Dubai: Sanjay Manjrekar, one of India’s most technically perfect batsmen of the 1990s, believes that great players are those who worked hard on their talent as if they had none. A close teammate of Sachin Tendulkar during his playing days, Manjrekar feels that India has always produced a great player in every era for the future generation to look up to and emulate.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, Manjrekar, who was here as the commentator for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Cricket World Cup talked about various aspects of the game, the future of Indian cricket, the impact of Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Under-19 World Cup. Excerpts from the interview:
Is ICC Under-19 World Cup actually helping groom youngsters and can anything be done to make it more attractive?
This type of an event comes when a young player need a little bit of a boost. He will suddenly be in the eyes of the world. It may not be necessary that every cricket fan is watching this tournament but for example a bowler like Kagiso Rabada is somebody whom everybody will come to know. People who actually follow the game will now watch this player. It is a nice feeling to be suddenly on the spotlight but that spotlight is there just for a short time. Hence, it is important that they use this motivation that they get from this platform to continue their good work in the first class level in their respective countries.
What makes a great player, especially the transition from junior cricket to international cricket?
First is the gift of talent. Secondly, the person who has such talent does not take that for granted and should work so hard at it as if he has none. That will make for an exceptional cricketer and that is how (Sachin) Tendulkar was as a player. He was prodigiously gifted but worked at his game like he had very limited ability. Those are the guys who become outstanding cricketers.
How important is the need for a star like Tendulkar in the team for the success of a squad?
India has been blessed with a batting star right through every generation. Before Tendulkar came along, there was (Sunil) Gavaskar and now that Sachin has quit there is Virat Kohli, who is showing the kind of mettle that you need. So India has always been blessed with exceptional batting talent through every era where there has been one great Indian batsman that has been in the forefront. So after Tendulkar, now Virat Kohli is clearly showing that kind of potential.
There are many youngsters in the Under-19 India team with enormous skills but can they go on to emulate the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar?
Actually, that is the biggest inspiration for these youngsters. You can set any number of academies up or build world class stadiums but what really inspires young talent is somebody they watch on television and wanting to be like them. They’ve got to have role models and have somebody they want to be like when they grow up. This is why you see at this level, a lot of young players who will resemble somebody who is playing for India or in international cricket because they have modelled themselves on them. That I think is the greatest inspiration apart from all the other factors.
With Dhoni moving towards the final leg of his career, do you think Virat Kohli should be given the captaincy in any one format of the game to lessen the burden on Dhoni?
I think there are other issues in this Indian team that needs to be resolved. Our bowling really needs to be looked at especially in 50-over cricket where like we had in the last match (against Sri Lanka) where spinners took five wickets between themselves. That is the focus area where India really needs to really work on. Death bowling is something that is tricky because very often you may get hit but if the middle stages, India can pick wickets, then most of the problems will be solved. I don’t think the problems are because of just leadership because there are certain other aspects of the game that needs to be looked at.
How do you find India’s chances in the Twenty20 World Cup?
Look at the Twenty20 World Cup past winners and there has been a different champion every year. For me, it is a bit of a lottery because you cannot pick a team that is most likely to win the T20 World Cup. It’s a short tournament, which has a very unpredictable format where three balls can change the result completely. Every time, there has been a different champion just to show that it is not necessarily that there is one team that will dominate or one team that has a great chance of winning the tournament.
What has been the impact of IPL? Will Indian cricket be known as pre and post-IPL era?
It is now six years since the IPL came into being and we have seen some good signs. We will know only after 10 years know what kind of an impact the IPL had in Indian cricket. What it has really shown is that all these IPL stars like for example, Shikhar Dhawan, who had a good run playing for Sunrise Hyderabad and Deccan Chargers still wants to be a Test cricketer. Ajinkya Rahane was an IPL success for Rajasthan Royals but still he wants to be regarded as a Test batsman and that is excellent.
It is good to note that cricketers are not getting sidetracked because of IPL. Another big advantage is that all players get to see high profile cricketers from close quarters and so when they finally meet them in an international game, they are not overawed by like we used to be. For example, when I played against the West Indies it was my first experience and it was completely intimidating for me. For a young India player, a Dale Steyn coming in and bowling at him at the international level will not be as intimidating as it would have been for some of us.
Do you think India is doing enough and well at the junior level to produce good cricketers?
India is doing fine at the junior level. Our junior cricket has always been pretty vibrant and it is a very established structure where at every step you get opportunities. This is one of India’s greatest strengths, especially for somebody who comes from a place like Mumbai where you start playing for the school and if you are good there is always one particular tournament that will always absorb you and keep pushing you forward.
Junior cricket has always been one of India’s strengths and that is the reason actually we get so many cricketers playing and good talent coming through. It is not just abut first class cricket. From club cricket to first class cricket there is a lot of school cricket like Under-15 and Under-19 which does all the real work.
