Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
Amidst the nation-wide brouhaha over the seemingly incongruous ranking of all-time greats by ICC, which apparently had the " cheeky audacity" to exclude India's national hero Sachin Tendulkar from that haloed congregation, a greater cricketing event perhaps went relatively unnoticed. Mumbai, once again, went on to win the Ranji Trophy.
But more than that towering domination of the domestic league, which earned the crumbling cosmopolitan city its 38th title, was the fact that Tendulkar played the final two matches for the Ranji stalwarts. Continue reading below
The presence of a great icon can transform any outfit; you have to see Rohit Sharma's superb back to back centuries to know that it was an inspired effort. Zaheer Khan was at his wily best too , and no matter what Mohammed Kaif threw at them, the die-hard Mumbaikars seemed a hugely resolute lot. It was indeed fitting that the modest Wasim Jaffer held aloft the trophy with his usual unassuming grace.
Despite the great win, as someone who has lived in this city for years and followed its cricketing fortunes as young kids the travails of Harry Potter, the real truth is that Mumbai cricket could do with an adrenalin shot. There has been a perceptible decline in players representation in the national teams, with just sporadic appearances by Ramesh "Portly" Powar and Jaffer.
Ajit Agarkar is now likely to be just the pivotal mainstay for KKR in IPL, his ODI and Test hopes diminishing as fast as Virendra Sehwag's hairline. With Tendulkar now the grand old patriarch, in reality, there is just one solitary hot prospect for the resurgent Team India, who will be a Mumbai export. And that is Rohit Sharma. That should be hardly comforting for the MCA.
Technically speaking , that should seem atrocious given the fact that the erstwhile champion Mumbai teams had several players simultaneously elbowing for playing space; Ramnath Parkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Ashok Mankad, Dilip Sardesai, Dilip Vengsarkar et al were at different times permanent fixtures in both teams. Of course, the crucial differentiator has been that unlike the good old days, cricket talent is now widely diffused, and even regional teams with a weak over-all constitution have produced a few extraordinary winners.
Thus, talent spotting becomes a critical task, as the selectors might miss some outstanding players simply because their team-run is over in the preliminary stages. Srikanth and Co need to scout the grass roots to discover gems. Just hunting for big sloggers in IPL will not create tomorrow's pipeline. But Mumbai is clearly missing the national bus especially as they have the intrinsic advantage of a home base which has been a traditional force, and houses the BCCI, MCA, commercial capital and media presence.
Also, Mumbai city as a whole seems to have lost that wild obsession about cricket. I do not see the same frenzied madness at Azad Maidan as one used to see earlier, and today's youngsters have certainly more exciting alternatives in terms of career options than they had before. Sure, the IPL promises a pot of tempting cash even to a bloke born just yesterday, but the MCA has not been able to create the kind of learning and coaching infrastructure that the Mecca of Indian cricket deserves surely. Or ought to have. MCA does not yet look remotely professional , despite sufficient budgets and large office bearer staff in a hyped sport. They have just announced an Indoor Sports academy, but I am assuming that will be for the crème de la crème. So where goes the Byculla boy?
For Sachin , the Ranji triumph must have been a post- meal sweetener. . He has had an incredible run in 2008, and dedicating the great 41st century after the dramatic Chennai victory against England to the gritty Mumbaikars for battling the 26/11 odds must rank amongst his career highlights. Although with less fanfare, and with zero public attendance ( thanks to a premature strategy of holding matches in " off-centres" by the BCCI) , the Ranji victory makes for a fairy tale start to 2009 for Sachin.
So is Sachin slighted about the ICC bloomer? . I presume that he does not even care. Firstly, the ICC , clearly twiddling thumbs and having sufficient time to indulge in academic research and statistical gobbledygook, should have understood that any rating scale that confuses readers and has illogical findings, has made the first principal mistake of any statistical study; its got its objective wrong itself to begin with . At least , that kind of meaningless investigation should not be published for inviting public ridicule. But then that is ICC; its likely expecting a donkey to read Shakespeare.
But as I finished running the marathon this morning, I wondered aloud to myself , as the excited throng played music, shouted gleefully , gyrated to drum-beats and forsake their Sunday slumber------aren't these are the same local folks who were deeply saddened when our local bunch was rudely knocked out of IPL? But even as Jaffer and Co have made the city India's national champions in Ranji trophy , many in Colaba and Thane are perhaps not even aware of it. There has been no local bus-ride on an open deck. No celebration. No firecrackers. No autograph-hunters. No red-carpet welcome. No MCA recognition . No nothing. That is in a way a sign of the times!
Mumbai Indians, where are you?
