and if I dropped a catch I would like a fool. I don’t think there is much sledging in cricket as what people perceive or like to portray.
Your autobiography True Colours made few cricketers’ face turn red through your candid remarks especially Sachin Tendulkar. Did you ever want to retract what you said in the book?
Through that book I tried to focus on looking internally than externally at others. I was not on a campaign to talk about other people and their faults, discrepancies and issues. It is my recollection of my journey so if someone says that it [the incident] happened differently, then it is fine because everyone has got their opinions and is entitled to their memories. We are talking about lengths of time that go back ten to twenty years ago. So that was my recollection and, regarding Sachin Tendulkar, I felt that after the game he could have been sporting as he did not come and shake hands and that caught the headline because Sachin is the best player I have played against and absolutely a legend of the game. So I spoke to Sachin straight on the phone and he clarified to me about that situation and I said apologies if I got it wrong. What I felt at that time is what I wrote and we cleared the air. If someone is offended by something or disappointed as was the case from my career, just talk about it. I don’t think that I should retract that statement because if that was my recollection of that event and we have spoken about hence now I can put hand on my heart and say the air is clear.
You were greatly involved with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and when you compare this league with other leagues in the world where does it stand?
IPL was the pioneering event of all the T20 leagues around the world now. Every nation now has their own T20 league and has tried to almost copycat the IPL’s version. Some have been done extremely well, like the Big Bash in Australia which is a fantastic league and really well run and administrated and well watched and participated by the viewing audience in the crowds. Some countries haven’t got it right, maybe they rushed into it and did not have the foundation right and the backing to make it successful. IPL was an amazing time in my cricketing career which happened right at the end of my traditional career. So when I went into that first tournament like everyone, having no idea what it is going to be like. We wondered whether we are going there to be serious or for just a giggle. From the opening day, opening night when Brendon McCullum hit that 150, the game was just on. It was very serious intense cricket. I thought I might play only one year as I just retired but I ended up playing six. Wonderful experience and great to get to know so many other opponents a little more closely and broaden that friendship group that cricket already provides.
What are your memories of playing in Sharjah?
My first tournament in Shajrah was in 1998. That was a great experience. I had never been to this region and all that I remember is Sachin Tendulkar’s batting and scoring back-to-back hundreds in two one dayers. It was a fascinating place to come and play cricket, totally different from anything I had grown up playing and it has been wonderful to come back here with such regularity both in a playing sense and now in various roles and capacities like brand ambassador of University of Wollongong. It is a wonderful part of the world and it is really interesting to come here.
