A Beautiful Dream !
By: Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan
Umpire in the State Panel of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association
`NASA loses Columbia: the world loses 7 Astronauts’
`Ilan Ramon: A Beautiful Dream !’
These were the headlines in a British and an Israeli Daily respectively on February 2, 2003. The same day, a `National Newspaper’ in India SCREAMED with the banner-headline `We are Fit and raring to go: Sachin Tendulkar’.
If one is familiar with the passionate way the game of Cricket is followed by the Indian public, this would have been no surprise at all.
With the 8th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup competition in South Africa barely a few days away, the game is well and truly all-pervasive.
Add to it the hype generated by the corporate world wanting to cash in on this quadrennial opportunity, Cricket is on every Indian’s mind. It is almost omnipotent.
Every Indian worth his salt is WILLING the Indians to return home with the coveted prize. Tens of thousands of Indian supporters are traveling to South Africa to be part of the action, albeit from the sidelines and Millions more have conveyed their best wishes to the team through various activities – from signing `Good-luck’ bats to sending e-mails.
Special prayers are scheduled in many Temples, Churches and Mosques while many more are promised by the loyal fan if his God makes his Dreams come true.
The Indian Team, as many believe, can indeed pull it off. Although coming out of the recent poor form and going all the way will be a Miracle.
Miracles do happen. The young Turks Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif proved it one sunny mid-summers day at Lords. But Cricket, the game, is a Great leveler. Ask Steven Fleming, Andre Adams, Jacob Oram and Darryl Tuffey and they will vouch for it. And so will Saurav Ganguly and Co., even if not so openly.
Yes, this team has the `potential’ to go all the way. But this the MOST abused word in Sport. Every team has the `Potential’ but few convert it into reality.
One cannot rely on Miracles to happen every time. A few teams, like Australia, have made it a HABIT. They perform miracles so very regularly that it just ceases to be seen as a Miracle. Ask Steve Waugh and Herschelle Gibbs about a dropped catch; Michael Bevan and the Newzealanders about Jan 29, 2002; Andy Flintoff and Brett Lee about the recent VB Series Finals; VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid about the Kotkata test Vs Australia.
Teams like Australia seem to have an unlimited supply-chain of talented Cricketers. They are able to say NO to the Waugh twins, Stuart Mcgill, Love, Blewett and many more who will be able to walk into any other international playing eleven.
Even the Indian selectors have said NO to some talented cricketers – VVS Laxman has been miles ahead in terms of performance in the recent past than Dinesh Mongia (We are talking about contrasting batting averages of 46+ and 10 respectively in their last 10 ODIs). And Hemang Badani has better averages (with great fielding to boot) than either of the two. Or consider Murali Kartik who is left wondering what more he has to do.
Setting all these aside and coming to the team selected, there is an air of unpredictability surrounding the Indian team. They are Certainly NOT the favorites but they are most definitely one of the dark-horses.
On their day, if they are able to put their act together, they can surprise any other team on show. For that to happen, first and foremost they have to BELIEVE that they can win. This is where teams like Australia score over most others. Right from the word go, their positive body-language radiates high intensity and the hunger to win.
The Indians are in the tougher group and they cannot afford to relax as points are carried forward to the next stage. Winning eleven matches on the trot is a Huge ask for any team and that is why NO team is seen as a Clear-favorite.
A lot depends on Sachin Tendulkar who will be hungry after a rare lean-patch and who, when on song can decide any match single-handedly. And if Ganguly regains his magical touch, the opponents are in for a leather-hunt.
Not to forget Sehwag, who is probably the most explosive customer in world cricket at present. The popular opinion is that Ganguly and Sehwag must open the innings with Tendulkar coming in at number 3 and Dravid, arguably the most underrated cricketer today, following at number 4.
If Kaif and Yuvraj also get going, the Indians definitely have one of the best batting line-ups. But a lot will depend on their seventh choice – A wicket-keeper, a batsman, an all-rounder (if we indeed have one) or an additional bowler. No team can afford to have a dummy in the eleven. Whoever gets to play, he better perform if his team is to win.
The bowling department indeed looks weaker than some other teams but India never had an explosive bowling attack. With Srinath, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbajan, Nehra and Agarkar, the attack is quite experienced, and if they have learnt from their past and put their thoughts into action, they can indeed create problems to any batting lineup.
Another important factor will be Fielding. In today’s cricket, fitness and endurance play the most-important role in any team’s success. I am sure John Wright has worked very hard on this aspect and we will have to keep our fingers crossed till they deliver.
Let us all understand that Cricket, today, is Technology-intensive and every team will come out with an action-plan to counter every individual in every other team. Ultimately it will boil down to converting these plans into ACTION.
A lot of self-belief and a generous dose of Miracle are required now. Let us all hope that the Indians can play `out of their skins’ for the entire duration of the tournament and indeed emerge victorious.
Like every other Indian who has been associated with this great game, I too have a dream - about India winning the world cup. And I cherish every moment of the dream.
Oh, What a Beautiful Dream!!!
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posted by Venkatachalam Krishnan at 12:06 AM
