Our champions are flawed genius, we need to respect their pride
When Mahesh Bhupathi won the National men’s title on grass in Chandigarh in 1994, the first question one fielded on return to the Capital was whether the young champion could beat Leander Paes !
More than two decades later, the question continues to persist, ‘’Can Mahesh beat Leander’’.
To put the record straight, Mahesh has not beaten Leander in singles in the professional circuit. He has beaten him otherwise. Leander beat him thrice in singles, and two of them were in Challenger finals.
The only time Mahesh did get past Leander in a professional draw, was when he got a walkover from the top seed in the semifinals of the Jakarta Challenger in 1994. Mahesh as a qualifier went on to win the title, his only Challenger singles title.
This was immediately after Mahesh had got into the Davis Cup team for the tie against South Africa in Jaipur, even though he was not played then. He had done well in two Satellite circuits in Malaysia and Indonesia to gain the attention of the national selectors.
Despite the fact that he had won the Challenger and made the doubles final with Leander, Mahesh made it a point to play the National championship to assert his stature and standard.
Lest the young readers jump into any conclusion, one hastens to stress that Mahesh was a superb singles player as he showed many times in the Grand Slams, ATP events and Davis Cup.
However, as CGK Bhupathi said the day after Mahesh had won the national singles title in 1994, he was tipped to be a top-10 doubles player. It was some conviction of the dad of a 20-year-old Mahesh to say that he would question his knowledge as a coach if his son did not become a top-10 doubles player.
For sure, Mahesh had a big serve, a huge backhand and a menacing forehand. But, Leander had the legs and the tenacity to outwit him. And the ability to charm the media! This was one difficult part to digest.
It is another matter that the problem persists despite the media for the majority being disillusioned with Leander and his perennial plea for justice.
Mahesh’s partnership with Leander, the contrasting style of play of the two along with their intrinsic understanding, made them a world class pair, the best in the world, who could take on the Woodies, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge apart from the Dutchmen, Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis.
Mahesh did not drop serve in tournaments, at times week after week, because Leander was at the net. It was a lethal combination.
Over the years, Mahesh had always looked up to Leander, even though the latter would tease him endlessly, especially through the media interactions, questioning his fitness time and again. And possibly the lack of gratitude for getting his international career launched in such style, without much investment!
It was nearly impossible to tackle the guile of Leander. Mahesh, who speaks his heart straight, had exploded at times, unable to sustain his silence, like when he said that he had played his last match with Leander after winning the doubles gold in the turbulent Doha Asian Games in 2006. For sure, the two played together thereafter in the Beijing Olympics and on the circuit as well, not to forget Davis Cup.
Even as he got the best out of his partners on court, Leander got their bad side out, off the court, leading to considerable friction. It had something to do with Leander’s personality. He was the king of everything he surveyed. Without that attitude, he could not have won that Atlanta Olympics singles bronze medal in 1996.
However, it was not just Mahesh but a bunch of players who were unable to digest the methods of Leander over the years, but could never pin him down. Thus, it was only natural that Mahesh was viewed as the leader who can win them justice, at some stage.
Hence, it was no surprise that Mahesh was convinced to play Rohan Bopanna in the tie against the Uzbeks in Bengaluru. For sure, he had not made up his mind to insult Leander, as many would like us to believe.
As the new captain, who did not have two best singles players Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni in the team, Mahesh was understandably reluctant to drop his best doubles player, his trusted partner with whom he had competed in the London Olympics. There was no question of Mahesh saying ‘’No’’ to Leander from flying into Bengaluru from Mexico, for he was still toying with the choice.
It was a tricky situation, and as the captain Mahesh was a bit jittery, trying to rely on Ramkumar Ramanathan and the inexperienced Prajnesh Gunneswaran for singles, even though Uzbekistan without Denis Istomin was like a snake without venom.
It was equally understandable that Leander exploded to the media, unable to hide his anguish. Being the aggrieved, not so much experienced at that, Leander deserved to express himself, and question Mahesh. It is difficult for the captain to extend the gag order to a reserve player, and someone of the stature of Leander.
To expect Leander to stay for the whole tie was unreasonable, and to say that it was ‘’the last nail in the coffin’’ was another expression of Mahesh that would haunt him.
Mahesh as the captain had every right to choose his team and he had made it clear at every stage, and had been very polite and considerate to Leander. He did not have to prove it to the world, by releasing the text messages.
But, if you have a young captain who had played the circuit only last year, you do not expect the maturity of a Naresh Kumar or a Ramesh Krishnan.
The good thing is that Leander has been stung badly. As a player he is quite content with what he has achieved with his limited game! He has played in seven successive Olympics that no tennis player has ever done. It is also the highest by an Indian sportsman. His Davis Cup record is imposing. In fact, for all the talks that he is playing for the record, Leander does have the record for the highest number of doubles wins in Davis Cup.
For one having shared so many records with Mahesh, with whom he has such a strong love, hate relationship, Leander does not mind sharing a record with Nicola Pietrangeli of Italy, who incidentally has the singles record as well for maximum number of wins in Davis Cup.
In such a back drop, one should admire the hunger of Leander to compete in the small Challengers to stay alive in the circuit, even though it means considerable loss of money. He has to endure so much after being used to the big league for so long. But, the last thing a champion like Leander would want is anyone’s sympathy.
Without their pride, the champions are nothing. It is something we often forget.
For all his services, and the way he has been getting the results, Leander feels that he deserves to walk into the team as a matter of right. It is unfair to remind someone of the numbers in the ranking game, for, all his life Leander has been defying the numbers.
As a knowledgeable friend pointed out the other day, Leander possibly got it wrong when he called Vishnu Vardhan on the eve of the draw for the tie against New Zealand in Pune, when Saketh Myneni pulled out. He would have got that elusive doubles win in the company of Yuki Bhambri. The Kiwis were no team, even though they had a good doubles combination.
The Uzbeks, in comparison, were tough in singles, at least on paper.
For all the bitter words that have been spoken over time, it will be a miracle if Leander and Bopanna pair up for any match.
Yet, the best of human calculations can go wrong when time plays its cards!
Even as Bopanna has consolidated his position, by winning the ATP Masters title in Monte Carlo, Leander is fighting hard in the Challengers, winning two of them in Leon and Tallahassee. There are still three more Grand Slams, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, before India plays its World Group play-off Davis Cup tie against Canada in Canada.
If any of us is busy writing the last lines for the brilliant career of Leander Paes, we will be exposing our ignorance about the superman of Indian sports.
In a long conversation in Rio de Janeiro, after the early exit in doubles in the Olympics, Leander agreed to one point with a twinkle in his eye. It was a simple observation.
All our champions have flaws. If you remove the flaws, the whole structure could collapse. The flaws make them, as much as their better qualities !
We are all human and none of us is perfect. As successful people, the champions naturally believe that their perception is absolute right.
As fans who enjoy all their achievements and feel proud about them, we need to educate ourselves to accept the flaws in our champions, be it Mahesh or Leander.
It is impolite to ask them to behave !
