When history repeats itself

And the interests of Indian cricket take a backseat. (Not that that should make any difference to the people in charge.)

Sorry Paaji, but you're doing it again. And no offence meant to the worshippers of one of the, if not the, greatest, naturally gifted cricketers the country, if not the world, has produced, but the great man has still not learnt to quit when the going is good. Perhaps that's what makes me a bigger fan of Sunny's than Kapil's. I mean, Sunny was/is no saint, but at least Sunny knew when he wasn't required. (Precisely when everyone is saying you are.)

Like when he stepped down from the captaincy, after the WSC triumph is Australia. And we wished he hadn't. Or when he declared the 96 against Pakistan in the epic Bangalore Test was going to be his last Test innings in India. And we said…but he's got a good two years in him. Or when he consistently declines to be manager of the Indian team. And we say to ourselves, at least some of us do, we wish Sunny would change his mind. And we wish he'd bring some of the qualities that made him one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, to the role of coach of this struggling team. And we wish…wake up! For before we go wishing all that, we've got a far bigger problem on our hands. One we haven't learnt to deal with since the time Indian cricket started producing superstars. The problem of not having the gonads to say it like it is.

Fortunately in Sourav, we have a captain who is not afraid to do some 'plainspeak'. God knows we need one. And god knows Mr. Muthiah can't. How else can one explain his completely asinine statements on the reasons for the men dropped, being dropped. According to Mr. Muthiah, they've been axed on grounds of merit. Really, Mr. Muthiah!! Like we have a gaggle of talent ready to take over from them. Do we have a better one-day specialist than Jadeja? No. Will Azhar and 'Choppy' be missed? Of course they'll be missed. But what has to be done has to be done. We only wish it could be done with the sense of conviction and belief a decision like this deserves, needs. Not behind a screen of white lies and spineless talk. (The kind that still can't let us make up our mind on the coach.)

And speaking of players who will be missed, the fact that Srinath has, once again, made himself unavailable takes me back to the time when I read a lovely piece by Harsha on what might be the cause of Srinath not wanting to play one-day cricket anymore. A piece in which he spoke of the need for us to probe the reasons behind this utterly sincere cricketer's mystifying wish to want to have less to do with the game he lives for. It reminded me of the tours during the formative years of Srinath's years as a fast bowler. And when he was beginning to make his presence felt in the Indian team. Unfortunately, he was doing most of it from the dressing room, on the sidelines, behind newspapers, carrying drinks and chasing Sir Richard Hadlee's world record. Huh?? Right.

One can only imagine how frustrated Sri must have felt. Why? How about because he didn't get to play any Test cricket during all of Kapil's agonizingly labored assault on Sir Richard's incredible achievement. Yet another case of the enthusiasm of youth wasted in the narrow confines of cookie-cutter style one-day cricket and gutted by ambition and parochial interests. And we still haven't learnt to do a thing about it.

Now, forget the pain Sri must have felt and feel what fans of the real Kapil must have felt to see their hero being reduced to a 'disciplined trundler'. Bowling first change in one-dayers. Or having to endure his constantly diminishing 'glorious-no-more' last leap before landing. Struggling to get early breakthroughs for most of the latter part of his career.

Worse, during these tough times with the ball, even his batting never quite delivered. (The way Imran's did when he wasn't able to contribute as much with the ball.) This was not the Paaji I enjoyed. But then, who is to tell him? Then. And now. Case in point? another round of spinelessness when it comes to making up one's mind on what to do with a coach who can't make up his mind on what to do with himself and the job he was appointed to do. Then again, this is Paaji. And Paaji is PAAJI. (Said in hushed tones and awe.) Or as Navjot (allegedly) said, "We are all so indebted to him. How can we say a thing against him?"

Maybe one day we'll learn the value of straight talk. Maybe one day more of our superstars will learn when to go. Maybe they'll learn a thing or two from great men like Mark Taylor, Imran Khan, Sir Richard Hadlee and, more recently, Arjuna Ranatunga and Curtly Ambrose. Men who know that…umm, when a man's gotta go, he's gotta go. Preferably, without having to be told. Until then, we wait, like we've waited before, for Paaji to make up his mind. For someone to make up his mind/their mind. Again, not quite sure whether we'll miss him once he's gone. Whenever that happens

Avinash Subrmanium

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