22 YARDS OF GRAVEYARD. Review on Saurav Ganguly

You don’t have to be sports enthusiast or a cricket fanatic to realise this. In fact, you don't even need to know cricket..to know what has happened to Saurav Ganguly. Amongst millions of people who feel he's been wronged, there will be many who will come out with every calculation, logic and intricacies of the game to convince that he did not fit into the Team India. But then, what's being served to Saurav is not based on merit. And that's what makes me say, this issue is not about cricket.

Cricket, I remember, was an exciting and enjoyable game till all sorts of ads made it a 'dhandha'. Whatever sanity that was believed to have been left, was washed away with the 'fixing' tide. A mix of unspirited, aimless, clueless, helpless, and some shameless bunch of men was all we had for a team. A world cup team became an unthinkable fantasy. This was quite the team that Sourav Ganguly took charge of. Though he did go off on his ego trips at times, but his hatred for defeat, his aggressiveness, hunger for victory and accolades spilled over to the other 10. And then, we got what we now know as 'Team India'. Not very late in past, Saurav was hailed as the most successful Indian Captain ever. The captain who took India to World Cup Finals. The captain who has been shown the door by people best known as 'Nobodys'.

O.K, we have a celebrity there...Mr. Kiran More. But just for a humble comparision, can we have some statistics as well please! A lot of clinical argument is on these days. What if he played..who would have been kept out..There is no space for him....etc and etc. If you ask me, I do not know who's playing how much. But what I do know that, whatever be it, there is a dignified way to deal with a situation. Everybody has a bad day or a phase. You just can't act cold, with an 'oh!-this-is-a-professional-need' kind of attitude, and forget about the stature of a person.

Just like best of the actors get a cold feet, best of the writers get a mental block, best of the singers fumble on stage, likewise, best of the players fail to kiss the ball with bats. It has happened to the likes of Tendulkar, Kumble, Gavaskar,..the list is on. There were times when even they were not included in the team, but there was an ethical way it was done. However, the biggest of the irony is the people who have the audacity of keeping DADA out. As I mentioned earlier, out of the three in selection committee, Kiran More is the only 'identifiable' entity. I seriously feel that concerned authorities should think again about the authenticity of this 'Jokers Inn'. For Mr. Chappel, I think he strongly believes in the concept of 'Punar janam', because it seems he's taking some 'badla' for the harm dada would probably had done to him in past birth. Being a strict professional is good, but being an ill-behaved, short tempered egoistic, with a lop-sided mindset makes for a bad person, forget coach. The politicisation of this, let's not talk about those white parasites again.

This event though, is a reminder that no matter how ambitious, talented, hard working, team-spirited we may be, we must not forget that 'hum us desh ke waasi hain, jahan gandi politics rules. We must do something drastic to send a message - like abstaining from cricket cheering. Let them bite their own nails on their game. Cheer for the opponents, to express our resentment to whatever has transpired. May be, Pepsi will have a new meaning to its slogan – “Yeh Dil maange ‘No More’”

Because as of now, it appears that the only 'cricket' that lives the way it was supposed to naturally, biologically belongs to family of insects. For the game called cricket, the real action seems to be taking place inside the heavily guarded board rooms. Wish rains could wash away this one as well..!

amen