Dead End - All Over

Is it the end of the road for one of the finest leaders India has produced in sport?

Many would believe so, so do I; I don’t feel this because Saurav had failed to perform on the two occasions at the challenger trophy a Chennai. I feel this because of the following reason; Geoff Boycott or Ian Chappell (Not sure) once said cricket is a game played between two ears. And I guess, there are many other thoughts that are going through Saurav’s mind, which is not allowing him to perform to his best of his ability.

I was there at the Chepauk Cricket Ground at Chennai to witness the match between India Blue and India Green (Saurav was part of this team) and felt that did he have to prove to all these Tom, Dick and Harry Potter all over again that he could still bat. I don’t think so. Many yester-year players have gone through this and were forced to take the decision to quit the game prematurely, even though they had much more to offer to the game. To name a few Kapil, Vengsarkar, Shastri, Azharuddin (The Wristy Genius-who was/is my favorite player and I could go miles to watch him play) all did well for India but had a bad exit from the game for different reasons.

Does it mean that mediocre players, when perform well in these tournaments are a better player than Saurav. Not really and I guess one and all would agree with this. These players who perform well in these tourneys have all been given enough chances at the International stage but have not given the impression that they could handle the demands of International Cricket.

When Indian cricket was under turmoil in the late nineties, a first-class decision was made by BCCI to make Saurav as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team. This is when Saurav sowed the seed, which later went on gave fruitful results. He gave confidence to his choice of players and supported them all-along, which I feel now a days is missing. The camaraderie is missing. C&D are still trying out newer options day in day out. We as a spectators are kept guessing who would play and if they play when would they bat .I do not have any thing against the current Indian captain and coach trying out new thoughts, but newer things should not be tried all in the same game and I feel they are over doing this.

Irfan Khan Pathan, was considered to be best swing bowler not long ago and his incoming deliveries to the right handed batsmen were lethal aka Akram.Where has the swing gone and who is responsible for this. He has forgotten his primary job. We could have got any other proper batsman if at all we wanted a batsman at one down if the captain didn’t want to bat at one down (though I guess he was the best of is, was and ever will be at one-down, which India or may be the world has ever produced)

As they call him the Bengal Tiger, he had lived up to the name and did whatever was possible to keep the team together. He was the one who build TEAM INDIA. Many current players, the likes of Yuvi, Sehwag, Bhajji, Agarkar, Zaheer…etc aren’t coming out with any statements cos they are apprehensive that they would loose their place in the side if they come out with any statement in support of their dada, but the day they retire or face the same situations (which I guess almost ever good player has to go through), they would undeniably come out with some words for their mentor. If we look back, the current Indian captain was always criticized of slow batting in the ODI’s and was even dropped from the national squad quite a few number of occasions. Playing him as Wicketkeeper batsman was the thought of the then captain and consequently keep him the side, as he was considered and was next only to the master blaster in terms of batsman ship. I guess RD didn’t like that, but then the combination worked wonders for TAM INDIA. If anybody considers this as a sacrifice, then Saurav also had something to sacrifice, the opening slot to Veeru. Why was it required for him to break the partnership of Sachin-Saurav (Considered to be the best in the game, even now)? He did this because he knew Veeru could offer more to the team at the opening slot rather than playing in the middle order. I loved his aggression (the slinging of the T-Shirt at Lords at the Natwest Final, who else could dare to do that?), his attitude (made the former Aussie captain wait for toss) and his leadership skills.

Now what does the future hold for Saurav? Guess the traits in him can most certainly make him a good coach (Not for now, since we need to give some more time to C&D duo to play around with the Indian Cricket Team), if not we can for sure find him on television again in the world cup not as a player, but giving commentary for some channel or the other.

I am sure the future hold good for our DADA in what ever he does and love you for whatever entertainment you have provided to us.

-GAG