Former BCCI administrator Ratnakar Shetty has revealed that the cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was not enjoying the captaincy and he was disturbed because of what was happening around him and the prevailing atmosphere and rumors surrounding the Indian cricket team in the late 90's.
Notably, Tendulkar captained Team India between 1996 and 2000 in 98 international matches, in which the team won 27, lost 52, while there were 12 draws, six no results, and one tie.
In his book On Board: Test.Trial.Triumph, recalling his years in the BCCI, Shetty recalled how Tendulkar and he went to meet the then BCCI president, Raj Singh Dungarpur, to discuss the prevailing atmosphere and rumors surrounding the Indian cricket team. He further revealed that he was shocked when the former captain, Mohammed Azharuddin, called him later that night, inquiring about the matter.
The Indian Express quoted Shetty as writing in his book: “Having spent a lot of time with Sachin in Sri Lanka, I had sensed that he was disturbed. He wasn’t enjoying the captaincy and I was by no means the only individual who felt that all wasn’t well. There were times when information pertaining to the trajectory of games that we were yet to play, would reach us and leave us wondering.”
Shetty wrote, “The timing of some dismissals, especially in the ODIs, was weird, to say the least. Sachin and I went to meet Rajbhai and (Jaywant) Lele. We discussed the tour, the Rashid Latif interview, and the rumors that had been doing the rounds. Imagine my shock then to receive a call later that night from none other than Azharuddin, enquiring about our meeting with the BCCI president and secretary.”
He concluded, “The entire purpose of the meeting had been defeated. I called Mr. Dalmiya and told him that henceforth, no manager would be frank with the Board. Unfortunately, it took a while — three more years, to be precise — for people to realise that the ineptitude of some of the players was deliberate.”
