Friday, May 24, 2013

Hurt and humiliated

Ajay Rana analyses the sorrow and despair of the Indian cricket fan as a star-studded team turns lambs at home

Sachin TendulkarIndian cricket is writhing in pain. It has been beaten and bruised. The so-called tigers at home are being humiliated and their millions of fans are deeply hurt. Diehard fans of Indian cricket are worried because their team is surrendering very tamely. Zillions of Indian cricket fans are frustrated because their heroes are not showing the mettle that they have been known for, at least in home conditions.
The top half of the batting order is looking shaky and the tail is not wagging at all. Spinners who hardly spin the ball are always in the limelight. Pacemen who could hardly beat a batsman's defence are not at all in a hurry to work on their bolwing technique. Above all, the super boss of Indian cricket, Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), is not at all worried with the steady decline in performance.

The administration has found a new stock market in Indian Premier League (IPL) and they are pretty satisfied with the ever increasing revenue of IPL. N Srinivasan and company seem satisfied with the four hours of nonsensical drama. They have hardly any time to discuss India's future in test cricket.
Diehard fans have been cornered and they are feeling dejected. The anguish of Indian fans was well addressed by former India captain Rahul Dravid when he took part in the latest 'BBC Test Match Special'.

“A lot of people are upset not just by losing but the manner of the defeats. India won three tosses and had the wicket in their favour in Mumbai and the best of the batting conditions here in Kolkata but they just haven't been able to capitalise or put up a fight,” said Dravid.
After the disappointing loss at Kolkata the selection committee led by Sandeep Patil pushed Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan out of the Indian squad. It doesn't require a great cricketing skill to understand that these changes were just cosmetic and some of the players have been made scapegoats.

The matter was duly raised by former India captain Sunil Gavasker as well. In the series the biggest culprit were those players who threw their wicket after settling down well in the middle. But these issues were either overlooked or selection committee was told just to ignore this.
The fans feel ignored because the Indian cricket administration has always preferred to protect their own interests instead of protecting the interests of Indian cricket. What is required for Indian cricket has never been their priority. When former India selector Mohinder Amarnath started spilling the beans the administration tried to refute all the allegations. But he has already opened a can of worms.

It is an open secret in Indian cricket that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who once had the Midas touch, has lost all his magic and the captain of the Indian cricket team is just trying to shield his place and position. Why is Sachin still playing Tests? Who will ask Dhoni to step down? Why has India only one opening pair which fails every time? Has Indian cricket (especially the Test team) slumped to an unexpected low? Instead of getting any positive solution the fans get frustrated to read an important point raised by Rahul Dravid, “People talk about attitude and say (the players) don't care because there is too much money in the Indian Premier League. That's one side of things but the main thing is their lack of skill and ability, which is more worrying for me. It raises questions as to the talent and quality of players coming through.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA