Chaos

Once again the most successful Indian captain has been dropped.. this time from the Test squad. The reason given: Performance. The reason I think: Chaos.

"All's well that ends well" has been the pragmatism of Indian cricket and cricket lovers for quite a while now. Winners are awarded with plush lands and houses, while losing entitles stone throws on the same houses. Voices have been hushed in the last few months as the Indians are on a rare winning streak. People, alas, have never mattered lesser.

There is a understated overemphasis on World Cup 2007. Yes. Its a big tournament. Experienced cricketers are needed in crunch situations. Winning it is prestigious. Degrading proven winners is not the way to achieve it. Young talent is important. Spot talent and give them chances, but not on needless biased basis. VRV Singh is being figured in, while he leaked runs today in the warm up game against England, while Munaf Patel who bowled lovely spells with 5 wkts to speak wasnt. Baffling decisions. Batting should be flexible. Why isnt Sachin in any other position but opening and 2 down in tests?

Let us look at Ganguly, the leader. He revolutionised Indian cricket. He epitomised attitude and courage, he backed his younger players like no one. Yuvraj himself admitted his respect for Saurav, who was accused of keeping him away from Tests to get his spot. Ganguly like any ideal leader, was selfless. He brought himself down from opening slot in ODI (splitting the most successful opening pair of all times) cos he cudnt fit Sehwag in any other position and he thot he was experienced and flexible enuf to handle other roles. Who is flexible and who isnt? He got team spirit into a individualistic team of the 90s. One fine day, he dint fit the bill anymore.

Let us look at Ganguly, the player. A short search in Cricinfo stats will leave u spellbound. Hes the quickest player to get 5000,6000,7000,8000,9000 runs in ODIs in the world. He has an amazing average in tests that he has lead, much more than any other captains, including Rahul Dravid. He was an ideal number 5 and bailed out India in times of crisis and beautifully meandered the tail at times. Sachin has a pathetic record in the last 2 yrs in both forms of the game, yet he is persisted with. Ganguly meanwhile had a decent couple of years, averaging more than Sachin definitely. I thot he played one of the most brilliant knocks in Karachi, when the top order just fell in a heap. He steadied the innings with 30s in both innings, when the rest of the top order dint total to 30. Why is Sachin never dropped even after a string of dismal performances. If fitness was a yardstick, why isnt Laxman dropped, as he is worse than Ganguly, as a batsman and as a fielder.

The main thorn in the flesh seems to be Greg Chappel, along with the Board comprising of people who hate him to the core. I dont give a damn what they trying to do, but its created Chaos. Young guns have been brought in and old chaps have been axed. Long term, yes, but think about the experience those guys have. Our bowling department is fully young now. But its faring pathetically, cos there was no one to mentor them, like Kapil was to Srinath. Sadly Sachin's only role seems to be that nowadays! Given Greg's affliction towards young guys and the Board's policy of giving every new prospect a chance, I see a lot of players with 50 ODI caps and 10 test caps for India. Not gonna be many who will reach 300 ODIs and 100 Tests. Given the fact that Sachin needed 76 innings to hit his first ODI century, and his first 8 were below 40, if Sachin was newly inducted into the team today, I would bet against retaining his position for the next series. If this goes on, I doubt if any new Champion will be born. Experience should not be underestimated and it teaches players a lot more than just mere exposure! Ganguly has a lot of cricket left in him and hes an excellent player. Alas, his last few years in international cricket is marred by politics. Its leaking blood to see a player of his quality sitting out for reasons apart from cricket.

I have been tight lipped about this issue till now, but when I saw Kiran More's pathetic comment on Saurav's exclusion - performance, caused an outrage in me. If you have been watching Indian cricket for the last decade, Im sure u feel the same. Its not about what he is or how he is, neither about Indian cricket. Its all about what a player he is and what he does out there in the middle. And hes indeed a champion at it! People are blinded by ravenous youth display, but I feel that its quite a sad chapter in Indian cricket, and Im ashamed to bear witness to it.

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