Don't mind Kapil's Devils but Calypso-bound Team India is better

New Delhi, Feb 18 (UNI) With all due respect to Kapil's Devils that truly encouraged parents to let their sons take to a cricket bat at an early age, and catapult India into the big league in the shorter version of the game, some of the best cricketing brains like Ajay Jadeja, Tiger Pataudi and Kirti Azad favoured Dravid's Team India to bring the glory back this time.

Former captain Ajay Jadeja, however, said the Caribbean-bound team lacks quality wicket-taking bowlers although the batting looks in good shape.

A part of Kapil's Devils, Kirti Azad also echoed much the same views, saying that Rahul Dravid's army is more ''well-equipped compared to the 1983 team, but added ''Now we have only one genuine all-rounder but that team (1983) had so many players who could contribute with the bat and the bowl, although they were no superfast bowlers by any means.'' What was meant to be a BBC commentary team member Ashis Ray's launch of a book titled ''One-Day Cricket : The Indian Challenge'' by Sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, turned out to be a rivetting throwback and progressive panel discussion on India's chances in the Calypso land next month to whether watching cricket is a fundamental right, besides the Ganguly-Chappell fiasco. Ray was touted as 'Voice of India' by an Australian daily and lent his voice as commentator in 1979 and 1983 World Cups, including an extended session to allow him describe India's biggest ever winning moment in 83' final.

One fo the best fielders of his time, Jadeja said, ''Our ground is to blame for the present mess. Besides, the Indians are not taught to be physically active from an early stage,'' adding that there are many agile movers in the field now.

When asked about coach Greg Chappell's tenure till now, Jadeja, who has played the 92', 96 and 99' World Cups, preferred to play it with a straight bat, saying, ''There are both positives and negatives. While players are hungrier and there is more accountability now, besides players are willing to bat at any positions but he lacks in man-management skills and did not handle the Sourav and Sehwag matters properly.'' ''I have never seen a more unhappy Indian team than the present lot,'' added Sports Editor Kadambari Murali.

Cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad said VVS Laxman and Ramesh Powar were the unlucky ones to miss out on a World Cup berth but Jadeja differed, terming the chosen side the best to represent India.

When Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi asked whether one day cricket was losing its popularity, both Jadeja and cricket expert from media Ahish Shukla agreed that now nobody goes to watch cricket and people love and adore the cricketers more than the game.

To justify his point, Jadeja added that a West Zone team with the likes of Sachin playing against a quality Ranji team would be much better cricket than a Bangladesh side playing India but whereas lakhs of fanatics would throng the stadium for the Bangladesh tie there would hardly be a thousand strong force for the West zone fixture.

UNI