Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
Cricket is a world that lives 24X7 on a deadly edge; endless controversies, shady scams, untold conspiracies hatched in dark alleys, and of course, a cupboard full of skeletons ready to do a break-dance. That's why I am both mighty foxed and prodigiously amused at how no one, particularly the normally insatiable-for-any-sensational-gossip media and the formidable figure of BCCI has not asked Professor Ratnakar Shetty (CAO of BCCI) to disclose the name of the mysterious cricketer who spilled the beans on the half-baked commitment and insouciant attitude of India's young cricketers who perhaps partied harder when they discovered that they were out of the Champions Trophy held in South Africa. Now don't you think that it is a humongous shame of epic proportions for 'Team' India if the cricketer's apprehensions are true?
I thought Professor Shetty's disclosure was damning and should have led to considerable heart-burn and a serious investigation by concerned officials, selectors, members of the fourth estate and former cricketers. Instead, Shetty was perhaps cajoled to retract his cataclysmic exposure and before one could even say IPL the explosive revelation was cursorily buried. But should we just let it lie there in eternal peace? Should we behave like bozo bystanders totally oblivious of the calamitous expose? That certain Indian cricketers are playing purely for commercial purposes and have no national pride associated with their blue cap is equivalent to match-fixing, no less! Continue reading below
Now the Professor is one of the few if not the only queer fish in that shark-infested ocean of BCCI who cannot masquerade permanently with a brave face when he knows that his garden fence is on fire. Remember it was the obdurate Professor who raised a hullabaloo when he objected to the proximity of franchise owner Shah Rukh Khan to the KKR player dug-outs. Shetty, despite the crass commercialisation of BCCI I suspect has his heart in the right place which is why he went public with an essentially cricket-sensitive audience. I think the Professor is genuinely concerned with the oversold assets of BCCI.
Why did this 'senior' cricketer call up Prof Ratnakar Shetty and express his anguish on the flimsy commitment of India's younger brigade who felt little remorse, regret or grief at India's premature exit from the CT? If his personal assessment is correct (and prima facie, we should not doubt his intentions) then are we all being taken for a ride by this 'Team' India claptrap? Especially the poor public that idolizes these over-rated chaps and sees them as huge national ambassadors?
Did this senior cricketer share his angst with captain MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten and other members of the team, as he probably should have? If not, does he really trust his colleagues or is the rot now gone a lot deeper and affects the majority itself -- they are all 'young' anyways.
Once the Professor heard the startling facts from this respected 'senior' cricketer, shouldn't he have raised this officially within BCCI and taken up the issue as a serious challenge? Doesn't Indian cricket face a real grave threat if its cricketers are now so cash-rich, financially independent and self-sufficient that they would rather focus on their sugar daddies (the IPL owners) rather than represent their country?
If the experienced cricketer is so rattled by the trivial pursuits of his colleagues, is there such a thing as team spirit at all prevalent? Does that explain the sudden intemperateness in the language of it's otherwise imperturbable captain Dhoni? Did Shetty, the BCCI and perhaps even the concerned cricketer refuse to escalate this issue because finally they are all beneficiaries of the IPL surpluses? Indian cricket is paying a massive cost for the summer extravaganza that is IPL which has now become an indestructible force smothering the game's core essence itself ostensibly under the marketing jargon of 'spectator preferences'. As the disastrous Champions League has of course irretrievably established, India's famed IPL teams were eventually nothing more than the usual paper-wonders, all ballyhoo and bollocks. The TRP ratings tell their own sorry tale; I guess the Commissioner should be a worried man as India's dubious international results might further accentuate matters.
But now the million dollar question -- who is this disturbed senior soul who was morally outraged enough to state the obvious? Take a look at the Indian team for the failed South Africa tour and circle the august list of 'senior cricketers'. You will find two highly eminent names, distinguished, classy and of essentially flawless reputation. After that, your guess is as good as mine. It is that easy. Funny, how everyone else seems to have missed it though. But then, that is an altogether new 'story'.
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