viewpoint

Adam Gilchrist has finally called it a day. Not that he has decided to retire when he is at the peak of his career. He had been saying for some time that his body wasn’t responding fully to the needs of international cricket. He needs to be praised for realising and accepting the reality and quitting before being kicked out!

Australian cricketers have time and again chosen to retire when at their peak. This includes Warne and McGrath last year. Sadly this is not true for Indians. We have some stubborn gentlemen heel bent on being kicked out.

Vengsarkared is being coined as a new term for individuals in any field who fulfil any one or more of the following criteria:

1. Someone who is axed even after being consistently good in form/performance
2. Someone who is too smart for the team leader
3. Someone who is in his mid-thirties
4. Someone who has scored more than 10000 runs (in cricket), e.g., Dravid and now Ganguly.

(Note: Sachin could be the next, going by criteria 3 and 4 above, but he will escape the axe because he is a Maratha)

There could be more attributes, which readers can suggest. In fact this term can be used in any field for someone who has always felt s/he was doing as well as s/he could. But suddenly s/he is dumped to satisfy the ego of the powers that be. If this term were to gain acceptance, Indians could proudly claim to have added one more to management jargon.

Team India’s win over Australia in the Perth Test was the result of a great team effort. The hurt Indian tigers roared, determined not to give away a corner. The fighting Australians’ best moment was the 73-run slog by Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark towards the end of the match.

What was the tonic that boosted the Indians? Sydney and its aftermath definitely had a role to play in the way Anil Kumble and his team bounced back. Of late Indians have shown the Australians time and again that they will not suffer any obscenity. In fact Anil Kumble’s “monkey” dance after dismissing Symonds reminded one of Ganguly’s response to Flintoff’s bare-chested tantrums.

The best part of India’s win was its team effort. Sehwag walked upto Kumble asking Ishant Sharma to be given one more over because he was in good rhythm and was troubling Ponting. And immediately Ponting edged to Dravid at first slip. Pathan’s return with a bang was another plus point. Credit has to go to Kumble for handling the team the way he did after Sydney. To ensure that the team did not go down mentally was largely due to his handling of the internal and external situation.

Kumble, in his short stint as captain, cannot be faulted for much. Except for the delayed declaration at Bangalore against Pakistan last month to ensure Dinesh Karthik’s half-century and the ticket to Australia, he has been flawless. But who knows - Karthik could be opening at Adelaide, given Jaffer’s poor form!

Since 2001, when Lata Mangeshkar was bestowed with the nation’s highest award - Bharat Ratna, India has failed to nominate someone of calibre to the exalted honour. What a shame then that instead of finding a person of irrefutable stature, politicians in India are busy lobbying for their own “men”.

The lack of consensus on issues has been a major casualty these days - be it the Indo-US nuclear deal or the running of Parliament. The government of the day has the onerous responsibility of taking every one together in a direction that benefits the nation as a whole.

There are a number of persons who have excelled in their areas and each one of them has unparalleled achievements. The government could well consider the following names for the award:
1. Public Service - Sundarlal Bahuguna, Medha Patkar, Baba Amte
2. Sports - Vishwanathan Anand, Sachin Tendulkar
3. Films - Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand

There could be many more names that can be considered, but only if the government is serious about the whole issue.

The silent aggressor has added a new dimension to team sports. By reaffirming the spirit of the game of cricket Anil Kumble has started a healthy debate. Even leading sportspersons from Australia are buying this theory and calling on Cricket Australia to end the disgusting behaviour of its world champion team.

Since the days of Steve Waugh, Australia have taken pride in their aggressive on and off-the-field behaviour. Thanks to the dubious role of umpires and the match referee, the sheen has been taken off Ricky Ponting’s team’s world-record equaling achievement. Instead of celebrating that record, Australia is bitterly divided over the way its cricketers behaved at Sydney. And nobody is blaming the Indians for crying over the loss. They have been able to show to the world that their defeat was engineered by some pretty bad umpiring decisions.

Winning is everything in this world but certainly not through dubious means. As Gandhiji had said the means are more important that the end.