Well its not that I did not want to put something here. Just that I was trying to be a little different, wanted to put a few pieces in Hindi. Just realised that Blogger is still not capable of handling the nuances of that language. Have got a few drafts to edit and post. Anyway...could not resist to have something on this.
As long as I can remember, I have been a cricket man. Played till the end of my campus life. Was descent player, was able to go up to the college team. And, have always followed cricket, at least Indian cricket.
Well I have been a great admirer of Colonel, apna Vengy, Dilip Vengasarkar. After all who else has scored three centuries at the Lords. He was one of the most stylist player of his time and among the most respected one too. So when he announced the retirement from international competitive cricket in 1989. I remember the scene. It was there on Doordarshan. He was gloomy, perhaps crying too. Though he was in the later half of 30s, he was of the opinion that there was some more cricket left in him. I could feel his pain though I did not agree to his belief. I admired him. I hated the way he was treated, sometimes in sometimes out with unreasonable reasons. I was certainly not happy with the treatment he was given lately. I rued that the fact that selectors had not played cricket ever and still they were treating cricketers of such statures with such disdain. I wished selectors were players.
Well I admire Rahul Dravid too. When he joined Indian team in 1995, I was happy that the team had got a true replacement of Colonel. Though Sachin was already there, he was not exactly like Dilip. Sachin has been a more aggressive player. And, hence, temperamental too. Its a different matter that Rahul exceeded the expectation. I do not see any requirement to justify this statement too. However, I was surprised a few days back to find Rahul being dropped from Indian team. It was difficult to believe that a person who was undisputed captain of the team a few weeks back and who left the job on his own, was out of the team. Perhaps, to a few wise men, his only utility was to lead the team. I could not help comparing the situation with that day, when Dilip retired. However, this time there is a different. Dilip is the selector. He is the chief selector.
I am left to wonder if he has acted in a different manner. Has it helped that the selector is an ex-cricketer of such a repute? Does it really matter who becomes selector? After all selection parameters remain the same. Compulsion, influences, background etc everything do not change.
Btw, what is Shastry doing in the scene? Does not he remember how and why he was there in the Indian cricket team? I still remember his waving his bat after getting out in a One-day international match. He score 66 runs of 198 balls. So you know his understanding.
