A Timely Call

The day has finally come! Ah, those ugly on-side shots are gone! The fielding standard of the Indians are once again up to the mark! And oh yeah, of course, the captain won’t speak much! Even if he does it won’t make much sense.

Sourav Ganguly has decided to call it a day as far as international cricket is concerned. With that, a mysterious and one of the most colourful episodes of Indian cricket has come to an end. Mysterious because in spite of being the second highest run scorer for India in one-day cricket, in spite of being the most successful captain of India as far as Test wins are concerned and in spite of being the proud owner of 15 Test hundreds, he’s been at the receiving end of attacks from all quarters, the reasons best known to the attackers.

The senior-junior debate has been going on in Indian cricket for quite sometime now. While clubbing Sachin, Rahul, Kumble, Laxman and Dada together and calling them seniors or veterans is a politically correct move, one fails to understand why Sourav was always the prime target of everyone! The prodigal VVS Laxman has managed a meager 2338 runs from 86 ODIs at an average of 30.76 with 6 hundreds over a decade (he made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in April, 1998) but he’s still a prodigy! Pundits never bothered to show us fans, the logic behind fielding a prodigy in only 86 ODIs in 10 years. One look at the video clippings of the famous final group league match against the Kangaroos at Sharjah in 1998 though exposes the prodigy. When Sachin was wrongly given out, India was agonizingly close to a memorable victory. But the prodigious Laxman struggled hard to get there without success. Still, he is a prodigy and the man who taught the toddlers to walk is a bad influence. Well, was. He won’t be corrupting the dressing room anymore.

It was interesting to see those reactions pouring in right after the announcement. Everyone from Javagal Srinath to Kiran More suddenly remembered what a great player Sourav Ganguly was! The same Kiran More, whose only claim to fame during his playing days was that he successfully instigated Javed Miandad once. The same Kiran More, who had announced in public that Sourav would never be called back to the Indian squad when he was the chairman of the selectors. That’s okay. If there is no better candidate than More to head the selection panel, then it does give him a right to speak. But what one fails to understand is what did he have against Ganguly? And whatever he had, where and how did that disappear the moment Sourav announced his retirement?

To Sourav’s credit, he’s decided to be the one to put an end to all the humiliation that he definitely didn’t deserve and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect! By announcing his retirement before the series, he’s made sure that the selectors would pick him for the last two Tests against the Aussies (the current squad is only for the first two) and he has now successfully pushed the ball to others’ courts. The first Test is over and the highest run-getter for India in that Test was Sourav Ganguly. It’s anybody’s guess what exactly would the other ‘seniors’ be going through right now. More importantly, what are the selectors thinking now? Anil Kumble has announced that the Bangalore Test against the Aussies was his last at home. So, a premature skipper’s cap for Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Tests? And what would be the future middle-order? Rahul Dravid in spite of his technical brilliance doesn’t justify the wall tag anymore and it’s clear that Sachin Tendulkar only has personal goals in mind at this point in time. Next is England at home in December. Doesn’t sound threatening considering the opponents and the venues. But permanent solutions will have to be found shortly. The one who would be gearing up to answer all those whom he had to ignore for so long is of course Sourav Ganguly. And we all know that he can speak. More fun in store for the Indian cricket administrators! Both on and off the field.

Desperate Measure

In a desperate bid to find the seniors’ successors, the Indian selectors’ latest contributions to the big league are Virat Kohli and S Badrinath, both of whom made their ODI debut in Sri Lanka (August 2008). While an irregular opening slot was Kohli’s shield for his hard fought efforts until he scored a 50 in the fourth match of the Idea Cup, Badri’s unbeaten 27 in an Indian run chase of 143 was hailed as a laudable effort. The Tamil Nadu batsman followed that up with 6 and 6 in the next two matches.

If the Indian performance in the Idea Cup is anything to go by, serious speculation should be the order of the day. They have struggled every bit to get to a total of 143, they have been bowled out for 258 in 49.3 overs from 224 for 3 in 41 overs, a rookie leg spinner (Ajantha Mendis) has made them dance to his tunes (a feat Abdul Qadir and Shane Warne couldn’t even dream to achieve) and they not for once looked champion material.

The least the selectors and the officials could do to provide some direction to this young bunch is add a bit of experience to the squad. It’s far easier for Suresh Raina, a tremendous prospect for India in the future to play alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly than Virat Kohli and S Badrinath. And as is evident, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh would still take time before broadening their shoulders in crisis situations.

With Sehwag’s inclusion though, the Idea Cup squad seems a near perfect one. With three seniors (Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni) around, the combination of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa looks not only formidable but dangerous. But if any of the three is not available, what’s the point in looking for more replacements for them from the younger lot! There is still a legendary ODI batsman in Sourav Ganguly, who has not called it a day. Does Virat Kohli justify a call ahead of Ganguly in the team? Sri Lanka though on the other hand has groomed their younger cricketers (Chamara Kapugedera for example) but for once not at the cost of Sanath Jayasuriya, the old war horse.

To say that the Indian cricket administrators and logic do not go hand-in-hand would be nothing new. Their attitude towards the game sends a clear message that things could now be taken for granted. Whatever goes on, the broadcasters and sponsors are certain to get their money back from cricket and in turn, the BCCI is certain to get richer.

The fans are left alone in the hands of Kohli and Badri, none of whom could care less as both became IPL players even before their international debut. The reactions of Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, who desperately needs to learn the art of communication, though would be interesting once this anarchy sets up its promised date with failure.