India’s Australia conquest - the process Bedi missed

Bishan Bedi, the first Indian skipper to have won a Test match Down Under in 1977-78, claps for Virat Kohli and company but calls for the right balance to sustain the form.

Virat Kohli kisses the Border-Gavaskar trophy after India won the Test series against Australia.

The photograph of Virat Kohli holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in Australia, has perhaps lessened the emotional load among former captains who were close to being in that frame.

Bishan Bedi, India’s first captain to have won a Test match Down Under in the tour of 1977-78, is “thrilled to bits” but he would like to view this triumph as the start of a process to iron out the flaws.

“To sustain this kind of a performance over a period of time requires a fair amount of commitment. As followers of the game, we can hope that the kids will have that commitment,” he told Sportstar a day after Team India scripted history in Sydney.

Though in red-ball cricket, Bedi feels the overseas success story will hold India in good stead ahead of the ICC World Cup in four months time.

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“It is a very good moral booster, to win a series in Australia the same year when there is a World Cup. There is still a lot of work to be done.

“It is good that the BCCI can afford this big baraat (contingent) with 18 players and support staff, this was never the case earlier. We only had 15 players and two officials. They were different times, we used to share rooms. These people have single rooms. I feel good for them. They are getting paid for doing the job,” added Bedi, who was India’s first full-time coach in 1990.

Balance is the key to maintaining the supreme run, feels Bedi. “In cricket, there is no such thing like guarantee, it is a funny game.

“In any walk of life, we seem to drown ourselves but when we excel, we tend to go overboard. You got to draw a line and look for a balance, how to keep your cool when the chips are down. If cricket doesn’t teach you to be humble, I don’t know what else will. I am happy they did it. They have come good after the mistakes they committed in South Africa and England, but there is still room for mental and physical stability. It is important.”

The veteran refused to analyse Kohli’s leadership skills at the moment as he feels the India skipper is still on the job.

“I would like to comment on his captaincy once he is done with the job. There is a lot of work to be done,” he said.