[goru]

Q12) Have you ever had, or currently have, an ideal (role-model?) captain? Someone who makes you want to be like him...

A) No, have not found anyone like that.

Q13) Maybe not ideal, but what about a favorite captain?

A) Smith, Graeme Smith.

Q14) For his tactics or because of his toughness (??) ?

A) Well, he has the tactical side as well as the attacking attitude. Even outside of that - the way he handles the team... South Africa has too many problems. But the way he has handled them and lead the team, as well as performed himself, is the reason he's slightly my favorite. But it's not like he's a huge favorite.


Q15) You wanted long-term captaincy, and now you've got it. If everything goes well, you'll probably be captain for many years. You have the opportunity to think of long-term plans as well now. As captain, where do you want to bring change?

A) I think the most important work to be done is outside the field. On the field, I think everything is fine... my own performance plus the team performance - and I don't think I've made too many mistakes with regards to captaincy. Of course, I've made small mistakes. But I think I can be more involved outside the field. There's a lot of work to do, and there are opportunities to do them much better.


Q16) And what are those?

A) System. System meaning everything ... like discipline... starting from discipline of walking into the dressing room, to the discipline of putting your bag down, to the discipline of going down to the ground all together for warm-up... the understanding with players regarding everthing can be a lot better. It might seem like I hang out with some players more than others. But nobody should think that the captain likes someone else more than them. There is room to improve personal behaviour. These are not big issues when you perform, but when you don't they can become huge.

Q17) During this on and off captaincy job, you've already revealed some unpleasant truths which anyone else would have avoided. Are you like this in every aspect of your life - speaking your mind?

A) In most aspects of my life, yes. Not every aspect, but most of them...

Q18) A few days ago, Michael Vaughn said that most of his press conferences as England's captain was full of lies. Almost all cricketers generally avoid anything that can give rise to debate, as if they were contagious diseases - but you are a surprising exception to this. We want you to always stay like this. But even then, I have to ask - are you not afraid that if someone is unhappy with what you said, you have to answer to the board?

A) Many times it's good to just tell the truth. That might cause temporary problems - there will be debate, but the end result will be good. What I said after the first match against Zimbabwe - people said I was not thinking clearly - this is not correct - my thinking was perfect. I knew what I was going to say that day.