Warning: Friends, I’m back after a hiatus; I’ll write regularly from now on!
M S D - three letters that evoked, till yesterday, feeling s of pride, happiness, joy, awe & inspiration - despite terror, famine, drought, floods, elections & politicians! Today, however, everyone wants to delete MSD from All memory. In as much as the adulation was irrational, excessive, the scorn, the rubbishing, the venom everyone is spewing out is even more irrational and disgusting. Pray, what is all the hullabaloo about? It is just a cricket match, in which the winner was not our choice! The media is baying for MSD’s blood; the public, if they get a chance, will literally draw blood. Hey! Wait a minute; but then this is India and all the spicy foods that we so love to eat and gorge on, make us emotional, angry, jubilant, despondent – all extreme.
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Well, truth is MSD has been in charge of the fate or fortunes of the Indian cricket team, whether they were at a high , till recently, or in an abyss, now, except that while at the peak it was Mostly Sensible Decisions, it is now Many Stupid Decisions.
Folks, you agree, it is time now to look at the MSD? So let’s look at the many stupid decisions.
Non- stop cricket – from one end of the world to the other: New Zealand, followed by IPL @ SA, followed by T20 World Cup @ England, as captain, wicket keeper, batsman, media interaction plus the BIGGEST role of them all, shooting endlessly for a million commercials! How can any individual be sane, leave alone fresh after so much abuse? Whether it is greed or over confidence, there is no doubt that it was stupid. Why didn’t MSD have the sense to let go some responsibilities? Why didn’t he have the sense to not over work, both on and off the field? Stupid decision.
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Sehwag fiasco: Will we ever get to know the truth about Sehwag’s fitness? If he was not fully fit, why did MSD not put his foot down and say he should not be part of the team? If he was fit, then why did he not play? Any which way, stupid decision. Add to this the tamasha of parading the entire team to ‘show’ everyone that the team is united – another stupid decision. (the Tamil saying that comes to mind is எங்க அப்பன் குதிற்கு உள்ள இல்லை enga appan kudhirku ulla illai).
Tactical blunders, thoughtless experiments – handling of the bowlers, changing bowlers without any logic, shuffling the batting order, all manners of things so much so one started wondering if one was watching a game of cricket or Russian roulette, not knowing who will be bhakra when. Choice (of batting/bowling) after winning the toss. Most times stupid decisions.
Last but not the least, the way MSD handled the media: he thought he was being clever, but his body language, tone, language, shifting eyes was a dead giveaway that he was being evasive. Stupid to have thought he was clever.
In our eyes, a hero, the man with the midas touch, has become a villain, from an alchemist who turned everything to gold to one whose touch turns everything to ashes.
I would say we are going overboard. It is too much to blame only MSD for the poor performance. We should hope this is a wakeup call for these pampered millionaires and hope they understand that ‘perform or perish’ is not just a corporate mantra. In international sport there is no place to hide - Perish you will, if you don’t perform.
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L.Ravichandran
ravi@chennaionline.com