MUMBAI:Watch Imran Khan on ‘India Questions’, only on NDTV 24X7 on Friday, 17 November, at 9:30 pm.
New Delhi,14 November, 2006 -- Watch the charismatic Imran Khan, one of the greatest cricketing all-rounder of all time, in an exclusive interview with Dr Prannoy Roy on NDTV’s highly acclaimed ‘India Questions’ on Friday, 17 November, at 9.30 pm and repeat on Sunday, 19 November at 11 am.
Imran Khan talks about his cricketing career, his best players, his take on the Indian cricket team, the current scenario of international cricket and a lot more…
Imran Khan feels Rahul Dravid would make a good captain of a combined team of players from India and Pakistan. He opts for Rahul Dravid over Inzamam-Ul-Haq as the captain of the hypothetical team, saying that Dravid is a more aggressive player with good leadership qualities. Imran Khan says, “Well I would say Dravid would be the captain, not being diplomatic… he is more of an aggressive captain, he is a bold captain, he leads from the front, Inzamam though I would say is a greater player, but as a captain he is too laid back.”
Talking about the recent doping controversy that had hollowed the careers of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, at least for the time being, Imran Khan says that the timing of the doping tests was bad. When asked whether he thinks it was a conspiracy against these two players, Imran Khan disagrees. “No I don’t think (so), I just think the timing of the test was strange. The day before a vital match suddenly you find that two of your key players are not available. The test results should have come before the team’s selection. Poor Younis Khan… before the first match he was left with minus two fast bowlers and actually without a strike bowler. So I don’t think it was a conspiracy, it was bad timing, whether these guys are guilty or not, we will find out after the enquiry when they had a chance to present (their) case.”
On Indian cricketing standards, Imran Khan is upbeat, “Fielding standards have improved, and running in between wickets has improved. The batsman are playing more strokes than they were playing before because of one-day cricket but the level of fast bowling has gone down. I will only judge a cricketer by his performance in a test match because test cricket is the test of a cricketer. One–day cricket is the sort of cricket you can get away with.”
When asked whether he would have coached Kapil Dev if such a situation arose, Imran Khan has no reservations. “He is a shy boy, he didn’t ask, otherwise I would have.”
Asked who he thought should be the future captain of the Pakistani cricket team, Imran Khan is clear: “Well I think Younis Khan is the natural captain because he has the character, he is selfless. He oozes this selflessness in the field… and then of course he has the other characteristics that a captain must have and that’s guts and courage….”
