Today at The Oval, Azharuddin made a similar blunder that has almost certainly cost India a berth in the semifinal.

If a hush-hush story doing the rounds is to be believed, Brendon Julian the Australian left-arm fast bowler, the 12th man for this tie, is supposed to have snubbed The Oval groundsman on Wednesday. Julian played for Surrey (whose home ground is The Oval), in the English county circuit. His refusing to acknowledge the groundsman so infuriated the latter that he swore to shave the grass off the pitch and make things easier for the Indian batsmen.

The Indian team was aware ofthis on Thursday itself. In fact, in between drizzles, the covers were taken off only at the pitch area to facilitate the repeated mowing. Thus the brown pitch this morning was an ideal strip for the Indian batting line-up to parade its wares. But Azharuddin, who has not been in any kind of touch throughout the tournament, chickened out when it came to taking a positive decision. He simply did not have the confidence to go out there and battle it out, and therefore took the easy way out.

Perhaps he was even misled by the conditions early in the morning when there was a light drizzle just before the start of play. But knowing full well that the excellent covers here would have kept the pitch bone dry, his opting to field first was downright cowardly.

In this tournament itself, Azharuddin has read the situation wrongly before. Against Sri Lanka, he luckily lost the toss, for after Arjuna Ranatunga opted to field first, Azharuddin said he too would have done the same.

In the previous World Cup, Azharuddingot away by claiming that the decision to field first was actually taken by the team. But that does not hold water. A captain may take advice from the entire team and even the whole stadium if he wishes. But after hearing all the advice he must arrive at a decision on his own. That is his responsibility. He cannot shirk from it.

Azharuddin did not learn this lesson at the Eden Gardens. He was subsequently stripped of his post.