The prophets of doom have written
off Indian cricket and the pundits have the diagnosis and the cure in place. It
is paradoxical that Vengsarkar has to talk about it. Was he not the selector
who found an alternative to Ganguly at the No.6 position. The problem is that
even our friendly Madan Lal can talk about performance. Public memory is short.
We are a people who can make heroes of our cricketers and put them up the
pedestal with the same ease with which we can garland them with slippers and
pelt stones on their dwelling homes.
There surely can be reasons for India’s defeat in six consecutive tests on
foreign soil. Thee can be none for the manner of defeat. It is now obvious that
if Sehwaag cannot get us a dream start we are doomed. At home, the rest fight
and out of country the greats take turns. It is all very fine to call for their
blood and ask for sacking the ‘old legs’. Trigger happy is for the clowns – in
case of doubts ask Jimmy Amarnath!!
After the Chappell brothers advocated the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, he
has got the county a few hundreds in tests and one dayers. How many of us in
our lives are willing to retire from service on the ground that we have under
performed? If we are not prepared, how dare we ask this of our cricketers.
We make mediocre films, we have mediocre institutions, our teachers are not
world standard, our politicians are not, our airlines are not either. Our civic
amenities are not world standard, our roads not, our streets not. How then will
our cricketers be?
The frenzy that follows defeat and the euphoria that is the aftermath of
success needs to be taken with more balance. In the Ganguly era we started
winning matches abroad. We let the management tinker with the process. We read the
score card of the immediate past and permitted the selectors to play musical
chairs with captains and kings. Now when things go wrong, we blame the mortals
for not surviving our expectations of immortality.
A corrupt India expects a corrupt free India, a mediocre India wants a
brilliant cricket team. Discern a contradiction and to quote Ayn Rand:
contradictions don’t exist.
L. Ravichander