Published: Jan 31, 2012, 11:02 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 31, 2012, 11:02 AM (IST)
“Deep down even they know that they compromised India’s interests in Test cricket. And yet they are silent,” says the writer © AFP
By Golandaaz
I’m Indian. I am passionate about the game of cricket. Like millions of other Indians who are also passionate about cricket, I am reasonably intelligent. Perhaps India’s cricket team, especially the guys who are asked to front up to the media, have a different understanding than my intelligence.
The responses to the media of Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and, especially, Gautam Gambhir have been frankly disgusting. The thinking in the team that leads to comments like “we will see them in our backyard” and “it is just two series losses” I feel is appalling. How many more losses will it take for the team to get their senses back and stare at reality?
Like every one else, I have played the game. Not at any serious level, but as far as I am concerned serious enough. On streets, on the beach, on proper cricket grounds. With all sorts of cricket balls. At times I am a fan and at times an armchair analyst. Sometimes a critic; not always polite. Sometimes cynical and even unreasonable. In short I am just like any other cricket loving Indian.
I have no explicit loyalties towards the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and to me they are simply a body that runs and administers domestic cricket in India and have the authority to form a team that representsIndia internationally. Somebody gave them that authority or they took it upon themselves. I really don’t understand how it came about. But it’s unimportant. I don’t easily trust them, but perhaps I do not totally appreciate what it means to administer the game of cricket. The BCCI nevertheless, to me, is incidental.
To me the face of Indian cricket is its players.
To my mind, they are athletes who should feel privileged that they have been chosen to represent India. That they are contracted employees of BCCI is a minor administrative aspect to me.
Rahul Dravid, in his speech at the Sir Donald Bradman Oration, said something about cricketers at the end of the day being entertainers. I must say I never thought of cricketers as entertainers. To me they are sportsmen. Athletes. That athletes entertain is a possible, but not entirely guaranteed, side effect of their performance. Men like Chetan Chauhan and Anshuman Gaekwad did not entertain, and yet they were proud sportsmen. Test cricket, the Olympics, World Cup Soccer isn’t about entertainment. It is something infinitely exhilarating to witness and experience sports played among men and women who are willing to give their all for the glory of their country.
To me India’s cricket team is meant to give their all for India’s glory. That is my basic and at the same time ultimate requirement. You meet that and you have earned my trust, my respect. You lose 100 Test matches in a row, I will have no complaints.
That the BCCI can join hands with the private sector and create a private league with the express interest of making profits and entertainment, is none of my concern. I do see its benefits. I certainly recognise the opportunities it creates for all players. Established as well as fringe. Young as well as veterans. I also see the disruption and distraction it has created. I recognise the threats it poses. Some real and current; some anticipated.
I am unwilling to entertain the view that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is not affecting India’s national cricket team. Because it is.
When Sachin Tendulkar skipped the tour of the West Indies after playing the IPL, I was extremely uncomfortable. Something did not seem right. I became even more circumspect about the IPL. The threat of the IPL to my team was real. I understand the need for an ageing body to rest. I do not and will not want to understand why the window for private cricket (IPL) not utilised for the rest.
When Gambhir and Virender Sehwag revealed injuries deep into the IPL season I was disappointed. Not because their absence would hurt India’s chances of winning but because it was evident that my team was putting club over country.
India may well have lost all the eight Test matches they lost even if the IPL were absent. But I would have trusted that effort. But knowing that my team has indeed put club over country, I find myself questioning whether their efforts were genuine.
Am I the only one who feels that way? Why aren’t there more people who are similarly fearful of the IPL? Why aren’t more people not questioning Tendulkar who could have used the IPL to rest and gone to the West Indies for India.
I remember at that time the debate was about India not being “ruthless” at Dominica and content to do just enough to win the series. At that time all I could think of was, India did not even send their best team to the West Indies because many of them exhausted themselves playing in the IPL
Why is this okay? What has changed?
Priorities & commitment have to be questioned
Just because the BCCI says that IPL is legal does not make it alright for me. I want to know what Tendulkar feels. What Rahul Dravid feels… not in a politically correct way. I want to know where they stand.
For over eight months I have heard a billion excuses for India’s losses in Test matches. The loses don’t hurt as much. What hurts is that I can no longer say that my cricket team is 100% committed to bring glory toIndia. I honestly cannot say that. What I will not forgive Team India for is the pussy footing around the issue of IPL. I understand there are investments at stake, money on the line. What I do not understand is that how and when did my team, including Tendulkar, become stakeholders in that?
I do not have it in me to forgive my team for putting club before country. They had a legitimate chance for greatness with tours to the West Indies, England and Australia lined up. All they needed to do was to give it their best shot. And they did not. This is not just two series losses, as Gambhir puts it. It is the question of my team clearly affected by the IPL and unwilling to confront the problem head on. They played the IPL, arrived in Englandhalf cooked. And if I know my team, their conscience unclean. Because deep down even they know that they compromised India’s interests in Test cricket. And yet they are silent.
May be they have contracts with the BCCI prohibiting them from speaking against the IPL. Maybe it’s mandatory for them to play the IPL. May be. But to me my team should be committed to India. Can they honestly say they gave themselves the best possible chance in the West Indies and England?
Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired without taking a stand. The last three seniors still have that opportunity. I want them to openly speak about how the IPL is leaving them conflicted. Skipping tours, hiding injuries and generally risking an India game for the IPL is not cricket.
To me the reasons for India’s poor performances may be about unimaginative, stubborn, rigid captaincy. May be about the openers failing. May be weak bowling is a reason. May be the seniors have slowed down. May be the No 6 slot is the problem. These problems, even if real, can be fixed. A new captain can be appointed, the openers can be trusted to find form again, new bowlers can be found, the seniors can be replaced with sharper more fit men, eventually a long term No 6 can be found. There is no humiliation in losing in the face of these known issues. What is killing me is that my team has succumbed to the IPL and no one has the desire to tackle the issue.
And from what I know of the BCCI and the general stakeholders in Indian cricket, no change will come unless it is good for the long-term profitability of cricket in India, and that includes the IPL. May be I am too paranoid about the IPL, but unless rebuilding makes business sense to the IPL, it isn’t going to happen. Any decision to rebuild has to be evaluated against the bottom line of advertising revenues. Because that is the core of the money the BCCI has gotten… by the sale of TV rights. It’s not going to be about whether the new generation will score as many runs as the seniors rather it will be about whether the young generation will bring in as much advertising revenue as the seniors.
The players have become all too powerful and have been conditioned in the Indian system to not use their power to solve real problems facing the game. They will use it simply to further their Test careers, whether they want to or not. They will continue to be victims of the system corrupted by greed and short-term profits.
India’s Test players have been conditioned for decades to think of themselves as national players. To put country first. Always. For the last five years they have been put in a situation where they find themselves conflicted. It is eating their conscience. It is showing in their performance.
The IPL is welcome to thrive as long as it is not preventing players to give it their all for India. At the moment it is causing disruptions.
The problem is not confined to India alone. India is merely the early adopter to the franchise model and seeing its national cricket team disrupted because of that. Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia too will face similar questions. The problem is not the T20 format. The problem is the franchise model. It certainly has its benefits. It will bring new fans, trigger growth of the game globally but isn’t it utilising resources and skills meant to represent the nation?
And whose responsibility will it be to make sure that India’s national team is not negatively impacted by demands of the businessmen who run the IPL franchises?
The BCCI?
(Golandaaz is a blogger @Opinions on Cricket and likes to see the humorous side of the game. He often sketches cricketers in black and white. You can follow Golandaaz his blog on Twitter @oponcrFacebook/Opinions on Cricket)
