They once were giants

The two biggest cricket teams from the Sub-continent, India and Pakistan, will be watching the rest of the World Cup on television and wondering what went wrong.

They need not worry. The critics have already sharpened their knives and millions of fans are ready to spew forth pure vitriol.
Theories about money, match-fixing, catwalks and selfishness are already making the rounds. Will the inquisition be based on reason or emotion is another question altogether.
India were the biggest disappointment of this World Cup. Even that would be an understatement.
Before the tournament began, there was big talk that this Indian team was the best-ever and had the best chance top lift the cup. Two back-to-back series victories against the West Indies and Sri Lanka reinforced that feeling.
India’s defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in their opening match was ominous. By losing that match, India’s task got difficult to survive in the tournament let alone move ahead.
Coach Greg Chappell’s Vision 2007 turned Nightmare 2007 very quickly. The loss against Sri Lanka summed up India’s poor effort and attitude.
This time the players and officials will find it very difficult to answer the nation’s cricket lovers. The hype created by the media before the Indian team’s departure will stoke more passions and volatile fans will be difficult to suppress.
A key meeting will be held by the Indian board (BCCI) in early April to do an inquest on the death of Indian cricket. It is hoped that reason and logic will prevail.
Scapegoats will be found. And this time it may not be the fringe players but some of the stars themselves. The sword will be hanging over the heads of skipper Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virendra Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh.
There have been suggestions that India should have two teams – India Seniors and India Blues. Hope this does not happen as once again it will mean going down the compromise path so that the senior players do not get hurt.
Why talk of two teams anyway when even one can’t perform? India’s top cricketing body must come down hard on failures. Nobody, be it top players or officials, should be above the game.
The BCCI must also temper its greed for money. One hopes that it now changes it arrogant attitude in negotiations and curbs cricket overkill.
For a start, it should apologise to Bangladesh for not giving them a tour of India because they thought that they would not generate enough interest and therefore insufficient monetary returns.
The players themselves stand to lose a lot of income. Advertising firms and fashion houses may shun them now that their value has dropped. This may prove good in the long run and will make some of the stars realise that cricket is their main job and not showing off trendy clothes at auditoriums.
Some reports claim that India’s corporate sector
may lose around $35 million due to India’s defeat. TV channels, sponsors, advertisers and travel agents will pay the price for the heavy spending they did for a team which rarely wins anything major of note.
Whatever happens, the shame which the Indian cricketers have brought to India must not be forgotten easily. They should be punished from the cricket point of view.
The fans need to control themselves. Plundering homes and resorting to violence will not be the answer. They should stop putting the players on a pedestal and treat them normally.
The whole basic structure of cricket in India needs to be changed. The domestic tournaments should be made more competitive and sporting wickets need to be prepared.
The game has to move forward if India has to restore some pride.

The cup of woe
Babu Kalyanpur