Ill-timed Hurricane

Indian Cricket seems to be attacked by hurricanes with alarming regularity. Most of them are related to selector-decisions. Sourav Ganguly was initially dropped from the ODI squad, much to no-ones surprise. He was then infiltrated into the Test Side much to everyone's shock. At that point, it seemed like a Dalmiya diktat more than a selectors decision. After that he performed well in the Tests. A regime change happened. Ganguly was abruptly dropped from the Test side. Fingers were pointed. Accusations were rife. Demonstrations happened in every nook and corner of India. Politics was seen playing an important role in the proceedings rather than Cricket. I deliberately refrained from writing my opinion at that sensitive period when things were happening and changing almost every 12 hours. Now the dust seems to have settled. Here is my opinion on all that happened:

The Test selection of Ganguly happened as a political decree. He played well in the tests and all credit to him for making an 'all-round' effort (batting and fielding only). But the selectors did not have Ganguly in the longer picture of Indian Test cricket. So they decided to axe him. It was a selector-decision and not a political one. However, the timing of the axe was awfully wrong. The manner of axe was dreadfully wrong. But the idea of axing was not that wrong. Ganguly has been a remarkable thing to have happened to Indian cricket and he needed a graceful exit than the haphazard one that he actually received. A great players exit has to be planned well. This was not done and the selectors have received a more-than-enough amount of flak for it. As for the central issue of all this ruckus - the removal of Ganguly, well it was on the cards. Ganguly, though showing a lot of commitment, is not the old devastating Ganguly anymore. Signs of an aging star, a burnt out cricketer are seen very markedly. Ganguly fans, of course, don't see them.

With the future tour of Pakistan in sight, the current Ganguly would be tormented by the bouncers/short-pitched deliveries from Akhtar, Hasan, Sami and Co. Also news about Pakistan preparing bouncy tracks for the Indian tour pouring in, the scene becomes even worse for Ganguly. So his removal, at least of the Pakistan tour, is justified. Having said that, this axing can also be a blessing in disguise for him. Ganguly can now go back to first-class cricket to hone himself for a possible stint against England later. If he thinks that he has a lot of Cricket left in him, he need not worry! He has the whole nation backing him in wake of the injustice meted out to him. That is a definite confidence booster.

Pondering in hindsight, the selectors should had waited for the Sri Lanka test series to be over before announcing Ganguly's removal. Their haste is where it all went wrong.

Refreshing Revamp

Indian cricket seems to be proceeding in the right direction. Administratively for a change. The new BCCI is shelling out fresh ideas which are not only sensible but will turn out to be lucrative as well. Sports merchandise is a globally accepted form of revenue generation world wide. Cricket - Indian cricket - has been shying away from it for no plausible reasons. I hope to be wearing a Dravid T-Shirt soon. Lets see how fast my wish comes true. The television rights issue also seems to be on the path to resolution. The approach has been to scrap the earlier tenders, born out of complex and controversial rules, and start with a clean slate. A BCCI official website is also being talked about. All in all it seems that a professional approach is in place. But its still the beginning. Well at least its that! Here is Harsha's analysis on the same in his usual lucid and intelligent way!

Venue Betrayal

Bad venue selection has deprived Chennai fans (and billion others on TV) of an ODI already. Now it threatens to rob them of a test match. All this because of lack of gumption shown by the former BCCI officials. In the much touted "rotation of venues" policy, simple norms of weather forecasts have been completely neglected. While the rotation policy makes sense, neglecting weather at the assigned venues makes none. Factors such as weather, distance from the venue of the previous match, distance of the airport from venue etc should be considered while finalizing venues. This would be in the best interests of the cricketers and fans. Hopefully the new BCCI takes these things into consideration in future. Here is Harsha Bhogle's latest cricket article.

Crisis Meltdown

So the Prince re-enters the arena. Amid political and ethical battles cricket had taken a backseat for sometime. Now cricket is the sharpest tool with Saurav Ganguly to prove his detractors (who are multiplying with each of his innings) wrong. As Ganguly turned up for practice with the Indian squad members for the testseries against SL in Chennai a crucial meltdown of the deadlock between himself and the coach Greg Chappel was observed. Cricket technicalities were the only things discussed between the two (and for heavens sake rightly so!). Lets hope Ganguly snatches the opportunity awarded to him with both hands and shows his mettle. And more importantly lets hope the first Chennai test is spared by nature and proceeds on schedule.