How does it feel to be back at M Chinnaswamy stadium, the venue where you created a world record for most Test wickets?
The Chinnaswamy Stadium holds a special place in my heart with the world record wicket in 1988 and the fact that I've been invited to the 75th anniversary of KSCA. It is a sort of nice, kindly thing... 25 years ago that record (of 374 wickets) was confirmed and it is the 75 year celebration. No doubt it has changed considerably since I was here 25 years ago. It's been nice so far in my short stay to catch up with some of the players that I played against way back in 1976.
How did it feel to meet your rivals?
Last night I reminded Gundappa Viswanath of the time he got a hundred in Kanpur in 1976. It happened to be the last over of the day when he was on 99 not out. I wanted to make sure he wouldn't get a hundred and he'd have to come back and bat the next day. I did bowl a fair barrage of short-pitched deliveries. Mind you, they didn't have to be that short to get over his head, even my yorkers would go over his head so to speak! I just reminisced with Gundappa on that one. Even BS Chandra, batting at No. 11, he was always going to be a Test wicket. Chandra reminisced a little about what he's doing now. EAS Prasanna of course, I rated him as one of the finest ever off-spin bowlers of all time. It's just so good to catch up with these fellows.
When you completed a record 400 wickets, did you think people would go on to 700-800 wickets?
Once I got the world record 374, it made me the No. 1 bowler in world cricket. That was pretty special. When I got to 400 in Lancaster Park in Christchurch which is my home ground, Sanjay Manjrekar (was the victim). I have a lot of things happening with India ...Magic moments. When I got to 431 in England in 1990, I thought the benchmark had been set and that it was going to take a long time for somebody to get past my record. But I didn't envisage when I retired in 1990 that Shane Warne (Australia) would go to 700, and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) to 800.
Your views on integration of technology in cricket?
When technology first came on to the scene, I was a bit skeptical because of the tradition and history. Umpires always made the decisions; they get some right, some wrong and you just accept it. My personal view is that I don't particularly like the captains or players questioning or reviewing the decisions. What I would like is that all the decisions should remain in the hands of the umpires. If the two in the middle are not sure, review it and the third umpire will hopefully make the right decision.
Your thoughts on match-fixing?
You have to look at the people who have been caught. I suppose the young players that are being brought into it are seeing an opportunity to pick up some quick, cheap money to bowl a wide or no-ball. Sometimes they get influenced, it's a shame that it goes on.
Your thoughts on the current New Zealand side?
We perform well in ODIs, T20 cricket. We win some games, we tend to make the semifinals of tournaments but it's becoming something of a mind thing that we get to semis but we can't make to the final and go on to win a major. Our Test cricket is of great concern now. What doesn't help us is when we travel overseas to play Test series. We invariably get a one-off Test match or two-match Test series. When we play in New Zealand we can generally schedule three Test matches. But India wants to play just two this time and that's disappointing.
How do you rate the current fast bowlers?
I see James Anderson (England) and Dale Steyn (South Africa) as the two top pace bowlers in the world. Very skillful. Broad is hitting his straps at the present. From the New Zealand point of view, our strength is our young pace attack. Inexperienced and young. Give five years, I think we will be knocking over sides quite regularly.
Your thoughts on ball-tampering?
You can use natural saliva, sweat on the ball. You can't use finger nails as it stands today. I made a statement many years ago asking for that to be legalised. It doesn't matter if the ball is changing its shape or condition. What you see with reverse swing, something is happening to the ball that allows it to do that. The batsman has to handle it and it's exciting to watch on TV.
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