Short, squat, stocky. Jaywant Y Lele, the secretary of the Board for Control of Cricket in India and self-styled ``boss'' of all he surveys, is a caricature; a delightful creature. He provides more entertainment with his state of constant, at times instant, denial than the Indian XI does on the field. He could probably fill the Eden Gardens if he were to give a live Press conference there; absolute paisavasool timepass.
Lele is a man who gets too big for his boots while shoving both feet into his gaping mouth. In fact, a typical overpromoted clerk with all the finesse of a rhinoceros in heat. And, a man with a surname that becomes pretty fitting considering what he's been doing unto himself and Indian cricket.
Presently, Lele is amidst the throes of another bout of denial: Basically his penchant for unquote uncouth quotes has resurfaced. Like those in a recent interview where he apparently said (and expectedly retracted) that India would get butchered by the Aussies in the forthcoming Test series; that Nayan Mongia and Mohammed Azharuddin should have been in the squad; that Ajit Agarkar shouldn't since he's too fragile; and that Ajay Jadeja isn't good enough for Test matches. Now on having seen those words published, Lele is fuming, fulminating, foaming at the mouth, and, yes, suing.
But then if only it were so simple to sew up the mess. For going beyond Lele's cartoonist attitude, there is something like candour.
If Pakistan, with a far more superior squad, can get demolished by the Aussies, can India hope to salvage even a single draw? Perhaps, if it rains. But the Aussies, dirty scheming tacticians that they are, have scheduled the tour during their winter when the only showers the Indian players can expect are when the batsmen trudge back to the pavilion to their dressing rooms and try to wash off the muck of another defeat.
Secondly, there are eight Indians batsmen (of the XI) who can contribute up to a maximum of 50 runs per innings, in a good innings, and that is cumulatively since the tail begins a three down. So instead, you have to keep Azharuddin mothballed or blackballed, trying to prove his form tackling the Kerala attack in a Ranji Trophy game. Okay, Azhar's probably a disruptive influence but when India finds itself 24 for 4 (a distinct possibility), how much could he subvert? Okay, so both captain Sachin Tendulkar and coach Kapil Dev asked for an Azharless team as part of their job profile, suffered as they have in the past from the Hyderabadi's blues. But is that, to use a somewhat contradictory cliché in the Indian context, cricket?
Or where Mongia is dumped for MSK Prasad as the latter displays gloves of iron rather than nerves of steel. Remember, Mongia as an opener has made 150+ against an Oz attack led by Glen McGrath. Mongia gets compensation by way of getting to lead the India A (1) team to Dubai! That much Lele could secure for his Vadodara bhai. You also get a situation wherein Rahul Dravid is forced to keep wickets throughout a four-day first class match against New South Wales, ostensibly to protect Prasad from sustaining an injury. And if Dravid fractured a thumb or pulled a hamstring or strained a groin muscle, who would then protect the brittle batting against McGrath, Damien Fleming, Shane Warne and co. Prasad?
Agarkar is fragile. Jadeja isn't Test material.
So why is Lele now in the negation mode? Does it embarrass him to have been, at least, realistic. Is he actually saying that couldn't have spoken the truth?