Adam Gilchrist also backed Rahul Dravid’s recent demand to legalise betting in India. © Getty Images
And it wasn’t long before the discussion veered towards Sachin Tendulkar, currently at the centre of India’s cricketing universe as he prepares to play his last Test match, and Gilchrist was confident about Tendulkar adjusting easily to life post retirement. “Sachin will have plenty of opportunity post his cricket career. He is an MP (member of the Rajya Sabha) now, so he has little bit of that to concentrate on. I think he will move comfortably into life post cricket,” said Gilchrist. “He has handled that (the demand for his time) exceptionally well throughout his career and I expect (him) to do the same post his cricket.”
Gilchrist singled out the 1999 Boxing Day Test as to when he first took note of Tendulkar’s class. “When he scored a hundred (116) on the Boxing Day when the rest of the order was falling around in difficult conditions overseas … that was a sign to me that this guy is truly class. You knew you are in the presence of greatness,” he said.
Away from India and Tendulkar, with the Ashes series scheduled to start in Brisbane on November 21, Gilchrist suggested Australia should not experiment much with the side’s composition in their bid to reclaim the urn. “England start as favourites but if Australia can maintain that core group of players and not be chopping and changing as has been the case in the last 18 months then there is definitely a chance of regaining the Ashes,” he said.
Gilchrist believed that with Darren Lehmann around, the environment in the dressing room would be stable, and backed George Bailey to come good after he was picked in the Test team for the first time. “He (Bailey) has been in terrific run-scoring form here (in India, where he scored 478 runs in the recent One-Day International series), but the conditions there will be a lot of different against England at the Gabba,” pointed out Gilchrist. “The great thing about scoring runs is that it does not matter where you score, it brings great confidence and so he will be very confident going into the series.”
Gilchrist agreed that, of late, Australian cricket has gone southwards and underlined the need to resurrect the team’s image. “We went through a period of time when, without being arrogant about it, we could have picked a couple of Test teams, which would have been very competitive on the world stage. There is an element of cycle to it,” he said.
“It has been widely acknowledged that the Australian team may have cruised through a little bit in our development of young players. A desire for result in Sheffield Shield has somewhat restricted the development at the Test level. Cricket Australia is very aware of that and is keen to get back to the past and identify what it requires to produce good Test cricketers. That is what the end result needs to be. It shouldn’t be winning a game of Sheffield Shield cricket at the expense of developing a player.”
On to other matters and Gilchrist, known as a ‘walker’ during his playing days, didn’t blame cricketers for choosing not to walk but called for the technology available to help officials to be improved. “Players have or haven’t walked forever and long into the future,” he said. “If technology is not working and is not consistent then don’t worry about having it. But that is an argument that is gone. It is here to stay and it is a matter of finding out how best we can (improve it).”
Gilchrist also backed Rahul Dravid’s recent demand to legalise betting in India, saying, “I support his comments. Anything to discourage what we know has been going on – outside influences tempting cricketers to underperform in whatever capacity – we need to try and encourage to stop it.”
Gilchrist, who retired from competitive cricket after picking up a wicket off his first and only delivery in Kings XI Punjab’s 2013 Indian Premier League campaign, stressed on the need for the IPL’s governing council to level the playing field before the next year’s auction. “There certainly does not seem to be an even balance as for the capacity of each of the team to turn up at the auction and be on a level playing field,” he said. “That evenness of competition is something that needs to be maintained and it is difficult when big corporations are bidding against a small conglomerate of syndicate groups as owners. That’s a great challenge for the governing body.”
Gilchrist hoped that other franchises could take a leaf out of Chennai Super Kings’ book in order to build a loyal fan base. “Chennai can particularly take great credit for their consistency over six years in their recruiting formula and their ability to build a foundation around a group of players,” he said. “It is crucial that we don’t take it for granted that they (fans) will continue to support teams that have chopped and changed so much. That level of loyalty needs to be there. At least six players being able to be retained (will be ideal). If we go too many more than that then it probably leaves with the status quo of a couple of teams being a bit too dominant, a bit too top heavy with all the talent.”
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