Genial Giant defeated by Pygmies-Goodbye Dravid

(This blog has never posted before on topics related to Cricket.First attempt.Apologies for long ,incoherent rambling)


The Barron from Baramati, his unscrupulous cohorts in cricket babudom (epitomized by despicable scumbags like Congress MP Rajeev Shukla) and coterie of ex-cricketers turned expert commentators can now indulge in no-holds barred celebrations

Through their dubious machinations , these pygmies have managed to oust a truly outstanding man, in my assessment, the greatest Indian Test Cricketer ever. That is if one is willing to cut through the blabber and hyperbole of worthies in ESPN/STAR commentary box who refuse to recognize any batting geniuses in the crease unless the occupant is a particular man from Mumbai.

Just a quick backgrounder. A certain Marwari from Kolkatta with his shrewd business acumen had brilliantly marketed the game of Cricket in India .The cricket coffers had swelled to unimaginable richness. That the board operates with no transparency made it easy to use the funds for personal aggrandizement, supporting parasitic existence of cricket administrators and doling out coaching assignment/other goodies to small clique of ex-cricketers.Dalmia was making merry as full-time politicians of the country rued the lost opportunity of pocketing billions

Who better than a Sugar Baron turned politician to challenge the small -time Kolkatta businessman. The baron made his entry to the cricketing arena with sinister agenda and clear priorities. Infest the board with chamchas .Of course embezzling funds is most politician's first nature .Is BCCI's financial statement a public document?

Do you remember Paras Mhambrey? Along with Bhupinder Singh and Nilesh Kulkarni,he should be in the reckoning for the contest of most incompetent player to have ever donned the India colors. He is now the coach of India A team. Geoffrey Boycott in his sardonic manner dismissed Mhambrey as a bowler who cannot even get his grandma out in the backyard

And Lalchand Rajput? A strokeless Ranji Trophy wonder is now the coach of T20 team

Of course we have the farce of septuagenarian Borde, who instead of playing with his grandkids, is managing the Indian Senior Cricket team

And then there is the good Colonel, Chairman of selectors. One could ‘empathy’ with him as he expressed disappointment that his favored choices like rotund Romesh Pawar and Ajit Agarkar not fulfilling their ‘true’ potential with bat and ball.Allrounders they are for Mumbai team, Colonel added for good measure.

BTW if you didn’t bother to stay awake last night , Agarkar ,the most outstanding match winner in Indian line-up nearly delivered yet another match in his customary fashion , to Pakistan (the spirited last over from Sreesanth helped India’s cause).So what if likes of Badrinath will keep performing while ‘allrounders’ like Rohit Sharma will emerge out of nowhere to seal their place in Indian Squad.(Cortesy-being rated high by likes of Gavaskar and Shastri)

With yesman strategically entrenched in several positions,this insidious barron's lobby was bidding time in anointing their own man for the Indian captaincy.That he was not in semblance of his famed form did not help matters .Now the opportune moment has come when a man of true grit, character and integrity can no longer stand the dirty games the baron's lobby plays

Dravid might never go public. I am sure he must have thrown in the towel, frustrated at this team of vainglorious stars with bloated egos who refuse to accept their diminishing utility to the team . The petty politicking of these stars with unqualified backing of their benefactors in the boards administration and political circles might have ruffled the even usually unflappable Dravid.Add to that the cheap potshots taken at him by ex-cricketers not even worth half his calibre, both on and off the field. ,Dravid would have decided enough is enough

Rahul Dravid ‘s regime was path-breaking in the sense that it attempted to shift the focus from individual centric,’netagiri’ model based on whims and fancies of ‘Cricketing Maharajahs’ to performance oriented model with strong emphasis on the work ethics ,’team interest’ first .There was this daring step of blooding youngsters, kind of baptism by fire . Admittedly it failed .The dismal state of domestic cricket and barren cupboard of cricketing talent proved a huge stumbling block in effectively executing Dravid’s plans. .Not to say everything was great under Dravid’s reign. Glaring mistakes likes persisting with likes of Raina (hoping that they will deliver) and some baffling decisions can be cited by his critics as examples of often insipid captaincy

Dravid has been subject to unrelenting scrutiny and often undeserving criticism .The meaningless press conferences where he had to respond to over-the top criticisms by worthless ex-cricketers, the subtle mind games played by the selectors and of course the machinations of reunited Mumbai-Bengal lobby might have done him in

The next captain has already been decided (long back).As expected, there was not even single official statement from the BCCI acknowledging the contribution of Dravid in leading the team through tough assignments and often emerging triumphant. .Dravid will take this in his stride. Unlike the whimsical superstars,Dravid , the quintessential professional if there was one,will go about doing his job with clinical precision and minimum of ruckus and rage .

It also helps this lobby that Dravid carries himself gracefully,on and off the field. He will never indulge in dubious politicking like sharing platform with loud mouthed members of parochial regional parties with lung power to disrupt parliament providing them opportunities to foment passion by concocting imaginary conspiracy theories (that i...t Somnath who always bemoans fall in standards of Parliamentary debate was in the forefront of raising voice against the so-called injustice meted out against living embodiment of Bengali pride)

It shows the skewed priorities of the nation’s media that while captain of Indian team is subjected to that level of examination,not many questions are raised about how effectively the Baron is multitasking -his full time job of Global Cricket Administrator with his part time job which in case you have forgotten, is that of Agriculture Minsiter of Union government

Why bother about agrarian crisis looming large in the countryside .Blame it on lazy Vidaarbha farmers .There are millions to be made in awarding lucrative television contracts , staging cricket matches and forming new leagues . Unwashed masses will continue thronging stadiums paying astronomical prices for tickets. So what if they pass urine in the same place where they sit and lustily cheer Tendulkar and Ganguly taking the Kenyan bowlers to the cleaners.Come on its not the job of BBCI to build toilets in stadium

The Baron wields enormous clout in the media courtesy his financial might .And it helps if fellow state guys like Rajdeep Sardesai(son of late Mumbai cricketer D Sardesai) are ruling the roost in media world these days And finally there is always the reliable services of spinmaster Gupta guy to 'spin' his media image -Progressive politican with great vision, who turned Baramati to paradise by using free market economics and importing agriculture technology from Isreal .Add to that a suave and pretty Gen Next daughter politician.Gupta guy can really go bonkers.

Just imagine a NDA Agriculture minister fiddling in Cricket Administartion.Gupta ,Sardesai and Sec-Soc media might have had a field day."NDA minister negotiates lucrative cricket contracts as poor Vidarbha farmer gets Rs 1 Cheque".The headlines writers in CNN-IBN and IE would have screamed

Remember the commotion that Pawar and his chamcha Gavaskar created with the media help. Pawar's ’king –sized ego got hurt when Ponting gently pushed him from the podium(he had no business to stand there after giving the trophy)

With exit of Dravid,Indian cricket is now firmly in the control of these petty men.