Round and About

Round and About

One can’t but feel sorry for Dravid. First, circumstances under which he was made the captain; when he was nominated captain for the Sri Lanka Tour, the Board had the perfect opportunity to ring in a change seamlessly, Ganguly’s bad form and his failure in the home series against Pakistan had more or less paved the way for a leadership change, every body, including die hard Ganguly fans, accepted the change. But trust our Board to muddy things when none was required. Ganguly was brought back as Captain for the Zimbabwe Tour for no apparent reason; we lost the final in Sri Lanka? In the last nine years India has lost all but three finals, so that could not have been the reason. Anyway, after the Bulawayo fight and a Dalmia more than willing for compromises to retain his control over the Board, Ganguly’s fate was more or less sealed and Dravid’s return was expected (notwithstanding the odd attempts to prop us alternatives in the form Kaif and Sachin). However, the question still remains; where was the need to remove Dravid from captaincy?

A captain needs time to mould or build a team before he starts getting success and some don’t even get to see success. Naseer Hussain spent his entire captaincy in building the England team but hardly tasted any success it is Vaughan who is reaping all the rewards. Had Dravid gone to Zimbabwe then by now he would have had a fair idea what kind of team he has and what kind of a team he needs to build. Unfortunately, he will have to start the process of learning afresh. Even now he has not been given a clear mandate, he has been made captain for the Sri Lanka and South Africa series. If India wins fine, if not what next? Another captain? Who will build the team? Remember, a coach is not an on field leader and that is why a captain has such a crucial role in cricket. In any case Chappell’s pasr recored as coach does not inspire any confidence, has he improved since then? I don’t think so; in fact Chappell would be a good mentor to individuals but not a good team coach. His cricket academy is successful precisely for this reason. Now you see why I feel sorry for Dravid.

Now take a look at the team Dravid is about to inherit. Out of form Sehwag, uncertain Sachin, out of form Harbhajan and Balaji, inconsistent Zaheer and Agarkar and a bunch of abjectly poor fielders. And, post Zimbabwe, a team that is fragmented, scared, unsure and without confidence. I feel not sorry alone, I am angry as well, why should this be happening to a man of exceptional calibre like Dravid?

These Are Difficult Times

These are difficult times. As an ordinary, faceless citizen if you want to voice your concern about Islamic fanaticism, particularly in response to what is going in the neighbouring country to our east, you are liable to be labeled as anti secularist, right wing fanatic. To be branded what one is not is the most terrible misfortune that can befall someone. In a public debate a trick that is very successfully employed by many to win an argument against an opponent is to stereotype the opponent. Once that is done a section of the audience automatically turns your supporter and if that section happens to be the majority (or more noisy) then the debate from that point on is as good as won.

It is quite possible that you might have noticed this in your day to day life, in the office, the social circle, within the family and so on. When someone has been branded as a joker in his circle, whatever he does or says will never be taken seriously. Even when he is raving and ranting and going mad over something his deeds will not be seen as an act of protest or an honest expression of ones opinion.

I have talked to large number people, all of them without as exceptionally ordinary as myself, and found them equally worried about the rise of fundamentalists (and consequent violence) in Bangladesh, but no one speaks out about it primarily for the fear of getting typecast. What happens to India when Iran turns nuclear? As a friend said, the danger was not as much as that of going into war or something with India, the real danger lay in the unstable social and political environment in that part of the globe. Therefore India considers it to be necessary in her own interest to disable Iran’s nuclear program and yet, the country is being branded as a lackey of you know who.