One more series in South Africa and one more time the BCCI blundered again. This has been repeating for so many years that the board just refuses to learn any lesson from the previous debacle. The board have once again tied the hands and sent the players into the bullring. South Africa is not an easy country to tour for Asian nations though Sri Lanka can lay claim to the only series win by an Asian nation in South Africa. They were brutalised in the very next series must also be pointed out. India among all the Asian nations has the best possible team to win multiple series in that country but we have a board that is determined not to support the team with what is necessary.
The disappointment of another white-ball World Cup still lingers upon every Indian. This could somewhat assuaged by a series win in South Africa but the BCCI will have none of it. All they care about is money and multiple truckloads of them. Barely 4 days after the final loss, the board scheduled 5 meaningless and stupid T20 games against Australia. Within a week of that series, some players travelled to South Africa for another set of white-ball games. What nonsense scheduling is this?
Board presidents are useless
Whoever becomes the President of that board, it does not really matter. Whether it is former cricketers like Roger Binny, Saurav Ganguly or pure administrators like Bindra, Jagmohan Dalmiya, nothing changes in the board.
Administrators atleast are understandable because they have absolutely zero knowledge of the game and are influenced by the money in it. However, what about the former cricketers? Especially, someone like Ganguly who has played the game in this millennium and who knows a thing or two about winning series outside the country? His tenure as the President of the BCCI wasn’t that productive either. A lot of changes were expected under him but he took care of himself properly and did not move anything for the betterment of the game and the cricketers.
South Africa is a tough place to play Test cricket. It needs the skill, determination and spirit of a team like Australia to win there consistently. England too have won a couple of series but Australia for more than 25 years since South Africa’s readmission, remained undefeated in a series in South Africa. That takes a lot of brilliance. It helped that Australia had several world-class cricketers to be able to do that. What about India? We do not have that many great players in the team. Even the ones that we have, are rather inconsistent in that country. Which leads to the question of proper preparation.
Lack of proper preparation
Where was that? Did the Indians expect to land in South Africa and start to score runs straightaway? Don’t they have sufficient experience by now to realise that that is never possible? On multiple tours, the team got off to a bad start because they weren’t exposed to the conditions properly. Why didn’t the board send the players 2-3 weeks in advance? What was the need for 5 pointless games against Australia? In the first choice eleven, except for Rahul, no one else, has played any game in South Africa during the current tour. For that matter, Rahul himself, played only white-ball games. Shreyas Iyer, who is known to be a sitting duck against the short-ball and who is expected to receive loads of them, shouldn’t he be in South Africa well in advance and prepared for the Tests?
If only the board had a vision of helping the team to win in South Africa, first, they would not have scheduled the games against Australia. Second, they would have ensured that the players got sufficient practice games before the first Test. Third, absolutely no one would have been allowed to skip any part of the tour. These are some of the basic necessities. Before you tour any of the SENA countries, this is mandatory.
By now, I must stop expecting BCCI to care for the game and the image of the team having known that they worry only about money and will go onto schedule more and more games. They know that in this country, people will watch any cricket game even if it is between a donkey and a dog. One only needs to witness the crowd watching a bunch of over-the-hill and impotent veterans engaged in a league. That is the level of madness this country displays.
FIFA’s involvement in India
I am waiting for the day Indian football wakes up and starts to qualify for the football World Cup consistently and one day, win the World Cup. Football being a much more popular sport than cricket can ever become, a substantial number of sponsors may start to drift towards that sport. It will result in cricket and the BCCI losing crores which will make them more invested in the image of the cricket team. This will force the board to place results of paramount importance which will lead to bigger profits. BCCI must learn the hardway.
FIFA, the football governing body, has now started to increasingly see India as a viable option to develop the game. They seem to bet heavily on India and Arsene Wenger, the world renowned coach was sent multiple times to survey the passion for the game and the potential on display. Indian Football too is looking to recruit some of the Indian descent players playing in various leagues around the world to play for India. Plans are afoot but for the sake of an Indian cricket supporter, it cannot come sooner.
Wrapping up the BCCI blundered again
BCCI needs a severe jolt for them to take the wellness of the game and of the players and the spectators and the image of the national team be given top priority. Until that happens, things will remain the same because The Board Of Control for Cricket in India, that is a mega name for a cricket board, does not care about any of that.
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