My thoughts on the latest crossfire

This entry is in retaliation to a mail from one of my friends who other than being a good friend is a highly emotional cricket fan...
Dada with due respect to what you have achieved so far in your cricketing career, here goes...

Let us go back to 1992...How did Saurav Ganguly come into the Indian team in the first place...His dad's best friend Jagmohan Dalmiya routes him into the Indian team...Was he qualified at that time to represent India and all is a question mark! Ok we can forget all that for the brilliant victories he has brought us, in say the Natwest or Australia series of 2001 etc etc

In India we always idolise our stars so much that it is very difficult for us to let go of them even if they are not performing...If we dont wake up now, by the time it is 2007, even Bangladesh might put in a better show than us. For records, Damien Martyn was Australia's star player for Australia's India and the Pakistan series...he averaged more than 55 in the last 15 test matches he played(includig Ashes)...but they dropped him coz he didnt do well in the Ashes...Thats how Australian selectors think.

Now everyone knows abt Saurav Ganguly's fitness and fielding capacities...he is not batting as he used to do 2 years back...lets not talk abt his bowling for the time being. Now if anyone thinks he is going to last till 2007 world cup, I guess its optimism of the highest order...

Imagine a scenario without that leaked email....what do we have in the public domain

1.Saurav Ganguly was asked to reconsider his Captaincy by Greg Chappel...which is valid given the point that he is not performing.
2.Half the nation thinks he does not deserve to be in the team

Now if it hadnt been for the BCCI( as in if they had not leaked the email), if Ganguly was asked to leave capatincy, all this issue would have been settled without any fuss. Now if Jagmohan Dalmiya adds a senti angle to the story then sentimental people will only fall for it.

And most important of all my personal opinion is Cricket is NOT a Team game at all...It is ONE batsman against ONE bowler....Unlike football,where you have a team coordination in the entire 90 minutes of play. Say, if the defender is not playing well, you replace him with another...you move on...So it becomes important in cricket that the Captain needs to demand individual performance from his players...The players need to be motivated themselves...Now if our own Captain is scared of fast bowlers,cant play the rising ball, what will he ask a Kaif/Yuvraj of getting out to a rising delivery...

Having said this we Indians also have this habit of thinking great of guys who have done well in the past...Greg Chappel was a great cricketer neednt necessarily mean that he is a great coach too...his 4 yr stint in Australia was pathetic

The important thing is we are losing out on cricketers like Dinesh Mongia, Hemang Badani and I dunno who all...who could have come and represented India. maybe we can prevent another Robin Singh from losing his career.