Mixed on the field, terrible off it

It was an unusual year for India’s talisman cricketer as well. His 15th year on the road was marred by tall contributions, inconsistency and injury. But more than anything else, the tide turned in the media. Where the opposition often spent late nights trying to find a fault, it was now the turn of the media. In their eyes Sachin Tendulkar could do little right off the field and on it too, people searched for doom like sailors might look for land.

True, he made 900 runs in the year, averaged 90, had three huge hundreds and true he didn’t play like the champion he once was. Neither did Zinedine Zidane, Shaquille O’Neill or Tiger Woods. Great players go through phases and we must let those linger before passing judgement on their imminent demise.

Zidane and Shaq might be coming to the end but is Tiger? Is Tendulkar? He still played better than most and it is a measure of his greatness that a year like that is considered an average one. Woods and Tendulkar might still be good bets for 2005.

India rediscovered Anil Kumble and that was the highlight of the year. In course of time he will play less one-day cricket and that will allow him to retain his potency. But he must not be pushed towards that moment. He is honest and proud and more than anything else a great team man. The day he thinks he cannot deliver he will know and we must let him find that moment for if he fails he will hurt more than us.

If Indian cricket was a mixed bag on the field, it had a terrible year off it. In course of time, the best teams in the world will be the best administered; those that play the best domestic cricket will play the best international cricket. On both counts India are in trouble.

The two-tier elite group in the Ranji Trophy is better than what came before, but almost anything would be. There are still too many teams and no more than ten should be playing the elite group. There is still no high-pressure one-day tournament and only the daily press seems interested in anything other than international cricket anyway.

The television rights issue was poorly handled. Some thought the BCCI was smug, others thought greed was the defining factor and they were not wrong. Cricket is still in the courts and it is suffering for it. There is no accountable leadership and there is no television partner and without those two, no sport in the world can flourish.

Elsewhere, England were the fastest growing team but Australia were still the team of the year, brushing aside competition like always. The only blip came from a strangely closed mind about a pitch in Mumbai. For a couple of hours Australia didn’t compete and they will know that.

But McGrath and Warne are strong again, Lee cannot find a place, Gillespie is only their third best bowler, Gilchrist continues to plunder, Martyn and Langer have matched, even outdone, Ponting and Hayden, and Clarke has shown that he is the future.

Standing against them is a team that has cast aside its smugness. England were regarded as antique and fragile, they are now contemporary and have embraced steel. Strauss, Flintoff and Harmison are their torchbearers but a team is only as good as its supporting cast. There England have Trescothick, Thorpe, Hoggard and Giles; no-frills, hardworking cricketers.

They must compete in the Ashes in June for this is their best opportunity to undo 15 years of lethargy. The world needs England to be strong as it does India and the West Indies.

There is much to look forward to in 2005. Pakistan versus India and Australia versus England. Hopefully those that watch it at home or pay to go to a cricket ground will get their due as well.