It was pouring when I got to the Orange city early morning. But the weather was no damper for the groundsmen and watchman of the Vidarbha Cricket Association, who went about their chores in routine fashion. They were not even aware that the selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India was to meet at their premises. "There's no match today or anything, why have you come?" queried the watchman. After informing him that the selectors were to meet there to appoint the captain for the triangular series involving India, Australia and Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka, he gleefully directed you to the VCA office in the stadium, where a private television crew was waiting. That was around 1015 hours. At exactly 1030, Shivlal Yadav, the selector from South Zone, arrived and was told that he was the first to come. Madan Lal and Ashok Malhotra followed soon after and then the rest -- namely, Anil Deshpande, Ajit Wadekar and Jaywant Lele. And, after Lele shut the door of the conference hall behind him at 1100, the 70-odd scribes, photographers and television crew who had collected outside played a guessing game of who would be picked to lead India. "Would it be Jadeja, or Sachin or Dravid?" wondered most, as they put forth reasons in support of their candidates. Some even felt Azharuddin was still good enough to continue at the helm. Sure, the selection committee could have made things short and sweet by making the announcement once they had decided on Tendulkar. That would have been, say within 10 minutes after they locked themselves in. Instead, they took an hour and three quarters to make known what, as chairman of the selection committee Ajit Wadekar and board secretary Jaywant Lele said, "took two minutes to decide." Though Lele said later that the delay was because they discussed coach Anshuman Gaekwad's report of the World Cup, one felt that the announcement came slowly because Lele was unable to reach Tendulkar, who had fixed his answering machine to take calls. Twice during the meeting, the Board secretary walked out and into the VCA office only to return after 10 minutes. Was it to talk to BCCI president Rajsingh Dungarpur to get the decision ratified or to seek Tendulkar's acceptance? While Wadekar and Lele addressed the media after the meeting, one got the feeling that the captaincy had already been discussed with Tendulkar. Wadekar, when told that Tendulkar had said sometime back he would not play if Azharuddin was in the team, was quick to retort: "I don't think he has said anything like that." He went on to add, "At least he hasn't told us." Pressed further, Wadekar said, "He will accept it (captaincy); why won't he?" It is believed that much time was spent discussing Gaekwad's report, which perhaps states, among other things, what exactly was the cause for India's dismal performance in the World Cup and the attitude of some of the players. And, though both Wadekar and Lele clarified that the report did in no way influence Tendulkar's selection, one feels it only served to confirm that the master batsman was the best for the job at the moment. Sports Editor Ivan Crasto is still recovering from his Nagpur trip.
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