A cricket commandment

Trust the Sardar of Spin to brush aside the hype and zero in on the hypocrisy that underlines the marketing and promotional binge that the run-up to the World Cup is. 8220;The great commandment of cricket,8221; says Bishan Singh Bedi, 8220;is, thou shalt not be negative.8221; Point noted. As the perennial cricketing tamasha hits its four-yearly crescendo, the Indian squad is all over the place: endorsing everything from exorbitantly priced Swiss watches to your average fruit jam and thirst-quencher; glancing skywards for the game8217;s biggest glory and pitching the tricolour triumphantly in an all-out attempt to maximise an already record viewership; featuring in feel-good programmes on sports channels as they compete with the political crisis unfolding in New Delhi. Everywhere, that is, but in hard-nosed, brutal analyses of the task ahead, of the pathetic display of batting, bowling and fielding against Pakistan in the months past. But then, that wouldn8217;t do, would it? The nail-biting suspense, the reinvention ofrivalries to keep millions on the edge of their seats for hours on end, hinges on fudging the record books, on seeking the odd patch of blue in the grey English skies.

And so it is with the hallowed chronicler of the game, Wisden. In a guide to the tourney, it claims that India is arguably the best equipped team to win the World Cup this summer. Barring the obvious no-gos like Kenya, Bangladesh and Scotland, the volume no doubt makes much of each team8217;s strength and hushes any blatant weaknesses. Surely no one can find fault with the emphasis on Sachin Tendulkar8217;s magic bat and on Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad8217;s pace attack. Admittedly, the guide is Wisden8216;s attempt to grab a bit of the merchandising pie and its authors are keen to cater to every fan8217;s enthusiasm 8212; but to point to India8217;s 8220;successful8221; tour of England in 1996 as the basis for this claim is definitely obfuscating history. Cricket fans can still remember an Indian squad shivering through that early English summer intheir light woollens, a batting line-up for the most part unable to come to grips with the seaming pitches and a bowling attack incapable of capitalising on Srinath and Prasad8217;s opening spells.

The bookies, an integral part of the cricketing establishment now, too have only good news for the subcontinent. India has been rated 12-1 along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and, yes, South Africa mystifyingly, England and West Indies are held in higher esteem. This is in no way to argue against India8217;s prospects. Sachin, backed by a Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly on song, could spell doom for any opposition; as could the presence of India8217;s success in locating a back-up seam bowler in Ajit Agarkar. But let8217;s not lose sight of the dismal season of early 1999, the team8217;s inexplicable tendency to crumble in competitive run chases, their dependence on designer pitches. For, the great commandment of cricket could lead to many more Calcuttas.