okay. we r out..now what?

After the disgraceful showdown in the carribean, the Indian cricket team is expecting a red hot welcome at home. Already the rituals of eiffigy burning and sandal garlanding of the players are over and when the team lands in the peninsula, improvement is unlikely. With a perfectly professional victory of Bangladesh over Bermuda, the next time the men in blue get to wear the world cup jersey is at least four years away. Among the fierce lash outs of people at various ‘levels’ there is the talk of replacing the captain and the coach. Some have gone far enough to call for the change of the whole team, spare few new ones. I personally know someone who demanded that the BCCI should send a bunch of first class cricketers, reasoning that we don’t have to have all the fuss about the results then. Out of frustration, most of ‘must do’s’ that have emerged are simply the knee-jerk reactions. As a captain, all dravid could do was watch, as his team mates, one after the other, walked in and walked out as he piled up some respectful runs on the fateful day against the islanders. And no coach can play for you, not even an Australian.

Not many seem to realize that the problem is in the foundation. Indian cricket in domestic level is one of the worst in comparison to any test playing nation. The national pool of talent is not the one that lacks skills, but the competition and motivation. Most domestic cricketers play part-time and the wages for the game they play are not even sufficient to get a BDM kit. Political corruption starts at the ground level and is a hanging garden at the BCCI headquarters. The grounds are simply dust beds and don’t really bring smiles to bowlers. Being the richest cricket association in the cricket world, BCCI is not even close to being a well managed bunch. To make things right, we have to fix our way up. State-wise and zone-wise games must be made more competitive and remunerations must match the local price levels. Overall fitness and performance levels of the players must be standardized and above all the one should not be picked for having ‘second cousin to the sister of selection committee member’ reasons. Youngsters must be given more opportunities to prove, while ones already there should be made to realize that being in the team is not a privilege but a chance to prove and constantly improve. Some may ask is it possible to do it India...well, we have four years to prove it is. And as far as the current team is concerned, leave them alone for sometime. They have had some bad times now. Let them get some sleep.

All in the game!!...but why always my team???

Today Indian cricket team lost to srilanka in a do-or-die match in the world cup tournament. Since they have already gone through the humiliation of losing to Bangladesh, which is comparable to any minnow of this season, the loss against the lankans pretty much puts the team I back, out of the next level. In a country filled with cricket fanatics, where loss of game resulting in rioting, burning effigies and other stuff that are commonly considered outside the realm of civilization this loss certainly would put a lot of fear in the players' minds. As a fan I am, undoubtedly, disappointed and to some extent frustrated by the team's performance in a pressure situation. It’s been a dream for the whole population of India to see in live TV, an Indian cricket captain holding the prestigious World cup trophy, which happened once in 1984. It was a long time ago and the range of generation that wants to relive it is growing impatient. As long as I can remember, I have been a cricket fan. I recall the days, when I was awake all night to watch the sachin destroying super fast bowlers, ganguly lofting spinners put of the park , dravid effortlessly piling up runs with absolute finesse, sehwag with his blistering knock, yuvraj stamping his authority and now they are just memories. India hasn’t been playing to the hype its being surrounded and the investment made that’s been made on it. I am not jealous about the money they make by playing cricket, but when I see the advertisement where sachin drinks his Pepsi, shown just after he is dismissed in the real game certainly make me sick to the stomach. The next batsman comes to the center gets himself out and the rest of the team pretty much does the same. Every team has bad days, bad season or bad luck but why my team does has them every time they had their back towards the wall. So much is in for debate, like the team picked, toss decision, or the whole squad for the tournament. I believe that the current squad is as good as any team that can ever be picked. Simply the class and experience that this team contains can be hardly matched. For the most part, India seems to carry the tag “best team on paper”. This is repeatedly proved by performances such as the one against the lankans or the one against Bangladesh. I wish I can see the little teenager from Mumbai who destroyed bowlers, when he had no obligation towards Pepsi. I wish I can enjoy the left hander from Bengal, who with his sweet timing pierced any field setting, before he ever signed up for coca cola. And how about the left arm medium pacer who took a hatrick against Pakistan in their home, well he is with servo ltd now. I guess they will all be just memories. As a fan, I have compromised and settled with my expectations. I don’t expect my team to win every match that they play, but when it comes to the games in level grounds, I at least expect a honorable fight, let alone winning them. Statistic gurus say mathematically, if Bermuda defeats Bangladesh, then India has a chance at the next stage. But personally I believe that we don’t belong there. We certainly don’t deserve to be in the next level. I should say that the Bangladeshis did a great a job and there is nothing wrong with them progressing. I sincerely hope that there is no violent repercussions back home and no body gets physically injured or insulted. I think the players feel humiliated about their performance. All said and done, it’s just a game and someone’s gotta loose. It’s just hard to digest that it’s my team….well as all losers say, ITS ALL IN THE GAME.

Apparently the concept of writing a diary to make sure your mind lets out what it cannot hold for long is too hard a task for me to keep it within the list of things i usually do. i tried a modified diary, one that holds ideas of my mind as i collect them, a simple word document, but simply there wasnt enough things that i can load into it in a single duration of time. Being in 200x and not being online is closely comaprable to not following the process of inhale-exhale cycle. So here it is, the slate that is universally available for viewing and commenting and yet, as long as you dont remove it, no force on earth, other than the immortal powers of the Server manager can destroy ur inscriptions. I am not sure how often i am going to load the scribblings of my mind here, but as often my mind wants a breather, it will be here. This should be fun considering the fact that a blog cannot be, in any humanly structured way, subject to violation of,well, anything. Comments are as welcome as they can be, irrespective of ur age, religion and what not.
So it starts......