Going Overboard

The announcements are flowing in, itz a windfall for the victorious Indian team.
Here are a few examples:
Indian Team: $200000 from BCCI
Yuvraj - 1 Crore and a 911 Porsche from the BCCI for his six sixes
Rohit Sharma & Ajit Agarkar - 10 Lakhs from the Maharashtra govt.
Joginder Sharma - 21 Lakhs from Himachal govt.
Dinesh Karthick - 5 Lakhs from the TN Govt.

I am sure this list is going to continue with the governments vying with each other to make a political statement out of it. But think about this from a purely cricketing standpoint, what is all this money going to achieve? Yes for the players from a poor background like Joginder or Rohit this will definitely help them lead a better life. But for the others it is just going to be a distraction and might detract from their future performances.

BCCI giving bonuses and gifts to the players is very good, they are the paymasters and they are rewarding the players for their good work but the governments, in making a political statement might actually be harming the future of Indian cricket. Maybe a public felicitation and praise would be a much better way to encourage these youngsters to achieve greater things rather than simply giving them money. If these youngsters get complacent and get chucked out of the team, then they realize that the fall from glory is rather a very steep one and then there is nobody to help them out. Ask Irfan and you will get the confirmation.

Final Word: 'As long as politicians are involved in the running of sport, sporting achievements are always going to be politicised, and the sport itself will be the loser'.

World T20 Champions and the future of Team India

India are World Champions!!! Sounds good doesn't it, albeit the form of the game being Twenty 20.

India have always performed well when they have been given the 'underdogs' tag and they have failed without fail when termed as the 'Favorites'. I had my reservations like almost every other Indian when MS Dhoni was named the captain of the side. 'What is this macho swashbuckling wk-bat gonna do as captain?' was the question in mind. Well, the answer couldn't have been better. Calm, cool, and Clever can be used to define the leadership skills he displayed. I quite liked the term used by Ian Chappell on air 'No Fear Cricket'. Here 'Fear' with regards to the Indian team is not of the opposition but of failure and defeat. In almost all his press interations MS has made it clear that he doesn't care about defeat and that I believe is the reason for the high performance level of this team. Indian teams of the past have wilted under pressure and have not been able to perform at their best.

Any post about this T20 world cup would not be complete without mention of the man who took batting to another level - Yuvraj Singh. His hitting was simply out of the world and only the Pak spinners in the final could curb his brilliance. One hopes he continues in the same vein in the ODI series against the Aussies.

The most promising aspect of this Indian team was the future prospects of Indian cricket. This was literally the new face of India with team missing all the three big guns and having an average age of 24. The brightest star on the horizon and probably the find of the tournament was undoubtedly Rohit Sharma. His batting style and temperament looks so good that it should not take him too long to knock on the door of the test team. At 20 he displayed a cool head to make a big difference in the end overs and the ease with which he cleared the boundaries was a revelation. This boy will go a long way and will be a cornerstone of the Indian batting in times to come.

The Indian bowling looked to be deceptively dangerous. It was considered to be the weak link but in the end proved to be a very potent one. The most heartening aspect for Indian cricket lovers would be the comeback of Irfan Pathan, and he should be back to the No.7 spot in the ODIs as well which immediately gives the side a more balanced look. RP Singh was phenomenal through the tournament and Sreesanth was mercurial as ever. Bhajji was good in patches but am still not convinced that he is back to his best.

A word about Dravid's decision would be in order. I feel it is a very good decision for Indian cricket because it ll give them the best of Dravid the batsman for a couple of years and that will definitely win India a lot of matches. Dhoni will be a good ODI captain but it is still too early to give him the captaincy for the test matches. I believe that should go to VVS though many might disagree with me. I think he is a pretty good captain and I believe captaincy will bring the best out of VVS the batsman. And who better to lead the team against the Aussies than VVS?

But for now it is time to shout from the rooftops : " We are World Champions!!!"

Final Word: 'The future of Team India lies in good hands'