Worshipping False Gods

Yet again, the Indian cricket team failed. Being hyped by the media as
the team with the best batting line-up, this is no the first time the
batting order has seen a complete collapse and I fear this would not
be the list time either. Indian cricketers enjoy a god-like (not
God-like, yet) status back home. The facilities, the perks, the
attention and the support they get from the fans, officials and media
is phenomenal and unparalleled. So it sounds right when the fans treat
them harshly after poor defeats. Sometimes their show of
disappointment gets a bit overboard which is definitely not desired.
But again, when the worship the cricketers, nobody complains either!

I don't know about the other subcontinent teams but the gods in the
team are definitely past their days of glory. They are only fit for
consultations now; they should be retired and fresh blood should be
brought into the team. It has happened time and again. It took the
board 2 full years to sack and drop Sourav Ganguly. He returned in the
team after regaining his batting form. Look ma! Sourav is now scoring
runs. When and if he loses his rhythm again, he should be dropped.
Same for Sachin, Sehwag and other non-performers.

I feel the cricketers should also be restricted from doing too much
non-cricket stuff. They spend time after endorsements, other business
(whats this recent craze about opening restaurants ?) and doing public
speeches for political parties. Appearing in one or two advertisements
for public service is good, since quite a few of the cricketers are
seen as role models by the youngsters but not as brand ambassadors.
Similarly, being citizen of India they are entitled to the freedom of
voicing their opinion but not with any regularity.

BCCI should cap non-cricket involvement, spend more resource and
effort after domestic cricket and make the seniors also play domestic
cricket. That keeps them in practice and on the other hand provides
the young guns with better exposure. I personally don't think a
foreign coach is necessarily a bad or a good thing. Give the job to
the best person. The richest cricket board can afford to pick the
best.

In other news, Sachin is only one duck away from equalling Srinath's
Indian record of most (19) ODI ducks.