When Mr. Chappell took over, it was a team with a spirit of the Indian tiger infused with the spirit of a Bengal tiger. Powerful team, great performances, and an impressive record. What is that which makes a team win? The instinct to go for the kill.
The skills of talented cricketers from all over the country was fused into a competitive spirit by a man who did not hesitate to take off his shirt as a display of aggressiveness. And isn’t it that aggressiveness which can translate a losing game into a winning game. That spirit lit up the team. The captain who knew the language of the subcontinent could inspire loyalty from seniors and juniors, and most importantly win matches.
Enter a coach, a foreigner who does not know the intricacies of India’s cricket and was one who played many matches “against” India. Its common knowledge as our own Sunny knows too well that australian cricketers are not friendly towards sub-continent cricketers. Even Mr Sharad Pawar has experienced it, when his hand was rudely pulled by an australian cricketer at an awards function.Mr Pawar said if the Australian cricket board apologises he would forget it. We havent so far heard a public apology from ACB.
The “Australian coach” appointed by the “Indian BCCI” began by firing his first salvo, ” breaking the spirit of the team”. He hit the fountainhead. So starts the spat with the Bengal tiger. It shatters the confidence of all other players. Then play one against the other till Mr.Dravid was appointed as a captain. Saurav and Dravid shared great partnerships and it was he who said that “on the offside its god” referring to ganguly’s off drives.
The demolition job continued in various experiments till the team got ejected out of the world cup. Now the cricketers are being questioned, abused and their payments cut.
Lets look at it from an undercurrent point of view.
Who is responsible for the richness of the cricket board in India? (Projected revenues are 300 crores) Is it not the talent of the players and their pursuit of greatness and records, which bought the game its popularity? So it’s a national treasure. The talent of the youth of the nation has to be safe guarded, the same way any management official would safeguard his personal treasures.
It was left to slide and now India is out of the world cup. Now they are trying to find fault with cricketers. An idol like sachin is being questioned. The board has given a show cause agreement to Sachin and Yuvraj to explain their talk to the media. If the players are abused by the coach through the media are they not entitled to defend themselves through the same media. Why was the coach allowed to air his views to media as opposed to presenting it to the bcci? Was the coach doing a favour for the management so that the management can keep its seats secure? The coach has been given a decent and dignified exit while our own players are put in disarray.
Mr.Shastri is the new manager. What is going to happen? There would a trip to Bangladesh. New blood will be keen to impress and that mixed with the renewed vigour of seniors who make it to Bangladesh, we will win the series and the management would have made its point.There would be smiles and the world cup would have been forgotten.
What next for the senior players who would be axed or the junior players whose morale has been shattered by these experiments ? Left to wither and start all over from a scratch. The way the Bengal tiger did. Is this the way the country treats its sports men who have won laurels for India. Through out the past 3 decades or so skillful players who neared sunset have been rudely ejected. Should there not be an official policy to give players an exit with dignity and respect.
The man at the helm is Mr. Sharad Pawar, also the nations agriculture minister, who is yet to take any proactive measures for the deaths of farmers in the country. What are the pro farmer measures taken to prevent farmer deaths. The food distibution channel is rampantly corrupt. Are we going let that slide and wake up to a day when there are street fights over empty food markets. Should not the farmer of the nation be taken care of ? Has he completed the task of being an agriculture minister to perfection that he has time for an additional responsibility. If players are going to be penalized should not the same rule apply to the cricket board ?
Lets not insult our players. They have earned their money. Don’t put the hands of the administration into the kitty of the players. They have won matches for the country. They need to be treated with respect and dignity. Lets do not forget that it’s a game, and games have upsets. The same way Kapils devils upset the Caribbean giants in 83.What was interesting now is that pro-right organization the RSS was the only institution which came in support of the team.
What has been missed out in all these petty diversionary tactics is that India is out of the world cup due to the mismanagement and experimentation of the coach and the nation have lost the moment. That is the tragedy. The nation is missing out on important milestones and we have to wait for another 4 years to make an attempt, but this world cup is gone, not due to lack of sporting abilities, but due to the fighting spirit of a differrent kind of the board Now that is called management, turning a winning team into a losing one!.If we should not be missing out milestones,then it has to start with a strong pro-india feeling among administrators and the leadership.
