The circus, life et al
The Circus
It's now official! Indian cricket has been thrown to the dogs. I have tried hard NOT to follow the recent controversy that's been plaguing the cricket team, but it's tough to keep away from this drama that could give the melodramatic,tear-jerker soaps we see on television as much a run for their money as it could to reality standup comedy shows. Amidst all this, cricket suffers and the focus seems to be everything but the game.
For years now, Indian cricket has always been about individuals and not the team as a whole. Yes,coming from the mouth of a die-hard Sachin worshipper, it might sound hypocritical, but it's true. In any case, this is not about Sachin or Sourav Ganguly or any other cricketer. Indian cricket has been run by individuals who's interests are anything but the game and come the time when the BCCI elections are near - crisis strikes in the form of a captain who reveals to the press that he was asked to step down by the coach. To top it all, Ganguly decides to back his melodrama with a painstakingly compiled century (100 of 262 balls) against a bowling attack that Geoffrey Boycott would have described as "roobish, my grandmother could bowl better". The chronology of a crisis as detailed here has got followers of the game thinking if there is a future at all for Indian cricket.
So, finally it has come to this damning email that Chappell has sent to the board. Chappell comes across as a plain-speaking Aussie, who would rather take the blunt approach than beat around the bush with diplomacy. In fact, if ever Indian cricket has been yearning for anything without the caretakers of the game ever acknowledging the fact, it had to be someone who would address facts as they are. Talking about Ganguly, it would be a big insult to the man himself if he served to prolong his cricketing career at the expense of the future of cricket.
Chappell probably gave Ganguly a dose of reality which he could not handle - the fact that for a while now Ganguly has been finding a place in the team purely as a leader and not as a batsman. His recent performances as a batsman have been for all to see and the past cannot be used as a mask to hide his lack of ability as a batsman.
On analysis, any objective follower of the game can realize that the very ego and pride that got Ganguly and hence Indian cricket to the pinnacle of its glory in recent years is proving to be his and the team's undoing. Chappell, who is rationally well innoculated to such flights of emotion has called the situation as it is. He must have felt that Ganguly would see reason that the time is right for him to hand over the reins and focus on his batting as a way to redeem himself. Yet, the press had to be involved, the board as usual decided to hush it up and now the shit has hit the ceiling fan. With passionate Calcuttans burning Chappell pictures in protest and Harbhajan Singh throwing his hat in the ring for Ganguly, matters have reached a point of no-return.
People see it going one way or the other. If Ganguly is indeed forced to resign, there will be a certain section of the Indian press and most importantly, the Indian team, which will feel disgruntled with the whole affair. Chappell,then, will have to work harder than ever to rebuild trust between various sections of the team as also between himself and the team. If Chappell eventually leaves in despair, which is not totally unlikely, it will be a terrible advertisement for Indian cricket. A man as senior as this leaving the team's coaching assignment can only spell another few decades of sub-standard coaches for this team. Chances are neither of these situations will happen and the board will push the dirt under the carpet as it always has and wait for things to work themselves out. Which is even worse because we have a simmering ego in Ganguly and a never-say-never coach in Chappell. It would seem we may only see a short-term compromise until Ganguly decides to look his future in the eye and bow out gracefully instead of tarnishing a legacy he has worked so hard to build.
Poetry
It's been quite a while since I wrote poetry of any character, even if it was solely my opinion that it possessed character! Meanwhile, while listening to an Iron Maiden song "Revelations" got me back to the days where every word well written in a rock song would send me to another level of bliss. The first few lines in the lyrics to "Revelations" are taken from a beautiful poem by G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton's poems are characterised by their strong Catholic sentiment and are wonders of prose. The command on words and the imagery are joys. What is even better is when a rhythm/lead guitar riff sets the lyrics into rock-song mode and a band like Iron Maiden do perfect justice to the man's prose (which of course, he might well not have approved of!!).
Life
Life continues, in all its mediocrity,oscillations and external stimuli..so does, existence have meaning? Or does meaning have existence? It's all in your mind....
It's now official! Indian cricket has been thrown to the dogs. I have tried hard NOT to follow the recent controversy that's been plaguing the cricket team, but it's tough to keep away from this drama that could give the melodramatic,tear-jerker soaps we see on television as much a run for their money as it could to reality standup comedy shows. Amidst all this, cricket suffers and the focus seems to be everything but the game.
For years now, Indian cricket has always been about individuals and not the team as a whole. Yes,coming from the mouth of a die-hard Sachin worshipper, it might sound hypocritical, but it's true. In any case, this is not about Sachin or Sourav Ganguly or any other cricketer. Indian cricket has been run by individuals who's interests are anything but the game and come the time when the BCCI elections are near - crisis strikes in the form of a captain who reveals to the press that he was asked to step down by the coach. To top it all, Ganguly decides to back his melodrama with a painstakingly compiled century (100 of 262 balls) against a bowling attack that Geoffrey Boycott would have described as "roobish, my grandmother could bowl better". The chronology of a crisis as detailed here has got followers of the game thinking if there is a future at all for Indian cricket.
So, finally it has come to this damning email that Chappell has sent to the board. Chappell comes across as a plain-speaking Aussie, who would rather take the blunt approach than beat around the bush with diplomacy. In fact, if ever Indian cricket has been yearning for anything without the caretakers of the game ever acknowledging the fact, it had to be someone who would address facts as they are. Talking about Ganguly, it would be a big insult to the man himself if he served to prolong his cricketing career at the expense of the future of cricket.
Chappell probably gave Ganguly a dose of reality which he could not handle - the fact that for a while now Ganguly has been finding a place in the team purely as a leader and not as a batsman. His recent performances as a batsman have been for all to see and the past cannot be used as a mask to hide his lack of ability as a batsman.
On analysis, any objective follower of the game can realize that the very ego and pride that got Ganguly and hence Indian cricket to the pinnacle of its glory in recent years is proving to be his and the team's undoing. Chappell, who is rationally well innoculated to such flights of emotion has called the situation as it is. He must have felt that Ganguly would see reason that the time is right for him to hand over the reins and focus on his batting as a way to redeem himself. Yet, the press had to be involved, the board as usual decided to hush it up and now the shit has hit the ceiling fan. With passionate Calcuttans burning Chappell pictures in protest and Harbhajan Singh throwing his hat in the ring for Ganguly, matters have reached a point of no-return.
People see it going one way or the other. If Ganguly is indeed forced to resign, there will be a certain section of the Indian press and most importantly, the Indian team, which will feel disgruntled with the whole affair. Chappell,then, will have to work harder than ever to rebuild trust between various sections of the team as also between himself and the team. If Chappell eventually leaves in despair, which is not totally unlikely, it will be a terrible advertisement for Indian cricket. A man as senior as this leaving the team's coaching assignment can only spell another few decades of sub-standard coaches for this team. Chances are neither of these situations will happen and the board will push the dirt under the carpet as it always has and wait for things to work themselves out. Which is even worse because we have a simmering ego in Ganguly and a never-say-never coach in Chappell. It would seem we may only see a short-term compromise until Ganguly decides to look his future in the eye and bow out gracefully instead of tarnishing a legacy he has worked so hard to build.
Poetry
It's been quite a while since I wrote poetry of any character, even if it was solely my opinion that it possessed character! Meanwhile, while listening to an Iron Maiden song "Revelations" got me back to the days where every word well written in a rock song would send me to another level of bliss. The first few lines in the lyrics to "Revelations" are taken from a beautiful poem by G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton's poems are characterised by their strong Catholic sentiment and are wonders of prose. The command on words and the imagery are joys. What is even better is when a rhythm/lead guitar riff sets the lyrics into rock-song mode and a band like Iron Maiden do perfect justice to the man's prose (which of course, he might well not have approved of!!).
Life
Life continues, in all its mediocrity,oscillations and external stimuli..so does, existence have meaning? Or does meaning have existence? It's all in your mind....