Blaming Dhoni for the defeat is pointless!

The writing was on the wall for many many weeks. The India T-20 World Cup squad was basically a good team, capable of winning any cricket tournament. Unfortunately, it is also the most over-worked team in the world. Mahindra Singh Dhoni, the captain himself could do with some much needed rest. It is absolutely insane the way some of our best players have been over-exposed. Ishant Sharma has been used like a work-horse for two years without a break. BCCI could break him apart just like they did with Irfan Pathan. Besides, a young captain like Dhoni needs a veteran in the slips for a second opinion. Sachin Tendulkar or even Rahul Dravid could give the required input, standing beside a wicket-keeper captain in times of crisis. Mahi (Mahindra Singh Dhoni) looked confused when Zaheer Khan failed to use the bouncy Lords pitch to his advantage. R P Singh pressed his attack with reasonable line and length but Ishant Sharma lost the momentum. Ishant has been out of his league for a long time, he needs to recharge his batteries. He gave 10 extra runs just too many. Yuvraj Singh as a bowler was a very bad idea at that time, Yusuf Pathan could have been a better alternative. But this is all 20-20 hindsight, the important point is that we win some and we lose some. What matters is that we play good cricket for the long run.

Sachin Tendulkar is the only Marathi left…

There was a time when the Indian Cricket Team was dominated by cricketers from Maharashtra, specially from Bombay. Today, Sachin Tendulkar is the only Maharashtrian left in Team India. It is a matter of months before he too retires and then there would be no Marathi representation from the state. Does that mean that Raj Thackeray would not allow any cricket matches to be played in Bombay’s Brabourne Stadium or Wankhede Stadium unless there are a certain percentage of Marathis in the team? Even if Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma are in the team, they are not the sons of the soil! The point I am trying to make is that we are one country and one people. Sachin Tendulkar is the pride of all India and not just Maharashtra!

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Bombay, India. His father Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler but Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee discouraged him to do that. Instead, Lillee urged Sachin to focus on his batting. On December 11, 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not-out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat, making him the youngest cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut.

Mumbai Mob is on the way out of BCCI…

Former India cricket captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth became the new Chairman of the National Senior Cricket Selection Committee on September 27, 2008 replacing Dilip Vengsarkar at the helm of affairs. Sharad Pawar stepped down as the Board President of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and was succeeded by Shashank Manohar. Sunil Gavaskar has already resigned from ICC (International Cricket Council), Ravi Shastri is no more the coach and Sachin Tendulkar in not going to be included in the team beyond 2009. This would finally bring to an end the Marathi Century of Cricket in India.

Hopefully, this would open the opportunities to a lot of cricketers from smaller states and smaller towns. BCCI is the main governing body for cricket in India. It was established in 1929 and uses government-owned stadiums across the country for a nominal annual rent. Now, BCCI circumvents any other organizations to use similar facilities. Legally, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is a private club, it does not permit any competition. The new board members might be a little more accommodating! The BCCI is the richest administrative body in the Indian sports domain. In 2007-08 for instance, the BCCI’s annual income went past Rs 1,000 crores for the first time in its 79-year history. It has more money annually than the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The cricket board is now in such good financial condition that it has instituted a pension scheme that covers more than 860 former players, umpires and widows of the former players. This initiative has provided the social security to the cricket fraternity to pursue cricket as their sole profession. It is good for the game and good for the professionals. In addition to this, the board has spent Rs 313 crores on cricket related infrastructure during the past three years. A similar amount has been passed on to the  20-plus State Associations. The BCCI spends 26% of its annual budget as payment to its top-of-the-line players for the domestic as well as international performances. Cricketers in India are rich by any standard.

Maharaja of Patiala, H H Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Bahadur, was one of the chief patrons of cricket in India. He led the first unofficial tour of an “All India” team to England in 1911. The concept of a central control authority was never deliberated upon till the end of World War I in 1918. The ICC (former Imperial Cricket Conference) allowed a couple of representatives from the Calcutta Cricket Club to participate in their conclave held at Lord’s on May 28, 1926 on the condition that Indians would soon form a central authority for cricket. Because of this stipulation by ICC, the representatives of 45 clubs from different parts of India met at Roshanara Club in Delhi and formed a central board for cricket on November 21, 1927. W J Cullen and J E MacDonell were appointed as honorary joint secretaries of the provincial board.

This temporary board was dissolved in 1928 and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was constituted in its place. The first President of BCCI was R E Grant Govan, and A S De Mello became the founding Secretary. The Board met on December 4, 1928 and the meeting was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1929, BCCI got affiliated to the Imperial Cricket Conference. De Mello succeeded Govan as the Board President and later helped create the Cricket Club of India (CCI) at Brabourne Stadium. This became India’s first permanent cricket venue.

Modi saab, what happened to your vion (vision)?

Lalit Kumar Modi has transformed Indian Cricket into a money-making machine. This machine would continue to make money as long as the home team wins, or atleast be competitive. That is not what we are witnessing in Sri Lanka since July 23, 2008. The disgraceful display of incompetence that the Indian Test Team has shown is beyond comprehension. It is not only the pathetic performance of our fast-aging players, it is the sheer stupidity of the selection board of BCCI. Either they are brain dead or are typical Indian Babus who are bribed to their eye balls. What else would justify such a selection? There are rumors that Sachin Tendulkar might join Bollywood. I would suggest he should find some role in his films for Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. Every time they screw up, their expressions are worth watching. I would also urge our patriotic big-wigs of Bollywood to find suitable roles for Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan. Sourav Ganguly is not bad-looking either.

Lalit Modi, Vice President of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), was born on November 29, 1963 in New Delhi, India. He is the son of KK Modi (Krishan Kumar Modi), the eldest son of Late Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi (Founder of the Modi Group). Lalit Modi attended Duke University in North Carolina for a degree in management during 1980s, but had to depart in a haste in the wake of charges of drug abuse. He came back to India and worked for Estee Lauder. He soon started working for Godfrey Phillips, a Modi Enterprise. Lalit Modi’s forays into Indian cricket began with the RCA (Rajasthan Cricket Association). The Rungta Family ruled RCA as their own fiefdom and had a powerful grip over the BCCI. Modi, with the help of Punjab’s Inderjit Singh Bindra, managed to overthrow the Rungtas from the BCCI, via the courts. He emerged as a new power broker and it was here that one could see the personality of Lalit Modi. There was a new dawn over the BCCI horizon.

The next step came in late November, 2005 when anti-Dalmiya forces rallied around for what would turn out to be the most acrimonious BCCI board election in decades. Jagmohan Dalmiya (erstwhile President of BCCI) was defeated and Sharad Pawar (Union Agriculture Minister) was installed as the new President of the Board of Control for cricket in India and Lalit Modi emerged, grinning triumphantly, as one of the youngest-ever BCCI vice-presidents. Since then, BCCI has emerged as the richest administrative body in the Indian sports arena and is in the process of overtaking England’s Cricket Board. BCCI was established in 1929.