Indians and Cricket with reference to 36

I always say that except for those playing 11s who are on the field, the other 1.3 billion are cricket experts.  Every Indian is passionate about three things – cricket, politics, and Bollywood!!!  We love to discuss these subjects as if every individual is going to make or lose millions!!!

I am one of those individuals who has never played any cricket other than gully cricket.  Still, I want to make comments on the recent event at Adelaide as a common man.   Those are:

1.    BCCI is multi-millionaire, there is no doubt this. The strange thing is that we don’t have a selection panel that is selected by the proper process.   Also, there isn’t any accountability on the selection committee.  The seat of the Chairman of the selection committee is like a musical chair.  As a common man, do we have any opinions/views?

2.    A selection committee on the tour is another subject about which the lesser we speak, the better it is.  For example, before the Adelaide test, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border made a joint statement preferring Gill over Shaw to open the innings.  (I do agree that both those legends have nothing to do with our team.)  Still, we went with Shaw; despite his multiple failures at different events in the recent past!! Does Shastri want to prove that his cricketing brain is bigger than the combined knowledge of Border- Gavaskar?     Will Shastri and Co. have the guts to stick with Shaw for the second test, saying he is still a better choice and Adelaide was a bad dream?   Is it fair on Shaw to be dropped just one failure in the current series (leave aside the multiple failures he had outside the sub-continent)? If that is Shastri’s failure, can we expect him to be dropped from his current position as he has failed?  Are the combined coaching staff and team management fail to see the obvious faults in technique and select players with obvious flaws on difficult tours of Australia?  Or do we – a nation of billion- really have no other choice? Then the bigger question is – do we right people in the coaching and selection committee?

3.    We all demanded the game should be managed by the players than outsiders (read- politicians) and we all had great hopes in Dada Ganguli.  But read a recent article by Ram Guha – the cleansing of Indian Cricket is a lost cause!! Is this true??

4.    Why are we persisting with Shastri as a coach /manager, etc. for so long? We didn’t win the world cup under him and not in England or in New Zealand or in South Africa!!!  What about other Indian coaches like Kumble(can be trusted again with his unceremonious), Lalchand Rajput, Rahul Dravid, Robin Singh, etc.? Or someone like Tom Moody, Dev Whatmore, Ashley Giles, and many more international names?  What’s that Shastri brings on the table which any of the above names don’t and which is unique in Shastri?  

5.    Virat Kohli is another subject.  As a batsman, he is one of the best and could be an all-time best!!! No question about it!! What about captaincy?  What about man-management skills?  To lead, is it enough to have just an aggressive attitude?   What about showing some respect to others who have also played cricket at the same level?  The issue is Virat today is untouchable in Indian Cricket and I think that is a very bad situation!!

6.    Before the commencement of the series, Greg Chappell said that the team which will do better selection has more chances to win. In retrospect, India played into the opposition’s hands.

I have no doubt in my mind that Adelaide was a bad dream and the Indian team will bounce back.  Those are events that happen once in a half-century!!  But those failures are more common outside the subcontinent!!  Quote by Sir Neville Cardus – another legend- figures are like two-piece bikini bathing costume- what they reveal is important but what they conceal is more vital!!!

My issue is that we don’t learn anything from such bad dreams.  When we lost to New Zealand in the last world cup, Virat said that 45 minutes of bad cricket and we are out of the world cup.  That’s the nature of the game and everyone knows about it.  And you are supposed to be numero uno in that game. That’s what separates men from the boys!!!

I personally also know that this kind of article does nothing, probably I am just letting my steam and possible of a million others’ out. At the end of the day, it’s just a sport.   But we Indian, when we will learn that just for that sports, people work hard for years together relentlessly to earn that coveted GOLD?