Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
The hullabaloo created yesterday by star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's decision to quietly refuse the tricky if not altogether treacherous assignment of being Indian skipper for Test matches was fairly understandable, given our natural propensity to react to everything from MS Dhoni's chopped curls to Rahul Dravid attentively reading a book on a long flight to Dilip "Colonel" Vengsarkar's inborn trait of somersaulting with effortless ease into new controversies every time he opens his famous trap-door. Yesterday, if there had been a military coup in India or if Mayawati had been signed by film producer Yash Chopra, it would have still been dwarfed by India's pint-sized man wonder, Tendulkar.
There were the standard prescribed speculations. Leadership is not in Tendulkar's DNA, he wants to protect his precious legacy, anticipates a deadly bloodbath against the Pakistanis and the Aussies etc etc. A thorough systematic surgery was done, but needless to mention, they were as futile in reaching a conclusive assessment, as Sanjay Leela Bhansali in outsmarting the charming Shah Rukh Khan . Continue reading below
First things first. Sachin's decision to skip captaincy, especially following the abrupt rejection of the key post by Rahul Dravid earlier , explodes a typically exaggerated and atrocious media myth; that the position of Indian cricket captain is the second most important job in India after the Prime Minister's. It isn't. It never was. It never will be. Just because we in the media go berserk as if a national crisis has hit us like a swirling typhoon whenever there is the slightest convoluted twist in the tale, does not change the importance of South Block. Or make any man who wields a heavy bat or a smart hair-cut from a salon become our messiah. The harsh truth is that thanks to inept handling by selectors and the BCCI, fanatical media scrutiny and volatile public reactions, the captain is often the unhappiest soul in constant search of sleeping pills.
Everyone seemed highly perplexed as to how Tendulkar walked away from the prized offering when he had conveniently acquiesced with the position of vice-captaincy. But excuse me folks; why are you so surprised? In my opinion, Tendulkar sensed early that he was being manipulated with remarkable acumen by the powers-that-be within BCCI ( I equate the selectors and the BCCI with the same paint-brush). The carefully orchestrated attempt by the Mumbai lobby began with the peculiar deputy rank which began with that dismal Calypso World Cup 2007, primarily meant to carelessly breathe down Dravid's neck.
But Tendulkar had not forgotten the ungracious handling of Sourav Ganguly just about till a year ago, and the unseemly sacking of his colleague Rahul Dravid recently and the humiliating treatment meted out to him , will not have gone down too well with Sachin either . There are many Sachin detractors who will pummel him for lacking leadership qualities, but truth be said, Tendulkar has recognized the new paradigm shift post the T20 World champion tags being anointed on the " young brigade". Mr. Vengsarkar, of course, has accentuated matters by his sarcastic digs at " seniors" periodically.
It must have been terribly embarrassing for Sachin, Sourav and Rahul with over 35000 ODI runs between them to be frequently referred to as "golden oldies" who are literally surviving match-to-match. What a joke! So Rahul Dravid has to score a double hundred in a domestic game to " fight for contention". And Ganguly despite scoring an impressive 39 runs in the first ODI against Pakistan must amass runs in every game, or else is expected to be the next victim of our selector's whimsical ways. It is a constant trial, and the consequence of any failure, is likely to be summary execution. Tendulkar is fully aware that even he can be similarly butchered by the same powers-that-be who are currently cajoling him into the hot seat. And Sachin had rather be remembered as a great cricketer alone; he truly does not have to prove a point to anyone. After all, barring the hard core cricket aficionado, who knows who is Mike Brearley? Sachin's refusal of captaincy has to be seen in that perspective.
I have a simple suggestion for India's august selectors. Why pussyfoot around by tinkering with " rotation and rest" claptrap? Why don't they just at one stroke axe all the veterans for one full-series? Let them replace Sachin, Sourav and Rahul with young " super-heroes" such as Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina or S Badrinath etc who can take charge? If the experiment succeeds, then the greenhorns can cement their place and the grand old men can patiently await a call back or silently fade away. If the lab trials bomb, then at least we will put an end to the inane "seniors" controversy. And by the way, albeit everyone in India is passionately espousing the rotation theory ( childishly aped from the Aussies apparently) , I haven't actually seen the Australians do any merry-go-round themselves. No rotation, no change, nothing of late. Nothing. It's the same baggy green team that has been playing constantly, and surely, they have no shortage of bench strength, right?
Which brings us to the billion dollar question; who should lead India in Tests ( and there are tough series lurking ahead against Pakistan, Australia and South Africa).
The menu is restricted amongst the following:
MS Dhoni
Anil Kumble
Yuvraj Singh
VVS Laxman
Sourav Ganguly
My vote would go to either Sourav or Anil, who should be given captaincy for a full calendar year with MS Dhoni as deputy.
But something tells me they will choose MS Dhoni as captain , with Yuvraj as deputy, which will effectively mean good-bye to the humble VVS's illustrious, brilliant and dignified career.
Tell me, why can't we rotate and rest Indian selectors? Maybe even drop them?
Happy Diwali!
