Timewarp Memon wrote:Perfect Memontos in retrospect
Like it or lump it. India have dislodged South Africa as the true challengers to Australia's supremacy in cricket : both tests and one-dayers. Till june last year, South Africa looked to be the only side with the all-round skills, depth in talent and motivation to upstage the champions. But since then, India have zoomed past SA with a series of impressive performances.
The thumping victory in Pakistan is obviously a factor in this assesment but not the only one. Apart from beating Pakistan in both the test and one-day series on their home ground, the Indian team has reached the finals of the world cup convincingly and taken a test off the Aussies on their home ground before drawing the series level. Even though other teams are not providing competitive enough cricket, the achievement is laudable because of the variety of conditions these matches were played in. And the world cup conquest became all the more special because it came after two humiliating series against the West Indies and then New Zealand.
The adaptability seen in the team recently was not in view during the two series mentioned above. But how rapidly they were improving was quite evident the way the men in blue took control of the world cup, giving even the aussies a big fright before running out of steam in the finals. And this was followed by the glorious Australia & Pakistan tours.
While this revival may appear mystifying, the reasons are quite fundamental. Getting some key players in place was crucial. A strike bowler (Irfan Pathan) who can extract deadly swing from any pitch, a specialist wicketkeeper (Parthiv Patel) who can also bat well, an allrounder (Sachin Tendulkar rediscovering his magic with the ball) who can win matches with both bat and ball, a pinch hitter (Virender Sehwag) who can also clock up huge scores and high quality substitutes (Mohammed Kaif & Yuvraj Singh) for the shorter version of the game. Add this to the solid technique and dependability of Rahul Dravid and the swinging yorkers of Zaheer Khan, not to undermine the importance of the turbanator Harbhajan Singh, there is no reason why we cannot have a winning team. No other side playing international cricket today can boast of such depth - except Australia.
But finding such players is one thing, making them work is quite another. Selection and captaincy are crucial in the effective use of such talent. It must do with consistency in choosing players and effecting a change in their mental attitude.
India's administrators have shown patience and vision, and Saurav Ganguly, fine imagination and leadership skills in effecting this transformation.
Ganguly is tough, demanding and discerning. Because he is willing to accept his players' limitations, he is able to get the better out of them. As any management guru will testify, there is no conundrum here: If individual members feel secure, the team must perform better. Many experts see a co-relation between the amazing rise in stature of Harbhajan Singh, and especially Yuvraj Singh to Ganguly's supportive approach to the team accompanied with his ideas.
Perhaps, Ganguly's approach has been the most important factor here. He wants to win, and therefore, plays to win. Australia were stumped for ideas when India toured them because India played less like India and more like the Aussies. They hit back strongly every time the Aussies tried to corner them, never letting the series slip away completely.
That's perhaps the only way to beat a better team and certainly the only way to be the top team in the world. That's the fundamental facet of sport that SA seems to have lost and India rediscovered.
It looks familiar Mr.Memon, doesn't it? Before you get me into some legal wrangle for plagiarism, read to the end. Be honest with yourself. Don't you think you would have written a similar article about India after the series in Pakistan? I didn't want to copy you. All I wanted was to make you realise that being an armchair critic is easy - probably the easiest job under the sun...oops...under the cieling of an airconditioned studio. Out there, on the field, you don't have the time to think, articulate and then speak. There, you just need to thinkinananosecond, decideinamicrosecond and act immediately. The players out there don't have the luxury of time when a Shoaib Akhtar is hurtling the red cherry at them.
While reading your article in the Times the other day, I couldn't help but laugh at your double standards. You're an old man and you've definitely seen more cricket than me. I don't think I need to tell you that cricket has always been called the most uncertain of games. We've had Kenya beating the Windies, Bangladesh beating Pakistan, and why go further, we recently saw the Windies creaming the pakis and England giving the Aussies a taste of their own medicine. The annals of the game are replete with such instances. When it is an accepted truth, why do you ignore it when India loses a match?
The press needs to have a second look at it's attitude towards the players. Remember that they are also human and are prone to follies. How can you place a player on the supreme pedestal one day and call him all kinds of names the next? You should exercise restraint while reporting. A win can make you euphoric and a loss despondent. But the media has a responsibility much bigger than that. You can neither be euphoric in your reporting nor despondent. Always remember that the common man forms opinions based on what you say. And that adds on to the players' plight. Remember Sehwag's unsure bat, Ganguly's shivering legs and Yuvraj's lack of smile? All this is because the media pounded them harder after every defeat. Please be more considerate towards the players and more responsible towards junta like us.
Finally, a word to all the fans out there. The players din't click..alright. But have a longer memory. Remember that these are the same players who got us so much happiness in recent times. Don't pay them back with barbed comments when they fail. Failure is human. Remember that nobody among us is perfect.
Except for the perfectionist ofcourse
