Nothing short of a masterstroke, skips!

Imran Khan was credited by his peers as the only man capable of welding a Pakistan team to play as a unit in the true sense On Tuesday fully realising the importance of coming together to urge the Pakistan government to treat their fellow cricketer well in jail 14 international captains made their request public in an open letterAll those 14 excaptains played strokes in their playing days that drew emphatic applause But this was a masterstroke that attracted kudos from a world audienceWhile every one of these greats has demonstrated leadership when it mattered most here are stories of five in particular Letrsquos start with the cricketing senior of them all mdash Ian Chappell who first played for Australia in 1964 Chappell who faced Imran regularly in World Series Cricket played the captain for life role to perfection through his handling of former teammate Terry Jennerrsquos predicament in 199293When a rehabilitated Jenner after a jail term for embezzlement showed hesitancy in arriving at the main gate of the Adelaide Oval to be interviewed on how he helped Shane Warne emerge Chappell promised him that he would be at the main entrance and walk with him to the commentary area assuring him that there was nothing to be ashamed ofClive Lloyd the second senior among the captains who have shown their solidarity towards Imran was once upset with the West Indies selectors when they decided to leave trusted wicketkeeper Deryck Murray out of the team for the third Test against Australia in Georgetown in 1978 Lloyd ended the 9 pm to 2 am meeting as mentioned in his book Living for Cricket unable to convince the selectors about retaining Murray by refusing to sign the squad sheet A few hours later he resigned as captain Alvin Kallicharran took over and led the team to India for a sixTest series India had a new captain in Sunil Gavaskar among the 14 seeking better treatment for ImranGavaskarrsquos Mumbai teammate Sudhir Naik was alleged to have stolen two pairs of socks from a department store in London on Indiarsquos 1974 tour of England The late Naik was understandably shattered also reeling under a lack of support from his Board Gavaskar in Sunny Days wrote about asking team manager Hemu Adhikari permission to share a room with Naik who he believed was innocent Gavaskar said he ldquointercepted a number of anonymous telephone callsrdquo from ldquopeople who were out to give him Naik hellrdquo Naik even contemplated taking his own life and Gavaskar played that perfect protector He also hit out at the establishment in Sunny Days ldquoThe attitude of those concerned should have been lsquoTo hell with the expenses wersquoll go ahead and get our man a good lawyer for his defencersquo rdquoThis was 1974 world cricket was dominated by Australia The very next year Greg Chappell took over the captaincy from his brother Ian who felt hersquod had enough of the job Greg was a strongwilled captain and like Ian fought for his players When he noticed that the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch was too dangerous for his players in a 198182 triangular series match against the West Indies he urged the former Australian Cricket Board chief Bob Parish observer for that game to call off the gameGreg according to the book Greg Chappell by Adrian McGregor was as livid as he could get when Parish said that 70000 spectators ldquowill howl the place downrdquo if the match was called off Greg said to the influential administrator that he would howl the place down if even one of his players got injuredAllan Border who was in his fourth season as an Australian player when Greg spoke his mind was as angry when the selectors during the Adelaide Test against India in 199192 dropped his vicecaptain Geoff Marsh and Mark Waugh for the Perth Test As a mark of protest Border stayed put in the dressing room and did not take the field for a while according to cricket writer Mark Ray in the book Border amp Beyond He only did so after dishing out an expletive to coach Bob Simpson and a rocket to chairman of selectors Lawrie Sawle over the phone He even threatened not to play the Perth TestThere is little doubt that the rest of the nine international captains Belinda Clark Mike Brearley Kim Hughes Kapil Dev David Gower John Wright Steve Waugh Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain also stood up for their teammates at some point or another during their captaincy tenuresThis show of solidarity and concern whether or not it results in better treatment for Imran in jail is commendable and worthy of the highest praise Michael Holding summed it up well when he told me on Tuesday evening ldquoThis is brilliant Irsquom so happy to see that I thought everybody was just going to sit on the sidelines and watch Imran being persecuted and abusedrdquomiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper