Australia is one of the places where Indian Cricket team can easily get acclimatised to and this can make playing the game easy for the team,” says Javagal Srinath, former Indian Cricketer and current ICC match referee.
Happy with the team selected by the The Board of Control for Cricket for this year’s world cup, he predicts that Indian players are capable of retaining the cricket World Cup title. “I am sure they will. They have a very good team.” Srinath says and however adds, “The environment that is built up during the World Cup is completely different and there is equal chances for every team to win the cup.”
But he is upset that Yuvraj Singh could not be part of the 15-men team. “Though batsmen are the highlight, it’s always bowlers who decide the game,” adds the 45-year-old, who was in the city to launch the special edition of Gillette INDIA razors. He was accompanied by Bollywood actor Kunal Kappor.
Ask him what he thinks can be done to ensure that players are not discouraged while playing? The cricketer, who has seen the finest part of his career in the city when he played his first hattrick here in 1990 says, “Commentators play a major role in making sure that the players are in form. They should keep encouraging players with their words.”
He requests fans to be sensible and asks them not to judge players based on their performance in just one game or throw stones at their house or cause harm to them in any way.
Comparing his stint as a cricketer with his current role as a referee, he says that it gets challenging when the teams don’t go well. “Being a referee is a holistic job. As a referee, I cannot take anyone’s side. I have to take care of the health and spirit of the game.”
The former paceman, whose unfulfilled dream is to lift the 2003 World Cup before his retirement, is positive about trend of 20-20 World Cup. “I am sure all the three forms of cricket will be alive for a long time and will do good to the game,” he says.
“Women’s team is also doing well and is participating in many competitions,” he adds.