Sunday, August 14, 2005

The circus called Indian Cricket

20 final appearances and only 1 win, the tag of "chockers" is officially India's. Another tri-series was played in Emerald Isle during the course of this month and the result was not different from the last 4 years-India finished second best, beating the weakest team in the competition (who cares if it was only narrowly) and losing comprehensively to the best team. For fans who spend hours at work following the game on the internet, for students who dawdle away their precious study time chewing their nails following India's fluctuating fortunes, this kind of dispirited performance is purely unacceptable. It was disappointing to see India start off the new season in identical fashion as they finished the last one-with some atrocious performances. With Greg Chappel and Rahul Dravid as torch-bearers, one had hoped that Team India's fortunes would change but was we witnessed was a total deja vu. India has now lost 7 out their last 9 games, even the most one-eyed would not disparage india's current position at the bottom of one-day rankings. The top order batsmen have failed in one final after another during the last few years, while the bowlers have been unable to stifle opposition and fielders have dropped catches. I agree that it is our culture to be fatalist and blame it on stars, luck and other factors, but nothing explains why we crumble in crunch situations. When this rut started, we would take heart from the fact that we atleast reached the finals and it is good to finish second best. What we need to realise is that to finish second is to finish first among losers!

It is not hard to explain India's dwindling fortunes in cricket. We have a bunch of stars instead of team men. Our players are more like ramp models and ad-men who play cricket as a pastime. It is okay for cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar to have a restaurant in his name. Sachin is GOD in India and no one can deprecate anything that he does. But what on earth explains Zaheer Khan and Virendra Sehwag starting restaurants? Surely their hearts lie elsewhere. Zaheer khan has the biggest mouth in the cricketing world, he had famously talked about making the Pakistani series his, only to find himself out of favor mid-way through the series after some dismal performances. Before the current season began, he talked about this season being his and how he was fully fit and all. No one needs to be reminded that it took him 5 deliveres to bowl his first legitimate bowl in the finals.
Another malice among this team is complacency. Yuvraj Singh and Md. Kaif seem to score once in 20 games and take their places in the side for granted. That Natwest series triumph wasn't the best thing that happened to them as both of them seem to have stagnated ever since. It's one thing to be talented but if you can't put your talent to use, then you don't deserve to be part of the set-up.
Ajit Agarkar has now been recalled for the zimbabwe tour. A classic case of selectors just papering over cracks. If we are to call agarkar an all-rounder, a new name will have to be coined for the likes of symonds, flintoffs, kallis and others. It won't surprise anyone if agarkar runs out of favor in a couple of months and Zaheer is re-called, after all this is Indian Cricket and every man gets his day under the sun irrespective of performance..
Lastly, the deification of cricketers by fans and media alike after one good performance must be stopped. IMHO, the defeats on the field are just returns for our attitude. We tend to raise players onto a high pedestal after 1 good performance and make him the 'next big thing'. All a Dhoni had to do was score a 100 and he became India's answer to Gilchrist !! Wow, how fantastic!
World cup 2007 is still some distance away, and if India is to compete with the likes of Australia and England, let alone beat them, the surgeon's scalpel should be brought out right now. Non performers, players who don't play with passion, players who think they are indispensable to the team should be shown the door. Greg chappel should be given a free hand so that he can bring an aussie culture into the side. He will need to teach basics to our crickets instead of crowning them with 'thinking hats'. Captain (don't care if it's dravid or ganguly) will need to contribute with the bat and motivate his boys. It is a shame that our most successful skipper has won 19 games out of 48 when a Michael Vaughan has won 18 games in 26 played!! Players who are past their used-by dates, like Kumble, Laxman, Agarkar (not sure if he had a manufacture date, lol), Zaheer should not be part of the ODI set up.
Till this and more happens, its difficult to envisage the famous huddle and the "men in blue" will continue to suffer from blues.
I know it might take a couple of good wins for me and you to feel hunky dory about indian cricket, after all we are like this only, changing our minds faster than the English weather!

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