View from the top: cricketing perspective

I think I will start from where I ended the last time, but discontinue the didactic preaching attitude. Not that I have anything against the 'didactic preaching' stuff, in fact it has very good market nowadays, but more on that later. And it does feel good to write some of those hushy-mushy inspiring things now and then, it camouflages the lack of content with an impression of classy intellectuality.

Cricket, the sport, is as much a metaphor for life as any sport can be. More so it has different versions, and any preference of the individual pertaining to the particular version reflects the basic personality of the person concerned. One can write long essays on this metaphor, and as a sport this is the game that produces the maximum amount of written material than any other sport, in the form of books, essays, anecdotes or the most obvious forms, reports. And I guess in future this blog will see many reference to this wonderful game which is changing its shape as our culture evolves.

Today, let me talk a bit on the view from the top in cricket, i.e. the captain's perspective. And when one talks about India's captains, the inevitable name that comes foremost in the mouth of everyone is Sourav Ganguly (whether one utters the name or not is different question, for many complex equations come into play in a typical Indian's mind when it comes to the uttering one's thoughts!) as a contrast to Rahul Dravid, and the resultant pity is due to Indian cricket. When Ganguly was the captain, he made Dravid the wicket-keeper defying all opposition, including that of Syed Kirmani,one of the best glovesman India has ever produced, who always criticized the idea of Dravid behind the stumps but had to relent when he became the chief selector! Ganguly wanted to include Dravid at all cost, and since in the 1999-2000 period Dravid was going through a bad phase and was ousted from the one-day team and was going through a lean patch, worst being the Aussi tour under Tendulkar, Ganguly had a doubleprone strategy,that of including Dravid permanently in the team, and getting a balance in the team, which brought the best victories not only in the last one and a half decade, but in the complete history of Indian cricket. But under Ganguly, Dravid didn't relent at one place, he refused to open the innings in any form of the game, long and short. In the limited overs edition it was never needed with Ganguly, Tendullar and Sehwag ruling over the world, but in the tests Ganguly had asked Dravid to do the needful for the better balance of the team, knowing fully well that he had the technical acumen for the job. The media and the pundits all supported Dravid saying that he was too valuable to be risked at the top, as if the person to open the batting is a lamb to the slaughter. Then came the infamous episode of Ganguly being ousted, and the first thing that Dravid does is open the innings, inspite of the lack of enthusiasm from the team coach Greg Chappel, and Ganguly himself, and nearly broke the world record of opening parntnership.Then he continued the trend in the one-dayers, even when Tendulkar and Sehwag were both in the team, and is continuing to do so. The media has suddenly realized that the opening spot is not meant for the lambs to slaughter, but instead it is a viable option! The view from the top indeed changes the complete outlook and attitude of the man, and the sycophants that constitutes the followers (which is what the media is mostly made of) follow suit. The question to be asked is, the change in the outlook can stem from two reasons, first is that he gets aware of the broader picture and the individual aspirations and insecurities fade from the consciousness as one gets more concerned about the team balance and approach, while the second reason can be a burning desire to outdo the predecessor in all his acts. A person is usually a composition of all the possible facets, and it is likely that subconsciously both these facets are driving our current captain in his pursuit for the peak that he is trying to climb. We have to wait and see where Indian cricket lands up under his endeavours, before passing any judgment. But the journey so far has been far from impressive.