View From The Outer Harbour By: Thalmann Pradeep Pereira
IT'S CHAPPELL OR CHAPPALS ! Indian Cricket is at a crossroads. It may be more appropriate to say that it is like a batsman stuck in the middle of the pitch while trying to sneak a run that was never there in the first place, even as the ball is already lodged securely in the wicket-keeper's gloves from a direct throw by the fielder at silly point. At this rate the third umpire will have nothing to do except press the Red Button and signal the next batsman in. Indeed if Pakistani cricket attained notoriety because its bowlers were more apt to get their man out through dubious LBW decisions by friendly umpires, Indian cricket attained notoriety because its bowlers would start bowling wides, no-balls and byes precisely when the opposing side desperately required all those extra runs to save their game. While Pakistan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (albeit by playing with thirteen players on the field), India became well known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! An Indian cricket victory is an exhilarating experience for millions of our cricket fans. But at the same time, the whole day becomes a tension-filled, nerve-racking wait for good news. Indeed whenever the Indian cricket team goes out to play, the one proverb which easily occurs to the mind is "There is many a slip between the cup and the lip". It is not that Indian fans cannot stomach a defeat or that they expect victory under all conditions. It is just that the Indian fans get disgusted when they see a match being literally thrown away by irresponsible batting or aimless bowling. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt pipe in with their pet theory as to whether it was batting or betting that was going on. Self-anointed experts will chip in with talk about in-form and out-of-form. Tarot-card specialists will talk about dark clouds with silver linings. But the "Aam Aadmi" knows that it is just plain indiscipline, selfishness and refusal to work as a team. It was in these circumstances that Greg Chappell got a rousing welcome when he landed in India to take up his new assignment as India's cricket coach. Chappell is known as a great player who had an iron discipline for himself and his team-mates both on and off the field. It was during his captaincy that Australian cricket began to turn around and become an almost invincible team. His credentials were and are exactly what is prescribed for the Indian cricket team for a positive turn-around. Indeed there have been times in the past when the Indian cricket team, after doing badly, was literally greeted with brickbats if not chappals. But some of our cricketers hardly seem to have learnt any lessons from their experiences. They are busier shooting for commercial advertisements than practising their skills. After all, they earn in millions from their one-minute appearance in a TV-ad and couldn't care less for the love and respect they earn from a good performance on the field. But in fact, thereby, they are only spitting into the plate which holds their food. There are disturbing reports that the previous Indian coach John Wright was being given bad words to his face by some Indian cricket players. Very disgusting, if true! But Chappell is nobody's fool. Australia under Chappell did not require to indulge in 'sledging' their opponents. It was their finesse in cricketing skills and their physical and mental toughness, all acquired through rigorous training, which saw them ascend to the pinnacle of glory. Faced with a virtual rebellion from some cricketers who have come to think that they are indispensable to the Indian team, the Cricket Board must firmly support Chappell's programme. Or else, we will only have a team of Paper Tigers who are eager to audition for more TV-commercials, but shy away from taking the field to play cricket under the excuse of being "injured". As it is, the Indian cricket team seems to be having more and more Non-Playing Members. The big question that will be answered, within the next few days, is whether the Board itself will get its act together for the greater good of the game, or whether the private selfish interests of the Board's members will result in totally ignoring the critical remarks put down by Chappell after the recent fiasco during India's just-concluded Zimbabwe tour. Till the next Monday, then, Happy Thinking! [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Harbour Times" (26-09-2005)