The Game

We have discussed this - from Lancaster to Calcutta. In the skies and on underground trains. We have seen it being played on the tele. We have read it on the papers. And when you are just too tired to contribute, you have even heard someone else taking sides.

The Sourav Ganguly issue. A bit dated now to write a post but I think its the most opportune moment for it. Not because India was crushed but because the initial euphoria may give way for reason now.

There's nothing more heroic than suceeding in your own terms. And if you do by changing the old guard and make it look like a new beginning, then you are almost demi god. So why blame Chappell? He is after all as much a human being in flesh and blood as anyone else. He has his aspirations too. The only contention maybe that when you have achieved that much which the cricketer Chappell has achieved, you would expect that he can rise above petty selfish aspirations that pervade us, the lesser mortals.

And the flip side of all the glory that the above can bring is that when u slip and fall you look like a novice. Like the Indian team looks now. Its not the margin of the defeat, but the clueless look in the face of the Indians which is cause for concern. Agreed they have had some good runs in the sub-continent but how far is that a result of clever strategic thinking can be contested. Simply because there was no method in the ways of our winning. We in the subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka ) have always releid on raw talent to win us matches. Individual brilliances on a day can make India look like a world-beater. Whether it is a Dhoni or Pathan or Yuvaraj,India had recently found some new heroes. And how is it different from an earlier era when we went bonkers about Sachin, Ganguly, Sehwag. Where is the clinical precision that an Australian team possess that enables them to win matches consistently ? Then what difference are we talking about?

It is precisely this reason, which I feel, has led to the success of the Indian team in the one day version than in the Tests. Because in the one dayers its the hero of the day who will carry you through. And in India we never have had any dearth of raw talent. Even then, today's match winners are not exactly Chappel's discoveries. Even today, India wins when Sehwag fires, Dravid scores, Yuvaraj finishes, Dhoni straddles, Pathan swings. Wasn't this the same nucleus that Ganguly built over the years. So what's the difference? Chappel talks of new blood. Kiran More plays ball. And there is blood shed on the Indian cricket field. For someone has to die to uphold Chappel's aspirations. Its not the cause of the youth which he is championing - its the lure of being aclaimed as a demi-god in a country where hero worship is still a favoutite pastime. Only he played it wrong. And the slide may have just begun. The game is over.