Making Peace with Chaos - Pakistan Cricket

Try explaining Pakistan cricket to a newcomer – the second-largest population of cricket fans in the world, but with an ostensibly terrible infrastructure that makes it profoundly unsuitable to success at international level. The same Pakistan that shook the world with their World Cup win 20 years ago. The same Pakistan that turned cricket upside-down with a spot-fixing scandal.

This is cricket, the Pakistan way. For years, Pakistan has been a lightning rod for controversy within the cricketing fraternity, a country of cricketing juxtapositions. A country where politics and religion divide, and cricket unites.

Put simply, Pakistan cricket is chaos in flux.

There is a splendid uncertainty unlike any other team in cricket’s history. Naivety is at the heart of its cricket, leading to a simmering volatility. For fans, this is an irresistible combination, a fatal attraction that sucks in the most hardened neutral.

The best example of Pakistan’s chaos is, of course, Shahid Afridi. Though a senior statesman in terms of sheer experience, he is impulsive and incorrigible. Afridi is a Pathan by heritage, a fact often used as a way to either rationalise or justify his most irrational behaviour. His consistent disappointments are punctuated with periods of virtuoso brilliance, and, as a result, fans retain faith in him. Again, this is hardly unique in international cricket: Indian fans would call it the ‘Rohit Sharma Syndrome’.

In 2009, Afridi was Pakistan’s star player as they won the World T20. Yet, months later, Afridi said: “I shouldn’t have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match.”

This was in response to video evidence that found Afridi guilty of ball-tampering – by putting a cricket ball in his mouth, gnawing at its seam, and then casually tossing it back to the bowler.

The same man who inspired Pakistan’s greatest limited-overs success since 1992 is also the same man who, as a child, you imagine teachers would scold for running with scissors.

It is unlikely that Afridi would have played over 400 international matches in any team other than Pakistan. To this day, he continues to get himself out with the same, ill-advised caveman slogs that pre-date Glenn Maxwell by well over a decade. And, to this day, he excites and infuriates.

***

“I’ve said it many times that everybody remembers the last shot of the WT20, but nobody remembers who brought Pakistan to the end.” – Misbah-ul-Haq

We take it as a given that Pakistan are uncoachable in the traditional sense. There are myriad external and internal factors that can knock even the most competent coach and captain sideways. Political interference, favouritism and fickleness from the media are present in many countries, yet they are all dialled up a notch in Pakistan. Highly regarded coaches and captains have tried, and more often than not failed, to exert control over this disparate group.

In stark contrast to Afridi, Misbah could have been mistaken for milquetoast with an MBA. If it was an act of divine intervention to freakishly guide Misbah’s paddle-sweep into the hands of Sreesanth in 2007, then seven years later, it was a fittingly karmic rebalancing of the universe for the same man to smash records. Misbah has attracted more unfair criticism than one man should endure, often for a perception that he was batting too slowly in a team where he couldn’t trust the batsmen around him (paging: Shivnarine Chanderpaul). Misbah has been a professional scapegoat for the last few years, taking so much flak that he must have felt like the only sane man in the asylum.

In what must go down as one of cricket’s greatest feats of man-management, Misbah has guided Pakistan through a period of on-field prosperity, and a lack of off-field controversies. He recognised that a hands-off approach works best with Pakistan, allowing plenty of room for his players to breathe.

This is not, however, a novel strategy for Pakistan. In 1999, before their World Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, Pakistan went on a team outing to Alton Towers instead of holding a training session. A fairly common occurrence in Pakistan cricket – and no, I’m not referring to Inzamam-ul-Haq on the log flume. Eyebrow-raising unorthodoxy, shoulder-shruggingly effective.

***

At some point, masochism became an ingrained part of the Pakistan fan’s identity. Post-mortems of numerous unthinkable collapses have taken on a ritualistic nature. No longer a forum for venting, but an examination of a fan’s inner contentedness. How quickly can you make peace with Pakistan?

These days, chaos is no longer lamented. It is embraced, all part of Pakistan’s joie de vivre. Pakistan are the antidote to sterilised, factory-line cricketers.

In Afridi and Misbah, we have polar opposite characters, and through this near-comical contrast, it’s easy to see why so many Pakistan fans are in an abusive relationship with their team. Afridi is the hope, the let-down, the pay-off. Misbah is the expectation.

“In October, Pakistan summoned our incredulity as they lost to Australia in an ODI by two runs. Weeks later, they had thrashed Australia in a Test series, and Misbah had equalled Sir Viv Richards’ record for that fastest-ever Test century.

Perhaps the true fruit of Pakistan cricket. In its unpredictability lies its greatest glory.”

Nishant Joshi's article in Wisden India

http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-article/pakistan-cricket-making-peace-chaos/134230

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

"To be, or not to be..." from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is the perfect way to describe the dilemma of Vishal Bharadwaj’s recent film “Haider” – A film he claims to be adapted from Shakespeare’s , arguably the best play, “Hamlet”.  Clearly in the trilogy of Makbool, Omkara and Haider (all films adapted from Shakesphere’s play), the third installment is the weakest.

Before you read further, a couple of disclaimers. I am a big Vishal Bharadwaj fan. The 2^nd disclaimer being, I love Kashmir. I have been to Kashmir in 1990, 2008 and earlier this year April 2014. I simple love the place. Hence I had great expectation of “Haider”- A Vishal Bharadwaj film.

I would love to interpret  the film as Vishal would have expected us to believe- An Adaptation of Hamlet. While I am guilty of not reading the original play (which I am sure, I am incapable of), what I understand is that, it was a great story of “Dharamasankat”. A lot of tension, rivalry, undercurrent of passion and revenge would be expected of the story. Unfortunately the intensity expected out of  film was absent. In fact knowing Vishal’s body of work….. He can create that intensity when there would be none. While Hamlet did provide him the plot to do the same, the film was flat in terms of that anxiety, tension, etc. The performances in the film reminded me of Indian Cricket team in the late 90s. We used to have brilliant individual performances but the team would lose anyways as they combined effort did not come across. While individual performances were brilliant from all the leading actors of the movie including Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay, Irfan Khan, etc., the chemistry between Tabu and Kay Kay was missing. So was the chemistry missing between Shahid and Tabu. Chemistry between Tabu and the other two characters had the potential to turn this 2 hr 40 min drama into a potboiler. Imagine a sensual track between Tabu and Shahid (mother and son) to counter that between Uncle and mother. That is was a weapon Hamlet actually used in the original play. It is obvious that Vishal did not have the courage to depict that in Haider. While in Dedh Ishqiya (a film produced by Vishal), another "taboo subject" of  Lesbianism was touched upon, here he lacked the courage to test Indian sensibilities. A missed opportunity!!!

It is difficult though to take “Haider” on its face value. Hamlet was a dramatic revenge saga of Hamlet against his uncle.  Haider on the other hand seems disillusioned by the Indian establishment more than his uncle. Vishal was unable to explain the transition of a clean shaved Shahid to the typical beard look of Shahid. I could not understand what Vishal was trying to show, that, if one gets disillusioned you start looking in a typical way? Or was he trying to show that separatist look in a certain way. In either case, he could not pull it off well. Also I did not understand as to why Haider gave that Chutpaz Speech at Lal Chowk. Was he against his uncle or the Indian establishment?

This brings me to the 2^nd point. I think the movie was not so much about Hamlet than it was about Kashmir. So to view it from the perspective of an adaptation of Shakespearian drama would be unfair.  Vishal chose Barashat Peer to write the script with him. It is obvious that Mr. Peer had his own separatist propaganda and that shows in the film. Mr. Peer was hardly interested in "Adaptation of Hamlet".  The film is totally biased account of the Kashmir insurgency during 1995- 96 where the Indian army was shown as a conspiring evil force who uses torture and abduction as a weapon. It cannot be expected of Mr. Peer, that he would give Indian Army’s point of view on the issue. In fact any attempt on the same was more sarcastic than real. One more thing that baffled me was all of senior Army officers were shown as South Indians (and not Sardars!). I did not understand the subtext there.

Having said that, I also acknowledge the fact that it was the expectations from the film, that spoilt it for people like me. I went in to see an adaptation of Hamlet and I saw a separatist point of view movie instead. Political films … even the documentaries are  supposed to be biased. Otherwise they are not raunchy enough. In fact they are used as a propaganda and this film should not be seen any differently. The irony is that just before the release of the film, the same army which is accused of all the wrongs in Kashmir by the film worked selflessly to save hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris. Perhaps, as an afterthought, as a notion of acknowledgement of the blunder, Vishal did praise the role of Indian Army in the floods. The damage was already done by then though. A day shall come when he will regret “Haider”.

Another point I want to make here is that we as a country should be proud of ourselves in the way we handled the movie. It was no doubt anti Indian, anti Indian Army and yet the film was cleared by our censor board. Compare that to the actions of Pakistan. The film had hardly anything which was anti Pakistani and yet they have a ban. Clearly our democracy allows diverging, infact in this case views almost amounting to Sedition, to be tabled. So much can be said about the claim of the film "Haider" which tries to propagate a myth that India does not allow freedom of expression. 

“To be or not to be” from Hamlet perfectly describes Vishal’s state of mind in Haider. Till the end he could not decide if “Haider” was an adaptation of Hamlet in the backdrop of Kashmir or it was story of Kashmir in the backdrop of Hamlet. It was neither.........  and hence a disappointment!

THE JOY OF MODI SARKAR

I would be understating if I said I am happy with Modi’s Win. I am overjoyed. Yes the success of Modi is also success of RSS but then whats the big deal. I, as a child, attended many of the Sunday Shakhas of RSS in my paternal town of Etha in UP. What I still remember is being impressed by the discipline and sense of purpose towards the society. A RSS expects the society to follow the higher ideals that they are preaching. This is what gives the PM designate that zeal. The Pracharak appeals to the patriotic fervor first, culture second and religion follows much later. People overreact on RSS BJP connection. If anything RSS brings a sense of discipline in BJP

Here are some of the reasons that make me happy

END OF NEHRU GANDHI ERA IN POLITICS

I’m overjoyed that the Congress got hammered. We are close to seeing the end of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in politics, which is fantastic. This vile family has caused incalculable damage to our country with its destructive economic policies, which has kept our country poor for the seven decades since independence. It’s impossible to quantify the effect of this, but I believe that this family has orders-of-magnitude more blood on its hands than, say, a Narendra Modi would even if all the allegations against him were true. I’m glad to see them finished as a political force, though it is likely that they will continue to be a political spectacle for a while yet, which I welcome. Pappu provides much amusement.

DECISIVE MANDATE

On economics, Modi can’t do worse than the UPA did. Modi has done a lot to create a conducive environment for small businesses in Gujarat, and his main campaign slogan, ‘minimum government and maximum governance,’ is music to my ears. But it will take a lot of doing, and this is why I’m glad his mandate is so overwhelming, and he is free of the constraints of coalition politics. He now has the power to get the job done, and no scope for excuses. He can carry out the measures that are essential if we are to be the manufacturing superpower that he has said he aspires to make India. He has the power to do; we will now see if he can walk the talk.

YOUTH HAS CHANGED THE POLITICS FOREVER

Do you know why so many first-time voters exercised their mandate: These people are shrugging aside considerations of identity and symbolic politics: caste or the Gandhi family do not matter to them. They want progress, development …. Vikas (Yes the entire youth wants me ;) Even if Modi doesn’t deliver, and these new voters, and other new voters to come next time, abandon him, we can see the parameters based on which they are making their choices. Those won’t change. The parties that don’t adapt themselves to this new political marketplace will be rejected. The same way they were this time around.

MODI HAS NO OPTIONS BUT TO PERFORM

 It will nevertheless not be easy for the BJP to replicate this performance the next time around. Consider that a big part of this wave was the party winning 71 out of 80 seats in UP. Now, one can expect the BJP to also win the next UP assembly elections. So at the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019, they’ll face double incumbency in UP. They’ll be fighting on the basis of performance, not promises, and perceptions. The results then will not depend alone on Modi’s governance. It will also depend on extraneous factors like the last monsoons and the state of the world economy. A few percentage points could lead to a huge swing in terms of seats. Surely Modi will understand this and hence he has to give this chance his best shot.

AAP DECIMATION

I am also Happy that Kejriwal’s AAP failed. AAP, under the pathetic leadership of Kejriwal has failed and I am sure all will agree that’s an understatement. . I wont even touch upon the 49 days Delhi disaster. Maybe only history might forgive Kejriwal for that, I cant. AAP separated from Anna Movement as they understood that in a representative democracy, if you need to make your voice heard, you need to win seats in Assembly and Parliament. Hence as a political party it is your duty to win as many seats as possible as you can. What did AAP do. It is famously known that Kejriwal said that anyone who stands on the ticket of AAP will win from Delhi. Result is in front of us. AAP was defeated in every single seat of Delhi by more than 10% votes. Kejriwal more than the AAP needs to realize that they are not the only people who have sacrificed and joined politics. Also they need to realize that  governance and Politics has more to do with working at Grassroots that to be in Media studios.

I say I am happy with debacle of AAP, but actually I am not. I had hope that they will bring newness to the political scenario but the 49 days of disaster…. I mean how on earth could you give Free water…. Give free electricity to your followers ….. I still fail to understand how their Left of center politics different from that of a Mulayam, Laloo or Mayawati. They have hurt me as I had hopes with them. Now I want to see them washed…. Kejriwal definitely.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion I must say, I believe, Modi acts purely out of self-interest and not ideology. At the centre, he will do whatever he believes will increase his political capital. I don’t think communal violence will be part of that equation. I think development will. That gives me hope.

Sachin’s Legacy

The day Sachin left cricket, I left my school’s Whatsapp group. I needed time and space to come to terms that Sachin will no longer play cricket. I even deactivated by facebook account temporarily, It’s a week now. The last of the connect that people like me and younger had with cricket is gone for more than a week now. India already won one ODI against West Indies. Ashes started in Australia. Indian Sports media is now worried about Vishwanathan Anand than Sachin Tendulkar. I waited patiently for this to happen. I wanted to wait for a time when logic and not emotions will guide my tribute to the little master.

So then what can I say? Should I talk about how Sachin Tendulkar and his Hundreds changed my life. Should I talk about how he alone provided HOPE to a depressed nation ? Or should I talk about the courageous Innings in Perth or Chennai or the Desert Storm? I could talk on all of these but then we need to move on. The show as they say should go on. So I will talk of something else. Something I think is ignored and something that is important so that his legacy lives.

Without cricket, Sachin wouldn't be Sachin. Anjali, Sachin’s wife, so beautifully had put up this. She said, “I can imagine cricket without Sachin, but I can't imagine Sachin without cricket.” What a mature statement to come out of her. One that makes me emotional all over again.  So without cricket, Sachin could never have been the man he was for India. He was the right man in the right sport in the right country at the right time.

Therefore, fans with nothing to do as Sachin leaves the game should do everything in their power to protect and support cricket the way they once did with Sachin. It won't be cheating on him, as cricket is Sachin. It will actually be honouring him in the best way possible. Because if something doesn't happen to cricket soon, Sachin's records won't mean much. If Test cricket continues to be eaten away at, Sachin's legacy will diminish. If the T20 leagues of the world finally take over, will new fans look at Sachin's T20 career and wonder what the fuss is about? If World Cups aren't played anymore, who cares if he won one?

Now, this is all looking at the darkest possible days, days that may never exist. But not days that couldn't exist. These are days that, given the current trends and mismanagement, self-interest and general shortsightedness of cricket administrators, could definitely happen. Barring the Tendulkar farewell series, it is seen that in India, even at conventional Test centers we find empty houses for Test Cricket. Crowds in Australia and England are of course well educated and understand the relevance of test cricket. Not so much can be said about the so called educated Indian fans. They enjoy the lust and sleeze of T20. While it is ok to have sleeze and lust in a movie as an ingredient to make is more entertaining, a movie full of sleeze is a porn. That is what T20 cricket in India is. We all enjoy it. Its entertaining no doubt but it has no substance to it. It has not spirituality to it. The Administrators have forgotten that any business that takes it core customers for granted, seizes to exist eventually. That’s what cricket administrators are doing to the game of Sachin.

Sachin Tendulkar has been a statisticians delight. Even now they come up with some particular record by him which is unparallel.  If someone writes a piece about Sachin that in any way shows him in negative light, the comment threads light up. But when his sport, the sport that made him what he is, gets damaged by yet another self-interested, political, short-sighted financial decision, it's tumbleweeds from most cricket fans. Any attack on cricket's future is an attack on Sachin.

If Sachin’s legacy has to live, test Cricket has to survive. It’s the only way cricketers across generation judge each other and respect each other. That’s a benchmark that stood the test of time. That’s the benchmark against which Sachin Tendulkar scored 51 hundreds. That’s the benchmark against which he has highest number of runs ever.

Again Legacy of the man is in our hands. Test cricket has to live !!! I saw Ashes test after Sachin’s retirement so as to remember the little master. Lets keep it alive 

Technician at work ::: Rahul Dravid

On 22nd of March 2013, I drove  about 175 kms one way to watch probably one of the best technicians the Modern day cricket has seen. No wonder, he shares such a rapport with cricket's most ancient and most committed cricket Club in the world that is the MCC. For 3rd year running, Rahul Dravid participated in the Emirates T20 tournament at Sevens Cricket Ground in Dubai.

Now before proceeding a Warning: This technique has been shown by a professional who has worked everyday for more than 25 years. Although it is recommended that you follow them but then very few can

	It has been more than a year that Rahul retired from the tests, yet one could see him working hard to get him into shape for the match.
	Communication with your partner is the key. Rahul was playing for MCC where players from different background came.
	In Pre T20 days, it was taught that the front foot should be as close to the line of ball as possible. This allows the ball to be met below the eye as can be seen here. However these day people want to swing their arms and hence play away from the body. It is more risky to play away from the body. In India it is still ok, but when batsmen tour overseas in swinging and bouncing conditions, playing away from the body often brings their downfall. Rahul because of his technique averages slightly better (53.03) away from India than his over all average (52.31)
	See how low he gets while flicking the ball. One has to meet the ball as close to the ball as possible
	Now this is a "Leave". Again the front leg will be planted as close to the line of the delivery as possible and the ball if left to go as close to the bad as it is safe. You do not take eye off the ball even while leaving it.
	Backfoot defense on view: See the elbow. See how he has stood tall, playing close to the body. However if one needs to play an attacking shot for the ball which is short, one will be away from the line of the ball.
	A batsman has to be nimble on the feet. When we say footwork has to be good, what is understood is that bats should dance down the pitch. No! Going behind and using the depth is equally effective. In bouncing and fast pitches, many times that is more effective
	Now since the match was a T20 match, this short was played by Rahul. Its opening the face of the bat and running the ball to third man area. This is a bread and butter shot for most Limited over batsmen
	This is what you get from the subcontinent player. This is a skill more than technique. A ball pitching outside the off stump. See how the bottom hand comes into the game. taking the ball from off stump to the On side.
	Now this is one picture I would like to frame. See the stance which is actually the 1st thing which should be correct. Batting in Cricket is Side on and it cannot be 90deg. The Left leg is ever so slightly open. Head still. The back lift not too high. Depending on the ball, he will take it higher, if the ball is to be attacked. Rahul Dravid has played more than 30,000 balls at the test level that is more than more that any other batsman in the history of the game. The relaxed stance he has has been the factor. Also see that unlike Sachin Tendulkar, he is a top handed player.
	In Defense see the ball being met so close to the body. Also one can see Rahul's both feet above the ground. The left elbow is high and hence he is meeting the ball at the top of the bounce with center of his bat. While the drives and the pulls are the more glamourous shots, I will pay my money to see this defensive shot. Picture Perfect !!!!!
	This is a pull being executed. It is pull of the front foot. However, in the next picture you will see the transfer of the weight on the back foot
	Here is the shot being completed on the back foot.
	Yet again, meeting the ball on the top of the bounce, close to the body. Purposely played on the on side to try and pinch a single
	This is a ball bowled wider to Rahul. He still will plant his front foot as close to the balls as possible.
	Now the extension of the arms. The bat is being closed down a bit so that the ball is hit to the ground as much as is possible.
	Preparing for a Pull
	And the Pull being completed
	Nice and relaxed approach to the crease
	Now we saw the stance front on earlier. This is side on. The stance itself is a treat to watch. Nice and simple and relaxed
	A cut shot to a spinner, which Dravid could not keep down and got out

I am sure this is the last time I have seen the technician bat. As I said earlier, the technique served his good for more than 16 years and showed him in good light in Cricket played away from India. 

India has emerging talents in the likes of Virat Kohli, C Pujara, M Vijay, S Dhawan, A Rahane at the test levels. C Pujara is widely acclaimed as the heir to throne vacated Rahul. His "Test"will start with South Africa tour. Till then I will cherish the memories of Rahul Dravid 

WHY I WRITE ON CRICKET

Today I thought  I would reflect on why I write on cricket. After all, I do waffle on quite a bit on it, don't I? I have blogged for almost seven years now: What's the deal with all this verbiage? Why talk so much about a game?

The answers to that question is quite obvious for some, and I won't go into the most straightforward one. (Besides, there's always a new game or a new player to be talked about, and the game itself has changed.) Today, I want to focus on my particular station as a cricket student who grew up in a cricketing country but now lives 'abroad'

Mostly, it might be that I continue to write about cricket because I'm infected by a deep nostalgia, an incurable homesickness, one that I cannot stop hoping will be cured and palliated by conversation with others who love cricket like I do. The homesickness, the 'homeward bound gaze' of the immigrant is a cliché now, but its emotional impact remains the same as it ever was. While, like many others like me, I miss the cool weather of the Sayahadris, light of the north Indian winters, the brilliant sunshine that warmed my non-centrally heated body as I emerged from a cold UP interior, I also miss the sounds and sights of cricket: radio commentary and street games and men in white on cricket fields. Seven years  of absence have attenuated this feeling, as has the non-stop saturation by international cricket, but the desire to talk about cricket has not gone away.

I still feel words spring to my lips as I watch a game; I still find myself possessed by an incurable itch when I witness cricketing folly or excellence, one that can only be assuaged by writing about it. Often, it has not mattered whether someone read my writings or not. I wrote because I had to, because it was the only way to deal with my reactions to cricket. I often wish I could stop writing on cricket: it takes up a lot of my time; I'm a newly minted father now.

The subterranean and subconscious roots of my interest in cricket lie deep in a set of memories and impressions formed so long ago that their eviction seems impossible.

But I can only stop writing on cricket if I stop watching it or thinking about it. The subterranean and subconscious roots of this interest, though, lie deep in a set of memories and impressions formed so long ago that their eviction seems impossible. Those early imprints made sure I would view sports in a particular light, one that ensured that no matter how deeply I grew invested in the Manchester United and Chelsea, no matter how enthusiastically I might look forward to a Hockey game, some part of the emotional frisson associated with cricket will be missing.

Perhaps if I had stayed on in India, I might have grown away from cricket. I might have become busy in the country's newer attractions; perhaps the EPL or Formula One would have gradually replaced cricket in my sporting priorities. But because I moved across, I took with me my sense of cricket as it was then: the subject of endless conversation and rumination and heartbreak and joy. Those sensations find constant provocation in the attention I pay to cricket, and demand expression in the only way I know how. After all, I'm pretty much useless at anything other than Cricket.

Sometimes it seems that to stop writing on cricket would require not being interested in it anymore; sometimes, it seems I continue to write on cricket because to stop writing on cricket would be to acknowledge one part of my life is over, a loss that seems too great to bear. To stop writing on cricket would mean having to finally accept that I can no longer go 'home'. And so I write.

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.