Mahela's toughest decision as captain

Posted by Hilal

It gets kinda stale hearing the usual jargon at a post match interview or reading the same old question and response on a website or news paper that's why this interview deserves a mention.

Lokendra Pratap Sahi of the Telegraph seems to have pressed all the right buttons to get Mahela to speak genuinely about his toughest decisions as captain.

Toughest decision as captain

Probably not giving Maravan (Marvan) a match in the last World Cup... It wasn’t anything personal and, to his credit, he didn’t take it personally either... It was a tough one, yes, but a captain has the responsibility to take such decisions... If someone else can take those decisions better, then it will be time to leave the captaincy... I’m transparent and the players are free to ask questions. I won’t say that I’m not going to give reasons for a decision taken by me... Once a captain is transparent, he doesn’t have to worry.

Style of captaincy

I’m very impulsive... One can plan a lot of things, but it all gets down to how the bowlers bowl and how well the batters have been able to adjust to the conditions... Strategy, I think, has to be flexible with a Plan B and a Plan C ready all the time... I do go with my instincts and if I feel that something could work, I give it a shot... When I get back to the hotel, I shouldn’t be thinking that I ought to have tried what I’d thought could work.

Lastly, just how long did it take to get over the disappointment of losing the 2007 World Cup final (to Australia)

Look, I believe that cricket is just a game and there will be winners and losers... Looking back, we gave everything we had... The boys were brilliant throughout and, in the final, we lost to the better team on the day... One can look back and regret or move forward with the belief that we gave it everything... I took the latter route... Had I been a neutral, I would’ve sat back and enjoyed Adam Gilchrist’s blazing knock (149 in 104 balls)... Unfortunately, being the opposition captain, I was at the receiving end... Had it been Sanath Jayasuriya’s day, then the Australians would’ve been at the receiving end... That’s how it goes in cricket.