Thanks to Guru Greg! Rahul! Kiran More! Manya Shri Sharad Pawar ji & a bit late to join the party, Vengsarkar ji !!


No surprise at all!! Just go back to the archives ! Try and recollect what all of us have been screaming, sulking, hollering and crabbing all these days. We did anticipate this downfall... we did caution this diminution... we did communicate this calumny... we never got carried away by all this brouhaha...we won plenty of enemies... we earned ignominous malediction.

And here we are. The bubble burst... experiments are back-firing... groomed youngsters are now poaching... suave leader flunking... Guru Greg is gasping... where are you Mr. Kiran More? Thank you very much...

All said and done. I will not talk any more on what went wrong. We all know that few shameless species of Indian cricket have materialized their personal agenda at the cost of our emotions, demolished our self respect against their veins. But what kinda embracing to my woes is “are these men not ashamed?? Are they not god-feared? Do they not have an infinitesimal respect for the nation?? An atom like to accountability to this blue billion for who cricket goes beyond the blood, nerves, life, fun and daily bred butter...

If at all these extroverted, insane, unblushing and braindead blighters ever bothered to do a paltry piece of introspection at this dire hour. This time, for a change, keeping, the nation, game and profession on top of their favors, prefers and senile they wouldn't have made yet another ludicrous decision by sending this kooky and whacky VVS Laman to South Africa.

It's clearly evident, that Guru Greg has sullied the basic doctrines of Indian cricket those kept us alive and active in the game since ages!! And we just got an enlightenment of the basics of cricket, which preaches us to reinstate the experience when the stage is all set for the virtual obituary of our heroes, the multi billion brands, at overseas bouncy tracks. As always, when it comes to experience, two names pop-up in our mind-- Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. But what intriguing here is the how and why the later become an obvious choice compared to the former??

1) Sourav is a proven one-day performer. Tons of runs, load of records and innumerous match wining performances will add up to it. Of course, excellent batting record against South Africa in South Africa is an astonishing credential to his profile. Almost certainly, no contemporary cricket lover would ever like to compare VVS with Sourav at least in the ODI format.

2) Sourav got 10, 123 runs in 279 ODI with 40.65 average including 22 centuries and 60 half-centuries at a strike rate of 73.79. VVS got 2338 runs in 82 innings, with an average of 31.17 including 6 centuries and 10 half-centuries at a strike rate of 71.26.

Now tell me, in who is superior here, in terms of, a) Number of runs scored b) experience c) Number of centuries d) half centuries e) strike rate f) bating average

3) Here are the statistics of Sourav performance against South Africa in South Africa-- 9 matches, 9 innings, 1 century, 2 half centuries, 391 runs at an average of 43.44 (In fact, it's one of the best performance by an Indian player in SA).Where as VVS played ONLY one match, faced 10 balls, scoring FIVE runs before getting caught by Ntini in the bowling of Lance Klusenar.

4) Sourav has played 7 ODIs on Indian Soil Vs South Africa where he scored 370 runs with one century and 3 half centuries with an excellent average of 61.67, where as VVS has NEVER FACED A BALL IN INDIAN SOIL FROM ANY SOUTH AFRICAN BOWLER YET.

5) All of us know Sourav can bowl a bit and could be very handy in South African conditions where pitches relentlessly exercise seem and pace. His gentle medium pace bowling can definitely compliment the pace and spin bowling tracks and brings more options and variety to our bowling attack... We all know where VVS stands when it comes to adding value to the team as a bowler.

6) Lets consider their recent form before Guru Greg has written them off! Sourav played 44 matches and scored 1156 runs where as VVS played 27 matches and scored 866 runs in their last two years of international cricket that is in 2004 & 2005

7) Let’s compare the performance of both in the recent the domestic season...

a) Sourav played 3 innings in 2 matches and scored 159 runs with one century and an average of 53.00 in Duleep trophy, where as VVS has played 4 innings in 2 matches scored 113 runs with a petty average of 28.25
b) Sourav has played and tried to prove his form & fitness, with a little or no success in the Challengers Trophy 06-07 where as VVS pulled himself out of it with a hamstring Injury.
c) Consider other series’ we never miss out to understand that none of them had outplayed the other.

8) Team India now desperately lacking a good opening partnership. Having tried many combinations with Wasim, Rahul, Sehwag, Gambhir with Sachin, no wonder to say that Sourav’s Left handed bat would be a perfect fit to the bill. Which would not only be a most appropriate opening partner combination for Sachin, which also can take on the pace bowlers in the first 15 overs? Of course, both of them share the laurels for being the best opening pair for India.

9) Laxman apparently agreed in an interview that he is not a correct fit into the scheme of things for ODIs in Team India as far as the dynamic fast changing game demands are concerned.

10) While, these simple and little facts raising apprehensions about VVS Laxman's fitment measures for the ODI side & tackling the African challenges, one can never decipher the OBVIOUS reason for his selection overriding the most treacherous and prolific batsman of One cricket ever, Sourav Ganguly. If we have any heartfelt graceful for Sourav, lets feel sorry for him... “He is the master of this format of the game and he is not being allowed to take part in the game ... Just because of PETTY POLITICS”...

Now think -- Do we still need to see some more evidences to understand this tricky, wily and knavish treatment of BCCI towards certain players? Do they not have any selfish motives and obsessions behind this?? All this is happening for team benefit?? Is this a way to protect the values and beliefs of the one (blue) billions cricket buffets?? Do we still believe that cricket is a team game?? Should we still respect our think-tank as immaculate honkies of all time?? Should we still stake our blood, nerves, and lives to stand-up and cheer-up this bunch of vicious and venomous thickos ?? Think again ……………..

And above all!!! SHOULD WE STILL CALL IT CRICKET???????

:::::::::: Srikrishna Chintalapati

Well done India, Tough luck Lara. All in the midst of this prideful triumphant I might sound a little too much like a spoiled sport. For all you flying on high on the sense of relief having seen the abysses of one-day series, it may not be preferable to read further.

Just to summarize, an outing of 45 days, a bunch of experiments, followed by a humiliating loss. Then comes the realization, filling the gaps by reinstating the experience, unreasonable tantrums, and unexplained outlines. All putting together first win in 35 years, first major series win in 2 decades, and first win after 1971 and Anil Kumble is 35 years old. However, we did it again. Right from the moment the luckiest captain of India won yet an other important toss, which at that moment sounded more soothing than hearing that Wayne Rooney and Beckham collectively warming the benches, somewhere away from the action.

Let me recall an extremely wispy and shadowy reminiscence, which I was mush obliged to capture from an ubiquitous media coverage quite some time ago, Sunil gavaskar was celestially motivating the boys as his voice resembling an irradiate emerging slowly and invariantly through window of wisdom saying “guys, you gottto win this time, if you can not win this time, you can never win again”. Not sure how many have seen this, but, I believe this has made an impeccable impact on the way the series was carried on. You may not need a degree in statistics, perhaps, to decode this. 15 best bets grappling up with the phoxinuses of the world cricket at the moment, who were comprehensively bereaved at all walks of the game. And foretelling becomes much easier and glamorous than rapid fire round of ‘Coffee with Karan’.

All this is fine, what seriously perplexed me was what made this victory special and followed by the overly tawdry jubilance going around. Being affiliated with a bunch of statistics like first victory after 35 years, first victory after 1971 first major series win away from the sub-continent after 20 years, one wicket away at Antigua, 3 wickets away St Lucia, his 100 has made difference, his 200 has done all the trick and this and that……

Is that so?? Is this a major achievement?? A great series win?? A flamboyant performance ever?? A fantastic display of cricket?? Excellency personified?? And all we have in our team are heroes??

Those all says, why not!! Your option is still open. For rest, I would say, “it is an unpardonable disparity virtuoso”. Ask me why???

Do all remember the clean sweep in Zimbabwe about an year ago? A series that has unearthed the nastiest episodes ever in any professional environ. A series in which a couple of forgotten men of Indian cricket have tried their last bit of luck to make an impact. A victory that has been overshadowed by the discombobulating aftermaths. A fugitive rejoice that was assassinated by inexorable statistics egressed as it was up against perceptibly forsaken underdogs at no-8 of the world cricket. And those who got themselves fabricated to the most southernmost parts of the ranking tables for more than a decade. Yes, agreed, the win deserves nothing not even a momentary recapitulation at this delirious hour, at least.

One year has passed since, and now we have cleverer think tank ever. A most formidable leader who not only 'performs' but also ‘wins tosses’ and ‘LBW appeals’, when needed. A more aggressive coach, who experiments more than Albert Einstein. A more conducive environment where anything against it, can be handsomely made as a history. An infrangible supply chain that starts right from Baroda and leads to Australia and takes a U turn from Australia and finishes right in front of the gate of Indian Cricket team. Most magnificent strategies those can encompass ‘remarkable underarm’ to ‘over the wicket’. And exceptionally lucrative yearly contacts those can at least help them not hang-on for the sake of finances tomorrow, if the need be.

But what kinda gravelling me unfathomably is why at all this ballyhoo has boiled down only to a wacky 49 run victory against a team that is scrambling pathetically for the survival of the game in it’s own country. A team, which is unceremoniously beaten up by almost all tidy cricket-playing nations of late. A side, which is so precariously bankrupted as it cannot provide full-time contacts to their own team members. A team, which is ruthlessly ruled out of any home advantage to be given. A team that is cowering miserably at petty number 7 in ICC cricket rankings. A team, which is just one rank ahead of the most depleted Zimbabweans, whom, we, of course, gives a damn of the dead at any given point of time. I repeat, Just ONE RANK AHEAD of Zimbabweans, crushing whom, credits nothing.

And finally, here we are. The experiments, so called suave leadership, tons of remunerations, merciless selection policies, utterly exaggerated 'scheme of things', diligently built brand identities, retrospectively composed media statements and intriguingly auditioned team compositions have finally earned us a goofy 49 runs victory, for which we should be very grateful and obliged and gotto be loyal to the captain and rest of the team for at least a couple of series’ to come. These simple statistics, elementary analysis helps us understand that all this extremely apocalyptic when compared what they achieved without all this brouhaha. Period.

And of course, there are more to be added to this befuddlement? No one knows a reason why the windies selection squad has ignored Lara's pleas to select one genuine fast bowler? Why the home advantage was completely ignored at the crucial parts of the series? Why did they drop Dave Mahammod and made them handicapped of one genuine spinner in the team?? Why there were 5 LBWs in the Windies second innings?? Why Pedro Collins was given a chance almost after one year of no international appearance?? Why Fidel Edwards was completely forced out of series, when it was just a minute hamstring strain?? Why at all the vitriolic Antics of young Sreeshanth were continued to be ignored???

And there are few more surprises. Remember blaming the lack of experience when team was consistently outplayed. Observe this, half of the team members deployed in the game for India on any given day were with more than 100 ODIs and 50 tests experience individually. On the contrary, half of the West Indian team members capped on any given day have not even played as many matches as equal to the age of youngest Indian lad capped in the same match.

May be a good time for us to recollect the famous quote of Navajot Sidhu “Statistics are like bikinis… what they reveal is suggestive, what they hide is essential”. While, our heroes are very busy signing new ads, building new brands and making new friends, numbers will do the talking here.

And finally, here is a much-deserved “short cut to fame”, just win the first game and the last game of a month and a half series. You are made as a celebrity by fire.

And all we have in our team are heroes!!!

Well, here is a story that no one wants to read. No one wants to think over. Something, that has passed its sell by date. Something that cannot make any difference. Something that is as normal as normal can be. On top of it, if ever there has been a wrong time for any author to bring out his/her story, I would say, this is it.

The fact is, nobody wants to look back and brood over the events that have seduced him or her to poke into. This is a time the team India flying high on the wings of success. The ostensibly panoptic white washes of debased opponents, have earned a virtual cloud-9 for our cricketing barons. All is well with our Captain, people are with him today, and he has been cuddled by the luck factor as tightly as a piece of wood glued by Fevicol. Strategies succeeded, experiments worked out, versatilities exposed, efforts are applauded and in a nutshell, did everything right. Yes, everything indeed. Apart from all that which is, said read and tattled, this 'everything' encompasses a couple of unnoticed Melodramas,.... read on ..

The origin of this story refers to an incident that caught in middle of Lahore cricket ground a couple of months back on the dawn of opening test match between India and Pakistan, the much speculated animated discussion between current captain, Former and the coach.

In fact, none of us know what has happened there. Inevitably, the incident has occupied the headlines of all newspapers across the India the next day. Some of them stated that the former is willing to open but captain says NO. And rest of them sulked that the former is unwilling to open, while captain says DO.

There were entirely different versions of the issue. But for a normal cricket lover, the dilemma bequeaths only with two options. Yes or No, Willing or Unwilling, protect or desert. For now, lets not drudge the unknown, lets limit our imagination only up to observing how it was portrayed.

It was evidently testified that the former is not agreeing to something, which was enforced to him, thus proving himself as a bad boy again. And the explicit implications of this depiction are 1) It reinforces the ever conflagrating glitches of his attitude. 2) It successfully helps him win several more haters around. 3) It provides the beholders enough room to speculate. 4) It helps the rainmakers of the game to cook-up a beautiful story and ebb his advancement forever. Yes, the plot has paid its dividend, we have seen an irrepressible out loud clamor the next day. The first part of the gizmo has been impeccably executed.

Now lets come to what actually happened there. If we were to believe, the news and respected Rajbhai- It was an issue of who has to open. While both the former and the current captain were more than keen to fill-up the slot. The day-3 of the same test gave us the answer with captain padded-up as the opener. And the point to be noted here is "despite all the heat it generated, the captain had the final say and everything went according to his own conviction. Only difference is, during the due course of action, the former was left with an irrecoverable tag of being complicated. And it is to be noted, that all this melodrama has nothing to do with the game plan as it was predefined. Then why at all this entire circus?........... Here it comes the second part of the maneuver, which was again immaculately executed.

The logic behind this move was explained to us like the below. The captain did not want to make the former a scapegoat. This invokes one clear, just one clear strike at the bull’s eye? Who are we dealing with; "professional talent" or "school boys?” On the contrary, a small but sensible piece of hunch has been lingering at the back of my mind for a long time that-" was the skipper apprehensive of 'former being succeeded at the opening slot and earn a permanent place in the team; as opening slot in the test team was always being debatable. For all practical possibilities, incase the former has been successful as an opener, the question of where to accommodate him would never arise again.

At the outset, the entire scenario and its consequences have left a couple of questions unanswered;

1) Why do they need to have this discussion in front of the camera, in the middle of the ground, that to, knowing that the former is a media ICON now and his every moment will be tracked? Being in the drivers seat, what on the earth stopped the captain or the coach to pause the debate right at the moment and continue offline.
2) To which degree it deviates from "exposing the dressing room issues in front of the media?” Is this not an explicit attempt to give enough idea of whats happening behind the screen to all game spectators? Even if partly- Yes, what’s the penalty for the people who involved in that?
3) Mr. Skipper, who are you decide what the former has to get out of his life? It seems you are more worried about the world that says that ‘you made a scapegoat of the former’, rather than the game plan.
4) Why don't the team management treats the former like all other in the team? Why always there is a conflict and associated ambiguity around his role?
5) Just like all the others, why can't you communicate the former's specific role and responsibility in the game in advance? Why do you need to wait till the nick of the moment? Don't you think that this creates a severe sense of insecurity that in turn affects the moral of the former? Is this a fair treatment?
6) Who should be held responsible for the brassy outcry resulted against the former without knowing the he has been methodically trapped into a venous plot that has only one mission of demolishing him.

I don't think that a tired but outworn appeal from a non-entity like me would make any significance. When you are swayed gently to a cool but strong pre-monsoon zephyr, you never like to recall the scorching summer that irritated earlier. Identically, when the team is winning and the winning has been consistent, no one likes to bother about a piece of incident that deserves to be ranted. Convincingly, we all have mastered the art of MOVING ON with our lives.

And that how I would like to end this incomplete story- that NO ONE WANTS TO READ.

The message from Gandhian legacy, and the famous turn-the-other-cheek attitude seems to have penetrated to somewhat more than expected abysms of modern day cricket in India. His most respected ethos of ‘showing passive resistance to injustice’ has been successfully put down as now days, our spirits are impounded by fatigue and the aversion towards the undecipherable. The ethereal doctrine that enkindled energy and vigor into our souls has been broadly manipulated and transformed to the other way round, as we are relentlessly motivated at every walk of our life to LET OFF and Move on. This piece of work is just to recollect a couple of such incidents that makes you nod your head in acceptance.

1) John Wright worked with the team India as a coach for a significant period of time. It was conflux of successes and setbacks right across his tenure. He commands the heaviest share of respect from the entire country for sailing the team India successfully out of the turmoil waters of match fixing to opulent display in the world cup 2003 and up to the historical 2004 series against Australia. All is fine until he muttered something like this at the fag end of his tenure- "some senior players of the side have misbehaved with me". Except a couple of unheard jabberings from few former cricketers, none of us bothered to know who are they?

Who ever they were…. we successfully LET-them-OFF.

2) The new coach- literally with ZERO credentials apart from the hubbub about the wretched under-arm caper, done absolutely nothing great as a couch so far, accompanying the team for a petty less than a month, alleged the Most Successful Captain of India as "Mentally and Physically unfit to lead", with a surprising resemblance to a veridical perception that "If you wanna kill a dog-call it mad".

For whatsoever reasons we chillingly LET-him-OFF.

3) To discus these foggy allegations, a committee comprising six former cricketers, those believed to be the well-wishers of Indian cricket was constituted, and the issues were duly discussed. At the end of the day, we learnt that the coach has amorally lied and the many of the allegations were far from truth. Hence proving the nefariousness of the senior member of the side who, on the other hand, conjectured to posses the high integrity levels. Exactly a day down the line, the same guy was busy coaching our chaps for the forth-coming champions trophy- leaving us baffled about who was wrong? Who was the culprit? Six-member panel? The coach? The captain? Or, the board it self?

Whoever might be the culprit ... we blindly LET-them-OFF.

4) And here is the most boisterous event- "The Finger Gesture".
Some body said Chappell shown the finger to the whole India. Other lad prompted that he has shown the finger only to Kolkata. Another guy stood-up and said he has pointed the finger only at those, who making ruckus. One Media vehicle enounced that Chappell said, "yes I did." Another one insinuated that he "vehemently denied". BCCI media manager said, "He was attending to his injured finger". Charu Sharma said, “there is a provocation”, Kirti Azad said, “it is unbecoming to his stature". Hearing all these, Sharad Pawar said, “It’s insignificant”. And that’s the end ... No one knows what does he mean by this act???

Whatever he might have meant... we ignorantly LET-him-OFF

5) Saurav Ganguly was ousted from the team that playing Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad test. The reason explained as young lads were given preference. No team member was even bothered to say BYE to Saurav. Rahul Dravid come-up with a celestial and scornful grin to say, " that's the way cricket is". Though, this move justifies neither the performance measures, nor the winning combination logic.
And far off, what hindered the rest of the team to at least to say BYE to him? Is this the way to treat a senior member of the side, who successfully lead the team for almost 5 years? Youngsters those coiffed under him lacked even an atomlike courtesy? Or otherwise, does any one in the team asked them not to? On the contrary, was his inclusion such an awful move that demoralized the team? What has he done so badly to deserve all that? Don’t you think we owe the answers?

Whatever might have triggered this… we, of course, reluctantly LET-that-OFF.

6) An utterly preposterous cyclorama in the Gadaffi stadium. A lamentable documentary of a most frolicking event ever in the Indian cricket. An invigorated showdown of three ikons, former, skipper and the coach. Some one wants to open, another one doesn't want to be bullied by the world and the third doesn’t like to dilute the game plan and this and that…As usual, we were so much prized and privileged to receive yet another sluggish explanation, “we were talking about cricket”!!!! Thank god for not talking about union budget-2006. Pranks aside- actually no one knows what was that for?
Through, one thing is clear, there was a disagreement, which is not good for the game and not good for the team ...what was that????

Whatever might have been the basis of disagreement...... we uninterestingly LET-that-OFF

7) One fine day, we all learnt something new about Saurav Ganguly, in spite of knowing him for almost 10 years or so. That he was hanging on to the captaincy for the sake of finances. Thanks to "The Guardian". Though, making such scandalous avowals against any specific member of a side is clearly offensive and deserves a stern penalization....

Whatever it might have deserved.... we mercifully LET-him-OFF

8) John Wright was consulted twice for a couple of issues post his tenure with team India. One, when the leaked e-mail states that Saurav's vicious ism of divide & rule was allowed in his regime and the second time when, Raj Singh Dungarpur, reportedly commented that Saurav is Lazy and he had had repeated pleas to get him out of the team. Both the times, the former coach declined the allegations against Saurav. But, one doubt remained unsolved- if Saurav is Mr. clean then why are these allegations? If he is not, then why are these denials? It's evident that some one among this ‘league of extraordinary gentlemen’ was lying....

Whoever might be the liar.... we handsomely LET-him-OFF.

9) Just ahead of the April Fools day, there was a news item that has practically proved us- It’s need not only be April 1st to make us fools, any day is OK. Inevitably, that has created waves across India. Yes, I am referring to “The depraved business nexus between the selector and coach”. To place it more prominently, ‘a mutually beneficial, clandestine, reprobate and lucrative business nexus between two most responsible pros of Indian cricket.

One guy went one step ahead in the production line to pick the boys whom he wants to be coached and the other went one step back in the production line to coach the boys whom he wants to play. Altogether, the syndicate formed “end-to-end solutions” for the place in team India.

The question here is, was this not unethical and immoral? Why the public kept unaware of this unless there was an investigation? Why was this not revealed to BCCI earlier? Does this justify the roles they play? Can we believe that this relationship got nothing to do with Saurav’s saga?

Whatsoever the arguments were… we comfortably Let-them-OFF

10) Sometimes, I feel my self hounded by a bunch of high-sounding words ...Experimentation, Grooming Youngsters, Flexibility in the batting order, Fitting into the scheme of things, making better use of power play, stroke makers, game finishers ... blah blah blah ...and surprisingly, and not so surprisingly, all this tumult will finally links up to the WORLD CUP 2007. In the last 6 months, we have heard these sentences some thousand and odd times through Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid. It’s really good to see that our team has a clear vision for a major tournament coming up.

And boy!!! How many of you believe that we can win the world cup-2007? You think all these brouhaha could pay the dividends? Can these multi billion commercials deals, immensely lucrative yearly contracts be justified? All these experiments work at all times? The strategies can be succeeded on any circumstances??? Can everyday become a Sunday???

What if not?? What if we cannot win the world cup 2007? Can they rebuild the careers of those whom they are destroying today, under the tag of building a team for world cup 2007? Can they wipe-off those allegations, which they thrown against few players, who are otherwise, believed to be the pride of India? Can these accusations allow our children to flaunt about Indian cricket in future? Where do we see Saurav Ganguly then? What should Rahul Dravid do? Where should Greg Chappell go? What happens to Kiran More?

The Answer is Simple ……………

We will ……….. happily…merrily … joyfully….. LET-them-OFF.