Strange Ways of Indian Cricket
Unlike a couple of other sports, cricket is not all about youthful exuberance. This is why a good cricket team can only be formed by a perfect blend of youth and experience.
- Unlike a couple of other sports, cricket is not all about
youthful exuberance. This is why a good cricket team can only be formed by a
perfect blend of youth and experience. But it seems that Team India is all set
to descend on the English shore this summer for a five-match test series with
an inexperienced team as its three seniormost cricketers have retired in quick
succession. If the board insiders are to be believed, all three cricketers had
decided to hang up their boots abruptly due to the highhandedness shown by the
present coach Gautam Gambhir, who got support from a couple of members of the
selection committee and board officials.
- Among the three cricketers, first to go was Ravichandran
Ashwin, a cricketer who stepped into Harbhajan Singh’s shoes with ease and led
the Indian bowling attack both abroad and home. Although Ashwin has not
revealed what prompted his exit from international cricket, it is known to all
that in the middle of the Australian tour he was categorically told by the team
management that his place was no longer secure in the team. An insulted Ashwin
then announced his retirement and left the Aussie coast midway through the
series, where not so long ago he helped India to win a test despite struggling
to stand straight due to an injury.
- After Ashwin, it was the turn of India’s world cup winning
captain Rohit Sharma, who was not in his usual self in the same Australian
series. Although his loss of form was one of the main reasons behind the team’s
poor show in the series, insiders alleged that the former Indian captain was
treated badly by the team management while he was searching for his form. He
was unceremoniously dropped from the team for the last test and was given
enough indications that his innings as an Indian cricketer was virtually over.
So, he had no other alternatives but to announce his retirement from test
cricket to avoid further humiliation of being dropped from the upcoming England
series.
- Finding himself on a similar ground, the best batter in the
post-Tendulkar era, Virat Kohli has also announced his retirement from the red
ball cricket without paying any heed to BCCI’s request to reconsider the
decision, which proves his value in the team. Such a situation could easily be
avoided if the persons managing the Indian cricket had shown some maturity in
understanding the game. For the sake of Indian cricket, it would have been
better if they had discarded senior players only after finding proper
replacements. The best way to inject new blood in any cricket team is to provide
the newcomers enough international exposure before handing over the national
cap. It is hard to understand why the board is in such a hurry to discard
players who have served Indian cricket with distinctions for years. Clearly,
this is not the way to treat the cricketing heroes, who have made India a
formidable force in international cricket. So, the board must review its policy
before naming the squad for the England tour.
