Once selection is based on logic, Indian cricket will prosper

I wish to dedicate this piece to the memory of my wife's father who passed away three days ago. In a persistent race to find a place in th...

I wish to dedicate this piece to the memory of my wife’s father who passed away three days ago. In a persistent race to find a place in the sun, Manmohan Singh Chandok died in the saddle, so as to speak. A person who can predict his own demise has to be a special messenger of the creator. We disagreed on many counts but I always worshipped his urge for hard work, no matter what the circumstances dictated. About an hour before he breathed his last and fully in his senses, he took his golden jubilee wedding ring off and handed it over to his dear wife. I have seen many human partnerships break. This one was breathtakingly different and real. May his soul rest in peace.

Tragedies are as much part of our life as ecstasies, although the later are readily welcome. Even so, the show must go on. I am still in Kanpur, the birthplace of former South African coach Bob Woolmer. I would dearly love to extend a warm welcome to Hansie Cronje and his men on their second trip to India. May good and competitive cricketprevail in the next six weeks or so.Hansie’s first move has been first class. He has handled the Indian media with aplomb, a sure sign of a mature man at the helm. The nucleus of the South African side is more or less settled. So, the onus is very much on the home side to grab the initiative and make the most of this home advantage. I know it is easier said than done. But please, can we all be a little patient with both Kapil and Sachin ?

Yes, I am pleading because the cricketer in me has all the sympathies for Kapil-Sachin combine. The world knows our cricketers returned a battered lot from Down Under. That nightnare of a tour is history now. And as much, it should be confined to history books only.

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However, the need to create a fresh new image of Indian cricket has to be looked into. The only way we can do that is not by theorising but by practical inputs of `Think India’ syndrome. The serenity of the national cause ahead of regional considerations has to be seen on surface. Once the selection processgets based on logic and not logistics, I reckon Sachin and his lads are capable of bringing back the smile on cricket followers of the country. When we send people to the moon, we talk to them via sophisticated communications systems. But somehow, we are unable to talk to one another face to face. This has been a huge drawback of the present set of Indian cricketers.

Often, it is our inability to listen to what other person is trying to say that stymies us. We simply cannot express what we mean. It is about time we stop underestimating the power of communication; Sachin needn’t go to the bowler after every delivery. He needs to formulate strategy first of all himself and then let his colleagues do it every session with a distinct emphasis on `we’ instead of `I’. Indians must enjoy doing what they love and loving what they do with a national pride bordering on sheer junoon. That is what separates the Ausssies and the South Africans from other sports-oriented nations.

Indians have just finished with thefiercely loyal Australians. Surely, some of our certainties must have garnered the courage to take the professional risks to go for victory. Change the past to alter the present is the need of the hour for our cricket heroes.

The South Africans look a settled, collectively strong side. Physically strong and more athletic, Hansie’s men will be worth watching in their work-outs leave alone the official contests. I am looking forward to learning a few tricks of the trade from Cronje and his enthusiastic bunch.

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