CAPTAIN AND SELECTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MESS IN TEST TEAM

There’s a parallel universe in which 0-8 never happened. In that corner of a Utopian field, India returned from England and Australia after competing on even terms, their pride and the world No. 1 ranking intact, two more glorious entries added to their list of overseas conquests. How comforting would it be to exist in that universe now?

Ask Kris Srikkanth and, who inhabits that universe with the regal air of a frog in the well that can’t be bothered about reality. By the way Dhoni resides there too.  Left to them, they would have made only one change to the Indian side that underwent a WACA walloping back in January, the team’s eighth successive away Test thrashing: MS Dhoni returning to the XI in place of Wridhiman Saha, having served his one-Test ban for poor over-rates. Yes … After all the CSK superstar is your bread earner. He brings in the crowds for you in Chepuk during the IPL tamasha.

Srikkanth took charge of the selection committee in September 2008. Dhoni took charge in November 2008.  India was on the verge of toppling Australia at home as the No. 1 Test side in the world, and their golden generation already on the verge of being disbanded. Indeed, two of the primary architects – Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble – would call time on their careers by the end of that 2008 home series against Australia. Somehow, Srikkanth and MS Dhoni have managed to not see the shambles that their tenure have left behind.

Srikkanth and Dhoni’s  mandate could not have been clearer: preside over the inevitable ascendancy, bask in the glory, but don’t let it distract from laying the foundation for the next generation to take over. The latter goal would have required them to show foresight, guts, and the ability to communicate: Foresight in spotting the next line of talent; Guts in choosing what was best for the team’s long-term future instead of taking the easy way out; Communication skills in letting Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar and Zaheer in on the long-term plan, making them a part of the hand-over process, hand-holding the Sharmas, the Pujaras and the Yadavs into the future, ensuring the boys were ready when time eventually caught up with the men.

Four years have passed. Four years in which India, having scaled the peak could have gone on to show the world how legacies are handed over, and how excellence is institutionalized. Instead, four years since September 2008, Srikkanth’s bunch has piled one inexplicable selection on top of the other, without managing to discover a single Test talent that has gone on to become a regular. Not one in four years.

India played 41 Tests under Srikkanth’s watch and 37 under Dhoni’s Captaincy. 16 players were blooded during this period, of which only three – Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav – are first-choice starters for the Hyderabad Test. Only four of their 16 discoveries have managed more than 10 Tests so far - Suresh Raina, Amit Mishra, M Vijay, and Pragyan Ojha.

Jaydev Unadkat and Wridhiman Saha have become trivia questions, subjected to unexpected Test debuts at inopportune moments. Abhinav Mukund has been exposed at the highest level, thrown into away Tests without being eased in at home. Praveen Kumar has his name on the Lord’s honours’ board, but not in Srikkanth/ Dhoni’s  good books. Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun have had sobering experiences at the highest level, wondering if they will ever get another chance. What are the selectors and captain trying to tell them, by picking in their stead a fresh-from-rehab Ishant Sharma, despite his crushing ordinariness in Australia?

Was there any stage during these four years, when Srikkanth’s merry men considered putting together a succession plan?

Even after 37 tests for Dhoni, team hasn’t  found Ganguly’s successor for No. 6. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane are yet to debut, and Cheteshwar Pujara has not been allowed to build on a promising start – a trio that has actually done the hard yards in domestic cricket. Has anyone taken the pains to talk to these youngsters? Did anyone tell S Badrinath why all his domestic toil wasn’t worth more than 2 Tests?

Laxman is a man of too much class, and even while announcing his hurried retirement in undesirable circumstances, displayed as much dignity as the situation would allow. Suddenly Badrinath is back in business, not in place of Raina as should have originally been the case. The circus continues. Hopefully the next person in charge will be a proper ring master; Not a clown.

Smash-and-grab crony league

The Article was published in the The Hindu on 25th May 2012 and was written by Ramchandra Guha. I more or less endorse views of Mr. Guha on IPL here 

The IPL is bad for capitalism, democracy and cricket

I live in Bangalore, down the road from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). I am a member of the KSCA, which means that I can watch all the matches played in its stadium for free, and from a comfortable seat next to the pavilion. I exercise the privilege always during a Test match, often during a one-day international, and sometimes during a Ranji Trophy match. However, I have not yet watched an Indian Premier League (IPL) game played at the KSCA, nor do I intend to in the future.

My original reasons for boycotting the Indian Premier League were aesthetic. 20-20 lacks the subtlety of the longer form; no one can build an innings, no one bowls a probing spell. I didn't much care either for the way the game was packaged, while the man who owned the local Bangalore team was — as seen by someone whose day job is studying the legacy of Ambedkar, Gandhiji, Nehru — somewhat on the loud side.

The sting operation involving some (fringe) IPL players and the fight between Shah Rukh Khan and the Mumbai Cricket Association both seem to confirm these aesthetic reservations. But in fact the problem with the IPL goes far beyond petty corruption and boorish celebrities. The Indian Premier League is not just bad for me, but bad for Indian capitalism, bad for Indian democracy, and bad for Indian cricket.

WITH LIBERALISATION …

Let me defend these claims. When the Indian economy was liberalised, in 1991, it unleashed the long-suppressed energies of the entrepreneurial class. Sectors such as software and pharmaceuticals, that depended chiefly on innovation and knowledge, prospered. This was capitalism at its most creative; generating incomes and jobs, satisfying consumer tastes, and also spawning a new wave of philanthropy.

More recently, however, some less appealing sides of capitalism have manifested themselves. The state retains control of three key resources — land, minerals, and the airwaves. These resources have become enormously valuable with the expansion of the economy, prompting sweetheart deals between individual politicians and individual entrepreneurs, whereby land, minerals, or spectrum are transferred at much less than market cost, and for a (quite large) consideration. Creative capitalism has increasingly given way to crony capitalism, with dire consequences for society, for the environment, and for public institutions. Hence the 2G scandal, the spike in the Maoist insurgency due to the dispossession of tribals by mining companies, the killings of whistle-blowers by the land mafia, etc.

The Indian Premier League is decidedly on the crony rather than creative side of the ledger. The original auction for teams was shrouded in secrecy — the allocations were not made on the basis of bids transparently offered and assessed. Player prices do not accurately reflect cricketing worth either. Thus foreign players are paid a fraction of what Indian players of comparable quality are paid. The most egregious form of cronyism, however, is the ownership of an IPL team by the current president (and former secretary) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It is as if Alex Ferguson was simultaneously manager of Manchester United and the president of the English Football Association. Tragically, the cronyism runs down the line. The current chairman of selectors is the brand ambassador of the team owned and run by the Board president. The famous former cricketers who cover Indian cricket on television have been consultants to the IPL. Other commentators have accepted assignments from IPL teams. To put it bluntly, their silence on this (and some other matters) has been bought.

The IPL has given capitalism and entrepreneurship a bad game. But it has also been bad for Indian democracy, in that it has vividly and even brazenly underlined the distance between the affluent, urban middle classes and the rest of India. Consider the fact that no city in India's largest State, Uttar Pradesh, which has an excellent Ranji Trophy team, was awarded a franchise. Nor any city in Bihar, Orissa, or Madhya Pradesh either. To leave out four of India's largest States — all cricket-mad, and which collectively account for close to half the country's population — must seriously disqualify the League's claim to be ‘Indian.'

NAMES AND BIAS

Yet it can still be called ‘Premier,' for it speaks for the more prosperous parts of India, and for the more prosperous sections within them. The very names of the teams are a clue to its elitist character — two ‘Kings,' two ‘Royals,' and one ‘Knight,' this in a democratic Republic whose Constitution and laws (rightly) did away with aristocratic titles of any kind.

The IPL is explicitly biased against the poorer States of the Union, and implicitly biased towards what, in marketing argot, is referred to as ‘S(ocio)E(conomic)C(lass)-1.' Maharashtra has two IPL teams, based in its largest and richest cities, yet it is the upper strata of Pune and Mumbai society that most closely follow these teams. Some watch the matches at home, over a drink and after a hard day at the office; others go to the stadium, seeking vicariously to soak in the glamour of those even richer than themselves. That is to say, they go not so much to see Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar bat, but to be in the same privileged space as the Nita Ambanis and the Shah Rukh Khans, this fleeting proximity reassurance that they too are within that part of India which is Shining as well as Winning.

BALANCE OF POWER

The middle classes of the major metros are large and prosperous enough to sustain the IPL. But the rest of India, that is to say, the majority of India, does not appear to connect with the tournament. When there is a match on at the KSCA, there are crowds in the ground and in pubs in central Bangalore, but no interest in the poorer parts of the city or in villages 10 or 20 miles away.

On the other hand, when the national team plays, as India, the peasant and the slum dweller can follow its fortunes as keenly as the hedge fund manager and software engineer. The IPL is exclusive; the Indian team inclusive. Notably, they do not live in separate worlds; rather, they are connected, with the former having a decided impact on the latter. Had the Indian cricket team taken six weeks off after the 2011 World Cup, they may not have lost four-nil to England in that summer's Test series. Two of India's leading batsmen and its leading bowler were carrying injuries sustained by playing in the IPL, which was held immediately after the World Cup. The weariness and the exhaustion carried over into the Australian series, likewise lost four-zero, and into successive one-day tournaments, where the World Cup champions were humiliated by such sides as Bangladesh. The ordinary cricket lover now knew what our ‘professional' cricket commentators were too nervous or too polite to say — that too much cricket, and too much of the wrong kind of cricket, was a major reason behind the disgraceful performance of the Indian team in the latter half of 2011.

English and Australian cricket administrators may have other (and less salutary) reasons to dislike the IPL — namely, that it has shifted the balance of power in world cricket away from the white countries to India. However, some former colonial countries should be less than pleased with the tournament as well. Thus, the international game would benefit hugely if the West Indies were to somehow rediscover the art of winning Test and one-day matches. Recently, the West Indies have fought hard in series against Australia and England; their pluck might have been rewarded with victory had they the services of their best bowler, Sunil Narine; their best batsman, Chris Gayle; and their best all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo — all, alas, choosing to play in the IPL instead of for their national side.

There is a larger, cosmopolitan, reason to dislike the IPL; and also a local, patriotic, one. The baleful effects of the tournament should worry Indian liberals who admire that form of capitalism which rewards those with the best ideas rather than those with the best contacts; Indian democrats who wish to nurture a more caring and just society; and Indian cricket fans who want their team to perform honourably at home and abroad.

(Ramachandra Guha's books include A Corner of a Foreign Field, India after Gandhi, etc . He can be contacted at ramachandraguha@yahoo.in)

खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी
- Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

सिंहासन हिल उठे राजवंशों ने भृकुटी तानी थी
बूढ़े भारत में आई फिर से नयी जवानी थी
गुमी हुई आज़ादी की कीमत सबने पहचानी थी
दूर फिरंगी को करने की सबने मन में ठानी थी

चमक उठी सन सत्तावन में, वह तलवार पुरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

कानपूर के नाना की, मुँहबोली बहन छबीली थी
लक्ष्मीबाई नाम, पिता की वह संतान अकेली थी
नाना के सँग पढ़ती थी वह, नाना के सँग खेली थी
बरछी ढाल, कृपाण, कटारी उसकी यही सहेली थी

वीर शिवाजी की गाथायें उसकी याद ज़बानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

लक्ष्मी थी या दुर्गा थी, वह स्वयं वीरता की अवतार
देख मराठे पुलकित होते उसकी तलवारों के वार
नकली युद्ध व्यूह की रचना और खेलना खूब शिकार
सैन्य घेरना, दुर्ग तोड़ना ये थे उसके प्रिय खिलवाड़

महाराष्टर कुल देवी उसकी भी आराध्य भवानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

हुई वीरता की वैभव के साथ सगाई झांसी में
ब्याह हुआ रानी बन आयी लक्ष्मीबाई झांसी में
राजमहल में बजी बधाई खुशियाँ छायी झांसी में
सुघट बुंदेलों की विरुदावलि सी वह आयी झांसी में

चित्रा ने अर्जुन को पाया, शिव से मिली भवानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

उदित हुआ सौभाग्य, मुदित महलों में उजयाली छायी
किंतु कालगति चुपके चुपके काली घटा घेर लायी
तीर चलाने वाले कर में उसे चूड़ियाँ कब भायी
रानी विधवा हुई, हाय विधि को भी नहीं दया आयी

निसंतान मरे राजाजी रानी शोक समानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

बुझा दीप झाँसी का तब डलहौज़ी मन में हर्षाया
राज्य हड़प करने का उसने यह अच्छा अवसर पाया
फ़ौरन फौजें भेज दुर्ग पर अपना झंडा फहराया
लावारिस का वारिस बनकर ब्रिटिश राज्य झांसी आया

अश्रुपूर्ण रानी ने देखा झांसी हुई बिरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

अनुनय विनय नहीं सुनती है, विकट फिरंगी की माया
व्यापारी बन दया चाहता था जब यह भारत आया
डलहौज़ी ने पैर पसारे, अब तो पलट गई काया
राजाओं नव्वाबों को भी उसने पैरों ठुकराया

रानी दासी बनी, बनी यह दासी अब महरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

छिनी राजधानी दिल्ली की, लखनऊ छीना बातों बात
कैद पेशवा था बिठुर में, हुआ नागपुर का भी घात
उदैपुर, तंजौर, सतारा, कर्नाटक की कौन बिसात?
जबकि सिंध, पंजाब ब्रह्म पर अभी हुआ था वज्र-निपात

बंगाले, मद्रास आदि की भी तो वही कहानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी रोयीं रनवासों में, बेगम ग़म से थीं बेज़ार
उनके गहने कपड़े बिकते थे कलकत्ते के बाज़ार
सरे आम नीलाम छापते थे अंग्रेज़ों के अखबार
नागपूर के ज़ेवर ले लो लखनऊ के लो नौलख हार

यों परदे की इज़्ज़त परदेशी के हाथ बिकानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

कुटियों में भी विषम वेदना, महलों में आहत अपमान
वीर सैनिकों के मन में था अपने पुरखों का अभिमान
नाना धुंधूपंत पेशवा जुटा रहा था सब सामान
बहिन छबीली ने रण चण्डी का कर दिया प्रकट आहवान

हुआ यज्ञ प्रारम्भ उन्हें तो सोई ज्योति जगानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

महलों ने दी आग, झोंपड़ी ने ज्वाला सुलगाई थी
यह स्वतंत्रता की चिन्गारी अंतरतम से आई थी
झांसी चेती, दिल्ली चेती, लखनऊ लपटें छाई थी
मेरठ, कानपूर, पटना ने भारी धूम मचाई थी

जबलपूर, कोल्हापूर में भी कुछ हलचल उकसानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

इस स्वतंत्रता महायज्ञ में कई वीरवर आए काम
नाना धुंधूपंत, ताँतिया, चतुर अज़ीमुल्ला सरनाम
अहमदशाह मौलवी, ठाकुर कुँवरसिंह सैनिक अभिराम
भारत के इतिहास गगन में अमर रहेंगे जिनके नाम

लेकिन आज जुर्म कहलाती उनकी जो कुरबानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

इनकी गाथा छोड़, चले हम झाँसी के मैदानों में
जहाँ खड़ी है लक्ष्मीबाई मर्द बनी मर्दानों में
लेफ्टिनेंट वाकर आ पहुँचा, आगे बड़ा जवानों में
रानी ने तलवार खींच ली, हुया द्वन्द्ध असमानों में

ज़ख्मी होकर वाकर भागा, उसे अजब हैरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी बढ़ी कालपी आयी, कर सौ मील निरंतर पार
घोड़ा थक कर गिरा भूमि पर गया स्वर्ग तत्काल सिधार
यमुना तट पर अंग्रेज़ों ने फिर खायी रानी से हार
विजयी रानी आगे चल दी, किया ग्वालियर पर अधिकार

अंग्रेज़ों के मित्र सिंधिया ने छोड़ी राजधानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

विजय मिली पर अंग्रेज़ों की, फिर सेना घिर आई थी
अबके जनरल स्मिथ सम्मुख था, उसने मुहँ की खाई थी
काना और मंदरा सखियाँ रानी के संग आई थी
युद्ध श्रेत्र में उन दोनों ने भारी मार मचाई थी

पर पीछे ह्यूरोज़ आ गया, हाय घिरी अब रानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

तो भी रानी मार काट कर चलती बनी सैन्य के पार
किन्तु सामने नाला आया, था वह संकट विषम अपार
घोड़ा अड़ा नया घोड़ा था, इतने में आ गये सवार
रानी एक शत्रु बहुतेरे, होने लगे वार पर वार

घायल होकर गिरी सिंहनी उसे वीरगति पानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी गयी सिधार चिता अब उसकी दिव्य सवारी थी
मिला तेज से तेज, तेज की वह सच्ची अधिकारी थी
अभी उम्र कुल तेइस की थी, मनुष नहीं अवतारी थी
हमको जीवित करने आयी, बन स्वतंत्रता नारी थी

दिखा गई पथ, सिखा गई हमको जो सीख सिखानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

जाओ रानी याद रखेंगे हम कृतज्ञ भारतवासी
यह तेरा बलिदान जगायेगा स्वतंत्रता अविनाशी
होये चुप इतिहास, लगे सच्चाई को चाहे फाँसी
हो मदमाती विजय, मिटा दे गोलों से चाहे झांसी

तेरा स्मारक तू ही होगी, तू खुद अमिट निशानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

Good bye Rahul

Mumbai, March 28: The BCCI and cricketing fraternity came together on Tuesday night to raise a toast for the retired Rahul Dravid as they fondly remembered the immense contribution of the batting legend to the game.

The transcript of Rahul Dravid's speech, made at the function organised by the BCCI to felicitate him in Mumbai is given below.

To the BCCI, former India players, members of the Indian cricket team, my various other colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.

I'd made a pact with myself that I wouldn't cry at any of the functions over the last two or three weeks. I think that has been tested to the limit today. It has been nearly three weeks since I announced my retirement from international cricket and first-class cricket. It has really given me a chance over the last three weeks to sort of sit back and, in some ways, take it all in, and look back on what, for me, is a dream come true.

At one time, I was like any other kid in the street, any other kid in India, with a love for this game and a desire to play for India. I feel so blessed that I have been able to live that dream for over 16 years. Obviously, like some of the other guys have mentioned, for the next couple of months [when the IPL will be on] it does not feel like I have retired in some ways. It is still time to stay fit - it is getting harder and harder, I'm not enjoying going to gym, but I am still being forced to, at least for the next two months.

It is only in June that I will probably get time to be unemployed, and have a lot of time on my hands. As Anil (Kumble) and Sourav (Ganguly) have warned me, it probably gets busier. I am not sure doing what, but we'll just see...

I have had a chance over the last three weeks to try and think about what playing for India meant to me. What was this dream? What has it given me? Playing for India gave me the opportunity to travel the world, to play on some of the greatest grounds in the world. In cities and countries that I had only heard of on the radio, listening to radio commentary with my father or waking up in the morning and picking up the newspaper to see what Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, GR Viswanath had done the next day. For me to have the opportunity to play on these great grounds, to play against some of the greatest of players - players that I had grown up looking up to, it was fantastic. Cricket has given me a lifetime of experiences.

It has made me give joy to a lot of people by just playing a sport that I love. I have experienced some unbelievable victories and crushing defeats in my career as a first-class cricketer. What I have realised with it is everything does pass, and we can endure and we can survive. Playing for India humbled me. It made me appreciate how lucky I was to be able to do what I did for so long.

When I look back on this long journey, you recognise that you have been very fortunate, very lucky. You have had the support of so many people who have made this dream possible. I truly feel that I have been in some ways at the right place, at the right time. For me to be able to be standing here in front of some of my heroes, people whom I admire, people whom I respect, and to be able to talk to you all. I think it has not been a culmination of my efforts but the efforts of so many people who have gone into making this wonderful day possible.

I'll probably miss out on a few people when I speak and I hope that they forgive me. But I would like to put on record and recognise so many people who were behind the scenes: groundsmen, scorers, umpires, people who organise the game. Wherever you go in India there are so many people who selflessly do honorary jobs to make this game possible for us, to set the stage for us. Without their contributions these hundreds would not have been possible, these memories would not have been possible.

When I look back on the various coaches that I have had, right from the time of the late Keki Tarapore, who first taught me the basics of the game, to the many coaches through my time at Karnataka, through all the international coaches that I have had, I feel each of them has added to my game. Each of them helped me become a better cricketer, and a better person. For that I am thankful.

When I stand here and I look at some of the senior players who have been kind enough to come for this occasion, I feel really lucky. As a young boy I dreamed of just being able to get an autograph out of them, just to be able to meet them. This sport has given me a chance to interact with some of them. I would like to thank all my senior cricketers, all my heroes, all my role models for inspiring me, for leaving behind a legacy that I was very conscious of, a legacy of Indian cricket that I was very aware of. It meant something to me, and of the life I wanted to lead. And something that I hope they will feel I have tried to take forward.

The various teams and cricketers that I have played with at Karanataka and in India have been the highlight of my career and will also be some of my fondest memories. Without my various team-mates; some of whom have spoken most eloquently and most touchingly of our time together. Thanks Anil, thanks Sourav, thanks Laxie [VVS Laxman] and thanks Mahi [MS Dhoni], your words have meant a lot to me. The memories we have shared as a team, and some of the victories and things we have achieved will be special and will remain special for me. I would like to believe that we took a great legacy of the Indian team forward. We have left a strong legacy for Mahi and his young team to take forward. I have no doubt that they will take it to even greater heights.

Anil, I will miss your intensity. I will miss your desire. I have learned so much from watching you. I might not miss some of the vegetarian meals - without mushroom, without onions, without garlic. But there is a lot that I will miss.

Sourav, ours was a great partnership. As you would expect with captains and vice-captains over a long period, it is a relationship like a husband and wife in some ways - it goes through its ups and downs. But I think we both agree that we came through with pretty much flying colours. There are some really good memories that we shared and there are some great moments that we can have a good laugh and a drink over, may be in the IPL.

To Laxman, thanks for one the greatest days in my cricketing career. Without you Calcutta would never have been possible. I was privileged to be able to have watched one of the greatest innings played by an Indian cricketer ever from the other end. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for your conversations, thanks for your company at second slip, where many a topic, including Ranji Trophy to why contractors and architects are not doing a good jobs, was discussed.

Mahi, I think you can be really proud of what you have done with this Indian cricket team. To watch you lift the World Cup that day, it is almost a year to the day, was very special for me. Especially after what happened in 2007, to see a team and sea a group of boys go on to win the World Cup was indeed memorable. And to see something like watching Kapil Dev lift the World Cup as a ten-year-old that inspired me, to see a group of cricketers and a generation of cricketers that I had played with do it again in 2011 was special. I know that you have inspired a whole host of ten-year-olds by what you and your team did last year. There are challenges as you have noticed over the last bit of time, but I truly believe you have got the right temperament and right capability to take the legacy of Indian cricket forward.

A lot of the names and lot of the people I mentioned are legends, and have great records in terms of statistics. Sometimes the people who achieve great things, of course they do through hardwork and sacrifice, but they are also very lucky. I have played with a lot of people who in the book of history of Indian cricket probably would not be considered great, at least statistically, but in my eyes everyone who played the game with me and played it with an intention to win, with a desire to win and gave it everything was a hero. And I learned so much from you. It was inspiring to watch people work so hard and struggle so much and sometimes not achieve what they want and come back and do it again and again. I would like to thank all my team-mates for your memories, your friendships. Nothing of this would have been possible without you. It is something which I would dearly miss. Being part of an Indian cricket dressing room is something I would definitely miss - just the camaraderie, just the banter, just that striving, may be not the rap music.

I would also like to place on record my thanks to the KSCA, which was my local state association where I grew up, for their support, their guidance. Also the various officials at the BCCI for the various times when they gave me the right kind of encouragement and support. It has been a fascinating journey for me to see where Indian cricket has gone from the time I started in 1996. I still remember when we went for tours in 1996, sometimes Indian cricketers were treated, if I may use the word, as second-class citizens. We were the team that got the first tour of the summer in England, we were the team that got sent to some of the smaller grounds. The officials in the BCCI have ensured in 15 years times that we are the big boys of international cricket, that we dictate the terms. A lot of that has happened because of the performance of the players, but also because of the work that has been done by various officials, various office bearers with the BCCI during my time.

Over the last few weeks, I have also been really touched by the reaction to my decision to retire. All that I have read and listened to has really humbled me. It has humbled me not because a lot has been written and said, which in this day and age with so much media and publicity is bound to happen, but what really touched me was the care, the attention and the thought that people have put into writing some of the really nice things they have said about me. People have not gone about it casually. In fact, there are various qualities and virtues [of mine] that I have only discovered in the last few weeks, listening to people. I am not going to complain about that. It has been really touching. Thank you.

I may not be playing for India anymore but to the present Indian team what I would like to say is: guys, I will watch with great interest what I think is an extremely exciting and really talented group of young cricketers. I hope Indian cricket will always be a strong force, both on the field and off the field. And I have no doubt that I would take great pleasure, with a cup of tea and a biscuit in my hand, in watching you guys achieve great things.

Thank you very much.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR WORLD PEACE

Part 1- History of India’s Nuclear Programme

Usually, one would start with sensationalism to attract attention of the audience. This is not my intention. 


I am genuinely proposing a thought, that all responsible nations should be in possession of Nuclear weapon to ensure world peace.

The idea was proposed by my friend Mr. Ramesh when we were discussing fallouts of Iran’s new Nuclear Live TV event as it turned out. Before we discuss the idea let us know the history of Nuclear Programme in India

1940: If you go back to Jawaharlal Nehru's writings in the 1940s, he recognised that it may be used (as a weapon) and then India also must have it.

1954-55:  It comes out very clearly that at one point in time Homi Bhabha (the father of India's nuclear programme)  after presiding over the Geneva conference on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, came back with great enthusiasm and proposed to Nehru that India should amend the Constitution and say that it would never go nuclear. Nehru wrote back to Bhabha that he should look after physics and leave the international relations to Nehru. 

1962- 64 : Once the Chinese conducted the test, Bhabha was determined that India should go for it. Then Shastri appealed to the UK for a nuclear umbrella against the Chinese threat. In the early 1960s there was a discussion in the US whether India should be helped to become a nuclear power to neutralise China.

1966: Dr. Homi Bhabha passed away in an accident.

In 1965 when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty resolution was moved India was one of the sponsors. India propounded  the balancing principle -- no more proliferation, but weapon powers should negotiate to give up their weapons. When the matter came up in Geneva in 1967 our delegate V C Trivedi found that something else was going on. They wanted to prevent everybody else from going nuclear, but did not want to have any limits on what they were doing. He made powerful arguments against this NPT and they are still quoted today.To some extent the P-5 found that India was a thorn in their flesh in Geneva

1972: In October 1972 during the convocation of IIT-Bombay, Mrs Gandhi called BARC officials and gave the go ahead for testing.

1974: The Smiling Buddha, formally designated as Pokhran-I, was the codename given to India's first nuclear test explosion that took place at the long-constructed Indian Army base, Pokhran Test Range at Pokhran, Rajasthan on 18 May 1974 at 8:05 a.m. It was also the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

1979: After a lot of sanctions on it, India suspended its Nuclear weapons programme for a while. In 1979 India realised that Pakistan was going for one. It is learnt that in 1979, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was then a cabinet minister, opposed India going Nuclear along with Morarji Desai

1983: After coming back to power, Mrs. Indira Gandhi again restarted the programme the shafts were sunk in Pokhran, but at the last moment the Americans found out through satellites and put pressure on India. Mrs Gandhi told scientists  to stop it at the last minute. In fact it was those shafts of 1983 that were used for the tests in 1998

Post 1984: Rajiv Gandhi was never for Nuclear Weapons. Infact we were the fore runners for CTBT.

1988: Rajiv Gandhi came out with his disarmament plan and put it before the UN and then to his horror he discovered that no one took any notice of it. He came back a disillusioned man and on the day of the air force demo at Tilpat outside Delhi, he said 'Let us go ahead.'

In 1995 when NPT was extended unconditionally and indefinitely, PV Narsimharao wanted to conduct the test. However yet again US found out thorough Satellites.

1998: Through PV Narshima Rao could not conduct the test himself, he left a note for Vajpayee which said “I could not do it, you do it”. That’s exactly what Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee did within 3 months of coming to power. On 11 May 1998, Operation Shakti was carried out. Shakti (शक्ति in Sanskrit meaning 'Strength'). Three tests were carried out on 11^th May and 2 on 13^th May 1998.

The History of Indian Nuclear weapon Program clearly shows that most of the leaders and even technocrats were reluctant  to go for the nuclear option. But they did. None of them had Hitler like ambitions to have a Nuclear weapons to conquer any other state. The reason is political more than anything else. Its a hard fact that Negotiations take place between equals. They do not take place between US and Afghanistan or US and Iraq. For any country to be regarded as a superpower, one needs to be a Nuclear Power. I have yet to find a Nuclear Power be attacked by a country openly. Its quiet an antithesis, I know and I will try to ellaborate further on this on part II of this 2 part blog of "NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR WORLD PEACE"

दिन कुछ ऐसे गुजारता है कोई - गुलजार

दिन कुछ ऐसे गुजारता है कोई

जैसे एहसान उतारता है कोई

आईना देख के तसल्ली हुई
हम को इस घर में जानता है कोई

पक गया है शजर पे फल शायद
फिर से पत्थर उछालता है कोई

फिर नजर में लहू के छींटे हैं
तुम को शायद मुघालता है कोई

देर से गूँजतें हैं सन्नाटे
जैसे हम को पुकारता है कोई ।