Cry India, Cry! 

Team India chucks itself out! That is exactly what the men in blue did to themselves. They were beaten by themselves rather than the minnows Bangladesh or the Sri Lankans. The fear of failure has been over bearing and those boys who appeared bubbly and confident when fielding against the Lankans, suddenly froze when standing alone with a bat in the hand. The search for scapegoat is already on. Former cricketers are gunning for Greg Chappell and some Board members settling score with each other. Meanwhile few have cared to find out what the players feel in the aftermath of the catastrophe. 

The morning after, millions of people were trying to come to terms with what had happened during the night. The unthinkable had happened and after Pakistan, India too had plotted its exit from the World Cup. From numbness to anger, the nation was in the throes of an experience not known before. The young so of my neighbour was happy though not knowing why his father had remained glued to the Pogo channel the whole of the day. But his father’s new found liking for Pogo had sent the young child in ecstasy little knowing that had it not been for the channel, his physical well being would have been in danger that day.

After the shock of the defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, the possibility of what ultimately happened was very much there though the manner in which Dravid and company had played against Bermuda had raised hope that they had put their act together. The optimism, it seems was, misplaced. The worse part of the defeat against Sri Lanka was that by and large the first half of the play had belonged to India and even when the Sri Lankan middle order had staged recovery with a brave and gritty partnership, the total that they had posted was gettable. There was absolutely no reason to believe that the batsmen would ultimately freeze and panic.

While fielding, the Indians had appeared to be determined and little went wrong for them till that late revival of Sri Lanka and the inability of Harbhajan Singh to take a Lankan wicket. Even then few would have imagined the nightmare that was to follow. The knock of skipper Dravid was more in the nature of a gesture of defiance than an attempt to win and when he got out to a tired and desperate shot, the exit had become a certainty.

The people who have invested so many manhours in the team and the media and the business houses that had been vying with each other over the men in blues, are understandably angry. The heroes of yesterday have become the villain, pampered and over rated in the market. The knives have already come out though for some the arch villain is the gora coach and for others the cricketers who in their opinion have been more busy in front of cameras shooting advertisements that staying at the crease to score runs.

However, when sanity prevails, the passions cool down and the advertisers take a break, it would be worthwhile to answer a question that was posed by Inzamam ul Haq to the Pakistani media after his return from their catastrophic campaign in the West Indies. Reduced to tears, an emotional Haq wondered how the media and the people in India and Pakistan either put their heroes on a high pedestal or are ready to stone them. He warned that if this extreme emotion and reaction is not curbed then Pakistan would never win a major championship any where in the world as all the players live in mortal fear of defeat. Even their families live in fear of what failure might bring which brings more pressure on the payers.

He was, in reality, arguing not only for the Pakistani players but for also the Indian players.

Soon the cricket Board would be taking stock of the situation. Some players would go, few would be dropped but the problem would remain unsolved unless there are drastic changes in the Board itself. There is little doubt that the coach and the team are to be held accountable for the failure but the Board too cannot remain beyond reproach. All these years it has done precious little to make the domestic structure more competitive. No wonder the Indian players have little back up and are easily beaten in the mind in the face of pressure. For years many people have been pointing to the fact that the domestic structure is not conducive for building mentally strong players. The absence of the test players from the domestic circuit often throws up players whose achievement in the absence of genuine competition is exaggerated, to say the least. Look at the number of international centuries scored by Sachin Tendulkar and compare that number with his first class centuries in the Ranji, Duleep and the Deodhar Trophy matches. That itself gives us the clue to the pathetic state of affairs and the vastly over rated performance of those bowlers who shine in the absence of the Tendulkars and Kumbles.

Then we need to compare our system with that of the Aussies. Their players have a primary duty to their domestic teams. No international match forces the Australians to reschedule their home calendar. In fact their international engagements begin only after they have completed their domestic commitments. Here often the Ranji Trophy final is played in the weletering heat so that the Board can rake in more money from international commitments. The purpose of playing cricket in Australia is to beat the opponent at the match. The purpose here is to make more money for the Board. Look at the achievements that are boasted by the BCCI. They talk of the records being broken by the telecast deals. Long term agreements are entered for these rights so that the ledger books keep bulging. Few talk of the long term programs for improving the standard of cricket in the country. In such a situation when the hopes of the billion people are built on unrealistic hopes is it any wonder that unable to carry the load the heroes collapsed dramatically? Or, perhaps the fall was after all not so dramatic as it has been made out to be as the heroes and their achievements were more in the realm of hope than the real world.