After Bedi’s exit, former Test player Abbas Ali Baig took charge as cricket manager and he went on to watch closely the dynamics of Team India on its tour to Australia before the 1992 World Cup. It was this tour that saw Azhar taking some tough decisions. Vengsarkar, Shastri and Srikkanth — in the final stages of their careers — were dropped for games as they struggled to find form. Baig talks about the tense dressing room atmosphere and the fears Azhar faced in the company of stalwarts.

“Things were not easy for him. He always had to look over his shoulder when it came to his seniors. There were people in the dressing room who still had hopes that they would be reinstated as captain. And that made things a bit complex,” he says.

Ask him if Dhoni might have the same kind of fears and Baig vehemently gives a big no. “Right now the scene is different. Sachin could end up being Test captain. Rahul doesn’t want to be a skipper anymore and it would too much for Ganguly to expect that he will be the captain again. Besides, the present seniors in the team are much more mature and I don’t think they would make things difficult for Dhoni,” he says.

Baig doesn’t just speak highly about the present day Big Three but also thinks that Dhoni is better equipped to deal with the pressure of captaincy in the early days. “It all depends on the outlook of a person. It depends on the personality of an individual, the temperament and maturity. Dhoni has all these qualities in abundance and I think he can imbibe a lot from the seniors. All he needs is space and I have no doubt he will have his unique style of captaincy.”

... contd.