How Rahul Dravid became Mr Unpopular

Sachin Tendulkar’s book release function was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have had in recent times. I am a sucker when it comes to the chance of meeting former colleagues, and I knew that there would be many who would be around at the function. Though it was tough to get much time with them, as the function started virtually on the dot, it was wonderful to meet them albeit briefly. Vasu Paranjape was his usual self, evoking laughter with his pithy humourous observations, and Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri also shared some lovely anecdotes about Sachin.

I am not sure if Sachin still drawls "kai re" in Marathi like Ajit Wadekar does, but it was great to see my skipper also there. Sachin told me some years back that there isn’t a day when at some stage he doesn’t go kai re, and I told him that it’s the same with me. There were colleagues from my Dadar Union and Nirlon days too and it was pretty nostalgic.

The best part of course was when Anjali, who throughout Sachin’s career has kept a low profile, came on stage and described how she met the "ohhh soooooo cute Sachin" and their courtship. Today, with technology making so much progress and connections and romance available at the tips of the fingers, the guys have no idea of the days when running to the phone booth or waiting for a letter to arrive was a test of patience and sometimes endurance as well. Anjali’s description was heart-warming and gave a rare insight into Indian cricket’s "first couple".

The interaction between "the fab four" of Indian batsmanship was also riveting, and the respect and affection for each other came out beautifully. One missed Virender Sehwag, who was also part of that great batting line-up, and if he had attended, then it would have been more than 1,00,000 international runs on the stage. Mind boggling to say the least!

The feisty Harbhajan Singh also would have added fizz and sparkle to the occasion, but then he and Viru and some others had to go for the domestic tournaments and so could not attend, and the loss was entirely of the audience who lapped up the stories with great delight.

The touching moment came when Sachin invited his coach Ramakant Achrekar on to the stage and had his daughter present the first copy to him.

There mustn’t have been too many dry eyes when Sachin touched his feet. Achrekar is not in the best of health, but he would have been proud to see the recognition his "ward" was getting from everyone, and how the man of the evening was showing his respect to him. If there were some who thought that there would be unpleasantness when the topic of the declaration in the Multan Test, when Sachin was batting on 194, came up, they would have been disappointed. Both showed they had got over any misunderstanding, if any, caused by Dravid’s decision.

I am looking forward to reading the book. What Sachin has said is that he has spoken the truth in it, and that’s good enough for his credibility is beyond question. The Australians may not like what he has revealed about the incident between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds that sparked off such a massive controversy, but then he was closest to both Harbhajan and Symonds and would have heard the exchange clearly.

What the excerpts do show is that one of the nicest guys in world cricket, Rahul Dravid, was not given the backing that he deserved from coaches John Wright and Greg Chappell. Chappell’s invitation to Sachin to take over the captaincy from Dravid has been well chronicled in the media already, but the revelation that John Wright came to Sachin after the declaration at Multan and said that he was not a party to the decision does not show the Kiwi in good light.

To do what they did behind their skipper’s back is reprehensible, just as it is when selectors come out of selection meetings and lie to the media that they were not party to a controversial decision and the chairman or skipper wanted it. Spineless or back-stabbers?