The 36-year-old has averaged 18 with a highest knock of 26 and looks miserable facing upto the moving ball or sheer pace, but still refuses to acknowledge his batting is floundering.

``I am batting well in the nets,'' Azharuddin told The Observer, who said Azharuddin does not impress as a decisive leader of men and described him thus: ``He twitches and blinks, his staccato answers flit by incomprehensible''.

Despite all-round criticism for his decision to put in Australia at The Oval on winning the toss, he rejected that his leadership was to blame for India's travails.

``A captain is only good as his team. I think the captaincy is not an issue. There has been a lot said about it, I know, but that is slightly unfair,'' he told The Observer.

Azharuddin disagreed when asked about criticism that his poorform had placed a burden on the team otherwise scoring freely.

``I am batting well in the nets, it's just that the big score hasn't come yet. It happens to the best of the batsmen,'' he said. The Indian captain refused to be drawn into political implications of India's Super Six tie against Pakistan on Tuesday.

``We should be left to just worry about the game itself. That is the most important thing for us,'' he said, adding it was for the authorities to look after player security.

On being asked whether the Indian team had an inferiority complex playing Pakistan, Azharuddin said, ``That's what the public think, but our recent record or World Cup record against them prove otherwise.''

India recently lost to Pakistan in the finals of two triangular tournaments in India and Sharjah. They drew a two-Test series one-all at home and lost the Asian Test championship tie in Calcutta after making a dream start. The Observer said the pressure on India was coming from within while with Pakistan, the burden ofmatch fixing allegations against players was playing havoc.

``The Pakistani players are being driven by the fact that only if they win the World Cup would the match-fixing findings be sidelined by courts,'' the paper added.