A billion aint coming for blue

I came back to the hostel around 10:30pm. I had a glance at the TV. The score read target 244. India 71 for 4. Normally you don’t find seating space in the TV room during cricket matches and big events like the soccer World cup. Things have been different off late. There were a few (about 6-10 people) glued to the chair in a 30 seating capacity room which would have otherwise been overflowing. It didn’t seem as if they were anticipating an Indian win. Indian cricket aficionados have stopped hoping for miracles ages back. It was as if finding some source of entertainment from the carnage that was going to follow. You can’t blame them. After all, that’s how we have been trained to believe in as belief comes from truth.

Port Elizabeth debacle has been a continuation of a series of defeats this year, right since the series defeat in West Indies earlier this year. Where have the men in blue lacking?? According to me the answer is simple. We have stopped believing in us. We have stopped believing we can win. The difference between teams like Australia or South Africa is that, they never give up at any stage of the match unlike India. If we compare this match, SA were more or less in the same position during their innings. There has been a complete change in the attitude of the Men in Blue. It doesn’t seem like fatigue as the other sides are playing more cricket then them. It cannot be lack of match practice as the composition of the side has been more or less the same. So the question arises that should it be attributed to plans and strategies gone haywire or maybe lack of accountability for the team to the masses??

If you see the composition of the current side, India does not have a regular opener. We have Sachin and Jaffer opening for India. The old pair of Sachin and Sehwag was not possible in this case as the later had to play at number 3 in the absence of the skipper. Call me a Bongo fanatic or whatever, India is lacking the experience of Saurav Ganguly. Moreover what baffles me is that, there are players of the likes of Dinesh Karthick who are playing ahead of him. Phenomenon like this can be associated only with India or Zimbabwe, as the later is being eaten by the racial unrest going on in the country. It’s a clear indication that Greg Chappell dominates the selection process. More over if you consider Chappell as a great strategist, you fail to understand that why Dhoni bats down the order when half the side has bundled up. He is a good hitter of the ball and I believe should be idle at number 3. Well whatever it might be, there is a great need of a revamp in the side.

I am happy to see that Ganguly and Laxman are back in the test Squad as the young blood theory seems to be direction less. Also what has been impetus is that Gautam Gambhir is back in the side. I have always considered him a great talent and potential. What is interesting is that Laxman has been declared the vice-captain of the side. A normal judgment could be that Viru is not in the best form so the move could be to take away some pressure of him. However, is the move directed towards taking him out of the management intentionally as Dada is back in the side. If we look into the history, Viru and Dada have been the best of pal but Dada and Laxman have not. These are just my judgment, however, I don’t intend to stretch them too much as like elastic, it might snap back at you. Whatever happens. Whoever plays. It would be heartening to see the Men in Blue back in the huddle. Go India!!