Sandeep Patil, who took over as coach of the Indian team from the late Ajit Wadekar, rued the fact that he didn't have the man management skills that Wadekar possessed which helped make India a stronger force in world cricket from 1993 to 1996.

After the series loss in South Africa in the 1992-1993 season, India were near-unbeatable in both formats of the game with coach Wadekar and skipper Mohammed Azharuddin in charge. It must be noted though that most of the cricket India played in that period was on home soil. The conclusion of Wadekar's term coincided with India being ejected by Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup semi-final at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. "It was Ajit who suggested to the BCCI that I take over and that's how I was part of the squad in the World Cup. It gave me an opportunity to observe how well he went about his job. He was a master in man management. In my time in the dressing room, I never saw him utter a swear word," said Patil, who was sacked six months into the job.