Bedi asks Dravid to shed nice guy image and be assertive

New Delhi, Nov 30 (UNI) Rahul Dravid should shed off his nice guy image and be more assertive but it's completely wrong to blame coach Greg Chappell for Team India's recent debacles, according to former captain Bishan Singh Bedi.

Talking to the BBC Hindi special programme Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath, the legendary spinner felt Dravid was not assertive enough.

''For the team to be seen upbeat and competitive, Rahul would have to be more assertive. Only then would the boys show some liveliness. Coach is not leading the team in the battle-field, it is the captain, who is the leader and he has to show greater resolve,'' he said.

''His leadership cannot remain confined to a nice guy in books and newspapers, it has to be seen on the field. Rahul's assertiveness has to be believed by the public, that is what is required,'' he added.

A section of the former players, including Ravi Shastri, believes that Dravid has hardly asserted himself and it's Chappell who calls the shots.

''See, Indian team's performance can be lifted with a couple of weeks of good performance but how would we get those couple of weeks? That would be by having a fit, unified and a cheerful team under an assertive leader,'' he explained.

Bedi, however, felt it was wrong to blame Chappell for all the ills plaguing Team India.

''How can you hold Greg Chappell alone responsible for the present performance of our team? After all he took over only a year back. This much time is at least required to get used to Indian conditions. The talk of our team not performing well on fast tracks and miserable plight of domestic cricket has been going on since decades. What has our cricket board done about it? Why are we afraid to fix the responsibility of Board officials?'' Bedi shot back.

''I do not hold Greg responsible, he is only guiding the boys. He is not playing on the field. One can take the horse near water, you can not make them drink water. That would have to be done by horses themselves,'' the former Indian captain elaborated. He came down heavily on BCCI for not arranging a preparation camp ahead of the South Africa tour.

''What was the preparation of Indian team for the tour of South Africa? The Board could not even organise a training camp of a week to prepare the team for such a tough tour. How had the team performed in Kuala Lumpur and in the Champions Trophy at home? The Board officials themselves were asking the players to do promotional advertisements, instead of asking them to play in Duleep Trophy,'' he said.

''Now tell me how can Greg Chappell be blamed for all this?'' he retorted.

''Today, each boy in the team is looking over other's shoulder to find out how many product endorsement advertisements the other is getting. Now if these are the priorities, then how can the performance improve? And who is responsible for this? The answer has to come from the Board bosses,'' he said.

Bedi fears there might be some communication gap between the coach and the Team India players.

''The main problem that I see between Greg and Indian boys is communication. See the way Australians speak and their dialect is a problem for seven-eight boys in the team. Now Greg's back-up team also includes three more Australians. So in such a scenario, the communication between the coach and boys is largely through signs and gestures, this is a major weakness,'' he said.

Bedi also had a word of advice for Chappell.

''Greg would have to work on improving the dressing room atmosphere and instill a sense of cheerfulness in the boys.

Performance of the team is largely dependent on the relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room. Happiness in the dressing room would have to be created.

''If India has to improve, first of all, players, coach and the Board -- all of them would have to apply self-evaluation on themselves and ask what are they doing rather than blaming each other. Strengths and weaknesses would have to be identified and individual fitness level of the team has to go up, only then would the collective fitness level go up,'' he said.

Criticising the recent utterances by politicians on the team's performance and the coach, Bedi said, ''The comments of politicians on the game were unjustified. The performance of the Indian team would not improve with the comments of MPs. They should desist from speaking on performance, as it is not good for the morale of the boys.'' UNI