Answers to the 10 Questions from Sanjay Jha

By: Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan February 17, 2003.


This was in response to the 10 questions Mr. Sanjay Jha of Cricketnext had asked to the people of India about the Indian Team after there were reports of demostrations and violence due to the bad performance of the team. I suggest you read his article first. The following link will take you there...

http://www.cricketnext.com/features1/sanjayjha/sanjayjha062.htm

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Hi !

I read your article and your 10 questions for the people of India. While I am deeply hurt by the behaviour or miscreants (under the umbrella of fans), I think it is my duty to put forth a few points. Let me make it clear that I do NOT support this dastardly act in anyway.

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Question 1) Do you really believe that Sourav Ganguly & Co are happy that they are losing?

Answer: NO. And I dont think anyone else believes so either. But I dont think that they are as bothered about the defeats as they should be. With these kind of performances, they should have been feeling MISERABLE. If they are, they wouldn't have been throwing their wickets as regularly as they have been doing.

Question 2) Do you sometimes have a lean trot at your work or at your club level game or in your personal life, which lasts longer than you would like it to? And this despite your trying your best to overcome it?

Answer: YES. But I dont think we can equate this to that. If I am undergoing a bad phase personally, it is only me who is affected. Here, the entire nation's pride is at stake. Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have gone on record saying that they dont have any CLUE as to what the problem is. If that is the case, they dont have any business to be in the team any longer. Let the others come in and try to find the clue. And I do NOT believe that they are trying their best to overcome it. Tapan Joshi wrote in Cricketnext about the attitude prevailing in the dressing room before they took the field after the dismal batting failure against the Australians - Instead of motivating the team to go for a win, the captain apparently wanted them to try and get out of there as soon as possible. If this is the way they try their `BEST', one dreads the day their `next best' will come into play.


Question 3) If at the end of two matches, one which India has won, and one which it has lost to Australia (who are incidentally favorites to win the World Cup, and perhaps one of the greatest teams ever in the modern day cricketing world) if we are to lose heart so early and easily, aren’t we the biggest �Elosers �Eof all ourselves? Who are we to blame our cricketers for developing a ‘loser�Emind-set?

Answer: Losing to one of the greatest teams is not the problem; the manner in which they lose IS. They just capitulated without even a semblance of a will to fight it out and this, according to me, IS the quality of `LOSERS'. And winning against the minnows was good. But the way they won was definitely not impressive. And let us not forget that they have come into the world cup after having lost the series against the West Indies at home and then being blown away in New Zealand. So this is not `JUST ONE LOSS'.


Question 4) Do you give India 0% chance of winning the World Cup after the defeat against Australia? If you have even an iota of faith in your team, should you be whining, cursing and complaining all the time?

Answer: Certinly they have more that 0% chance of winning. But I dont think we can give them 100% chance either. All these whining, cursing and complaining come into the picture only because the Indian public has so much about the team, but the team is not doing any justice to the faith imposed on them. The average Indian fan feels cheated.


Question 5) Why do you grudge your players their product endorsements, and commercial rights to earn their living? Unlike the majority of us who have a regular secure long-term occupations, they have a limited span of career (often cut short by injury - look at Jonty Rhodes, or form, selection politics, others, a la Shane Warne) to make their life earnings. And everyone does not become a TV commentator or a columnist. Would you give up your right to earn a legitimate income when you are being offered the same on a silver platter? Is being rich and successful a crime?

Answer: NO. It is NOT a crime to be rich and successful. But it definitely becomes a concern if money becomes the first priority. Even when they were losing miserably in New Zealand, they had a hectic schedule shooting for commercials. And one cannot forget the episode before the tour of England, when they refused to play domestic cricket requesting `REST' and were on their way to South Africa for shooting commercials and even raised a major hue and cry when the board prevented them from doing so. And they were ready to boycott the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and even floated ICPA with much fanfare. One of the first points in ICPA was that all the first-class cricketers will be taken care of. Can anybody name atleast ONE first class cricketer apart from the Internationals who has so far benefited from the ICPA ?

Question 6) Hasn’t the same Indian team, with a similar team composition, done us proud right until the disastrous tour of New Zealand? Everyone scoffed and sniggered at the West Indies sometime back and look how happening they suddenly look? Don’t we have the maturity to understand the volatilities and slumps and plateaus that can happen to both form and performance at any given time? Is losing a cardinal sin? How about discussing the amazing skills of the Aussies and the sunny spirit of the Dutch?

Answer: YES. The same team did us proud. But that is the very problem. Age-old performances are taken as the parameter to select the team and most end up retaining their place without any worthwhile performances for months. There are many examples in the current team - Saurav Ganguly, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble (Remember he was DROPPED during the series against West indies and god knows on what basis he was brought back in), Ajit Agarkar, Parthiv Patel (Can anyone explain why he was chosen ahead of Vijay Dahiya or Ajay ratra?) - to name a few.

There is a CARTEL among the core of the team and they ensure that NOBODY else gets a decent run to show their talent. How many players have we seen going off without an opportunity or any justifiable reason -

VIJAY DAHIYA (does anybody remember the Australian series?)
VVS LAKSHMAN (His latest run was definitely better that many others selected)
RAKESH PATEL, AJAY RATRA, LAKSHMIPATHY BALAJI, TINU YOHANNAN & JAY PEE YADAV
HEMANG BADANI (His average 31.19 is better than Dinesh Mongia's 27.25, Yuvraj Singh's 27.64 and Mohammad Kaif's 30.08. He is as good a fielder and he was never given so many opportunities)
MURALI KARTIK (he was easily the best bowler on view against the West Indies and was not even in the squad for the newzealand one day series).
And how many of us have heard about YERE GOUD, K N ANANTHAPADMANABHAN, MITHUN MANHAS, SRIDHARAN SHARATH, KANWALJIT SINGH, UTPAL CHATTERJEE, SUNIL SUBRAMANIAN, JATIN PARANJPE, PANKAJ DHARMANI, AMOL MUZUMDAR and many more who have toiled many a season without any recognition or monetary benefit?
Who knows, some of these players could have played a key role in continuing the success the Indian team enjoyed last year.

Many youngsters were apparently THREATENED by some of the seniors not to sign the agreements before the ICC Champions Trophy. And NONE who signed it find themselves in the current Indian team. Does anybody talk about it?

The `Amazing Skills' of the Aussies is due to the fact that nobody can take their places for granted and they don't hesitate to drop anybody if they don't perform. Unfortunately, the current Indian players do NOT see any threat to their places and thus they are COMPLACENT. Remember, even Kumble could come back after having lost his place to Murali Kartik during the West Indies series.


Question 7) Do we appreciate the way the South African public is handling their disappointment so far, hosts and favorites, and yet facing the prospect of not making it to the Super Six? It’s easy to say that they have played good cricket but a loss is still a loss. By the way, the Indians under Mohd Azharuddin were playing outstanding cricket too (in fact, they had just earlier played a phenomenal game to beat Pakistan in Bangalore) but we were so unforgiving when they lost to the Sri Lankans, and that too in the semi-finals? So where do we draw the line between sanity and senility?

Answer: I agree with you COMPLETELY. Anyone indulging in violence should be Punished appropriately. There is no room for any such acts in this beautiful game.

Question 8) Are you aware of the fact that the Brazilian team was not even likely to qualify for the World Cup in soccer, but eventually ended up winning it last year? In the last cricket World Cup, Australia came back from the abysmal dumps to win seven matches in a row to win the title when the were facing the prospect of an early elimination? Remember the Pakistan victory in 1992? Or at best, our own in 1983? Do you then concur that a difficult beginning often prepares you for tougher matches at a later stage?

Answer: I sincerely hope that they will also emerge victorious. But such a terrible start doesn't ASSURE success. Does it ?

Question 9) When you are going through a bad patch, what encourages and motivates you? Someone who humiliates you further, rubs salt into your wounds, castigates you incessantly, and reminds you of the consequences of your failure? Or someone who tells you to move on, and inspires you to believe in your abilities, and to treat every failure as a stepping-stone to further success? And that finally it is a sport - a game - and a gentleman’s game at that - even today. What do you think is the Indian team expecting from us when they are perceptibly struggling?

Answer: The team certainly will do well with some support when in trouble. But then they should put in their best efforts for them to DESERVE the support. Read Tapan Joshi's report on the Australia match again.


Question 10) Should the team bounce back and put up a great show, will those of us who have accused them of self-profiteering, deliberate intent to lose, and all sorts of uncharitable remarks, seek to compensate them for the same? Will the same people go to Mohd Kaif’s house and paint it white again? Will we start doing a victory procession after every match to express our solidarity for the team? Or will we suddenly become the next biggest turn coats in town, and say, “They are playing better because of the pressures they knew we were giving them�E???

Answer: If they indeed put up a great show, it will be the BEST thing to happen. And sure there will be victory processions and festivities. And the success will be well and truly their own!


Best regards

Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan
Director - Sales
INCA Tech Solutions
A-4, Madhuban Apartments
Adugodi, Hosur Road
Bangalore - 560030. INDIA.


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