So yet another ICC tournament has ended in heartbreak for Indian cricket fans. And predictably, the daggers are out, and even more predictably, they are currently pointing towards the man in the hot seat, the erstwhile darling of the Indian media, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
So we have normally respectable channels like Times Now speculating on whether Dhoni is 'in' or 'out' as a captain. They even go a step further and present likely 'candidates' to succeed Dhoni in the limited overs format, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. One of the positives Gambhir brings to the captaincy table is that he is 'young blood', according to Times Now. Which prompted me to check the ages of Dhoni and Gambhir and I found that they were right. Gambhir is 'younger' than Dhoni by the earth shatteringly huge number of 99 days. They also champion Sehwag's case for the captaincy, but then have the courtesy to remind us that he remains injured half of the time. Case open and shut.
It would be appalling if it weren't so funny, the way the Indian media, the electronic media especially, 'cover' cricket. And I do not even want to get started about the Hindi channels. Some of the titles of their cricket shows, like 'Mujrim Kaun', are alone enough to frighten away any remaining sense of objectivity.
The real problem doesn't lie with MS Dhoni, or for that matter, with any of his lads, though they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory. The fact is that the BCCI will never prepare wickets with pace and bounce. The fact is that a 'sporting wicket' in these parts is meant to be one on which a minimum of 600 runs can be scored in a 100 over game. The fact is that the Indian public doesn't want to see cricket, it wants 'cricketainment'. There is apparently no 'entertainment' in watching hapless batsmen struggle against genuine pace and bounce. And that is why, we will always be found wanting on real sporting wickets, wickets on which the bowlers have as much of a chance as the batsmen. That is why the moment Suresh Raina leaves bouncy Barbados and finds himself in slow St Lucia, he'll rub his hands in glee. After having done that, he'll then proceed to play the first short delivery from Lasith Malinga as if he has had a grenade hurled at him. Just to check if its actually St Lucia and not Barbados, you know. Thereafter, he and his fellow 'young blood' men will head over to Zimbabwe to have their batting averages inflated against bowling that is not even upto first class standard. And all will be well. Till the next World Cup, that is.
Meanwhile, India will continue to be a good Test team. Not because of their captain. Not because of 'young blood'. But because they are fortunate enough to have been blessed with a band of 'once in a century' cricketers, all of them playing at the same time. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag. It is due to these men that Indian cricket has had so many glorious moments over the past decade. They are not products of the 'system'. The 'system' produces flat track bullies like Raina and Yuvraj Singh. They are men who have been able to rise above the system, men who have transcended the system, men who despite having been raised on featherbeds, didn't flinch when they had to face genuine pace bowling on bouncy wickets. And Indian cricket owes its current status to them. I shudder to think what will happen when these legends call it a day.
