Turning Points: Indian Cricket

16th November 2013 will be remembered as one of the most momentous day for Indian Cricket, a day of both joy and sadness, of hope and agony. It witnessed history in making, the end of unforgettable era of Sachin Tendulkar, India's second consecutive innings victory over W. Indies, six test victories in a row, mesmerizing spell of Ojha and Ashwin and Sachin becoming the youngest person to be awarded Bharat Ratna. It has been a day of mixed feelings; a day charged with high emotions and will continue to be talked about in the days to come.

While 16th November, 2013 will definitely be a watershed in Indian Cricket, I find it tempting to go back to the past and try to find some major turning points in Indian Cricket in its march till date. The first major break through Indian Cricket got was when India got the status of a test playing team with its Test debut at Lords against England way back in 1932. Till that time India was hardly recognised in the International cricket though Indian teams did make some unofficial trips to England prior to 1932 to play some county matches. The next year saw Lala Amarnath becoming the first Indian to score a century in a Test match. Although Ranjitsinhjee and Duleepsinhjee two outstanding batsmen of their times scored centuries in Tests before Amarnath scored his century, their names will not be found in the annals of Indian Test Cricket as both of them played for England and not India.

!959-60 home series against Australia was a major watershed as in the second Test that series India’s Jasu Patel almost single handed demolished the then invincible team of Richie Benaud’s Australia and gave India an almost unimaginable victory. Between 1932 and 1959 though India did record some Test victories against the minions of the cricket during the period like New Zealand, Pakistan and a totally depleted English team, Indian team was never a serious a challenger to countries like England, Australia and West Indies. Jasu Patel’s achievement demonstrated that India can also pose a serious challenge to the high and mighties of cricket. Though in the subsequent years for a long time India’s performance continues to be dismal, the Indian fans could at least start dreaming of India’s victory even against strong teams.

The emergence of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as captain of Indian team was another turning point in Indian Cricket. Pataudi apart from being a great batsman of his time proved himself to be a great captain, a leader who could lead from the front, motivate the team by his own example of playing fearlessly against the best of the bowling attack even with the severe handicap of playing with only one eye.

The emergence of Sunil Gavaskar in 1971 was a major landmark in Indian Cricket. Although India did have some great batsmen in the past, Gavaskar was probably the first Indian batsman who showed infinite appetite for runs and was not happy unlike his predecessors with few brilliant performances here and there and in the process went on to amass runs in such a way that records which were considered to be the sole preserves of English and Australian players got broken by him. He became the first cricketer to score 10000 runs in Test cricket and also surpassed the once thought unbeatable record of 29 Test centuries of Don Bradman.

The emergence of spin quartet of Prasanna, Bedi, Venkataraghavan and Chandrasekhar was yet another turning point giving the much needed teeth to the bowling of the Indian team.

The appearance of Kapil Dev on the Indian cricket horizon as a genuine fast bowler and world class all rounder was yet another turning point of Indian cricket. India’s lifting of the World Cup under his leadership was one of the most memorable events of Indian Cricket.

Sourav Ganguly’s taking over the mantle of leadership of the Indian team greatly changed the attitude of the players of the team. He was able to mould the players into a winning team, a team that was not satisfied with any thing less than an outright victory. M.S. Dhoni the present captain of the team is a cool and calculated leader who like Sourav believes in winning matches for India and has been able to lead India to victory in all major International cricket events.

But before Sourav or Dhoni it was Sachin Tendulkar’s appearance in Karachi Test way back in 1989 the most important turning points of Indian Cricket as never before any Indian batsman apart from Gavaskar could dominate the batting department as Sachin did in the years that followed. Sachin Tendulkar though physically not a tall person strode the cricketing world like a colossus. He went on to break almost all the records in batting in all formats of the game. His batting statistics is awesome, his consistency was incredible, his commitment to the game was exemplary, and his dedication was total.

The void that was created in Indian cricket with the retirement of Gavaskar was quickly filled in with Sachin stepping in. Now we have to wait and see whether the void created with Sachin bowing out will ever be filled and if it is at all filled when and who will do this. That day will be yet another great turning point of Indian cricket.               

    

Indian Cricket, now and then

As India wrapped up West Indies second innings in the recently concluded Eden Garden Test in less than one day and earned an innings victory within three days of what was supposed to be a five day match, my mind goes back to 1958 when I, then a schoolboy in a junior class started listening to radio cricket commentary. That was the time when West Indies was touring India devastating the Indian team with both bat and ball so much so that when India after loosing four tests in a row managed to draw the fifth and final test of the series, it was held as great achievement by India. That was the series when Sobers and Kanhai were attacking Indian bowling like merciless butchers and Hall and Gillchrist were playing havoc with the Indian batsmen. 

We can visualise in our mind the joy and jubilation of India’s cricket lovers  after India managed to draw the fifth test match in 1958 against West Indies. If we compare the same with the thrills and suspense on the third day of the recently concluded test match against West Indies where the spectators and cricket fans were hoping against hope that West Indies would survive the day and India get a chance to bat in the second innings thereby giving the spectators a chance to see Sachin bat once again, then only we will realise what a transformation has taken place in Indian Cricket over the years. What a fall of the West Indies from what it was in the past and what a meteoric rise of the Indian team! A team that used to gladden the hearts of its fans once upon a time by just avoiding defeat and ensuring  what our sports commentators of that time used to call a honourable draw is now one of the strongest in the world and is not happy without a comprehensive victory.

While it is for the analysts and the serious students of the game to figure out the factors responsible for this positive transformation, I only wonder why such positive  things are not happening  in other areas. India’s performance in hockey these days is dismal. India seven times Olympic champion is a non-entity in today’s hockey. India’s show in other sports has been far from encouraging. Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha are till date the best ever athletes India has produced. The most ardent supporters of Indian Cricket in 1958 would not have imagined in their wildest dreams that a day would come when Indian fans confident of India’s victory will be actually praying that the opponent avoids innings defeat so that they get a chance to see their hero batting again. If such changes can happen in cricket why can it not happen in other sports or for that matter in other areas of activities? Let us fervently hope that performance in cricket will be replicated in other areas also and India will emerge as one of the leading nations of the world in all spheres of human activity in not too distant future. 

    

   

Aadhaar

Aadhaar or Andhera

Will Aadhaar scheme introduced by the Govt.bring andhera (darkness) in this festive season of light to us who are yet to get their Aadhaar cards by depriving us of our legitimate quota of subsidised LPG cylinders? When the scheme was announced some years back we were given to understand that Aadhaar card will be an unique identification card replacing all the existing ID cards and Aadhaar card holders will not require any other documents to prove their identity and nationality and it will be accepted by all Govt. and non Govt. organisations. A high powered authority was formed headed by an eminent I.T. expert who was given the status of a Central Minister to roll out the scheme. However as the years rolled on doubts were being expressed about the acceptability of this card by the banks and other organisations and some ministries in the Central Govt. It soon became apparent that Aadhaar will not be a replacement of the other ID documents but an addition to the existing ones.

Then came the announcement of the Government’s grandiose plan to release various Govt. subsidies meant for the poorest of poor (BPL category people) to the beneficiaries direct through their bank accounts. In this proposed scheme of things it was decided that Aadhaar card being a bio metrical card which can not be forged will be used to identify the beneficiaries eligible for the subsidies.

So far so good for urban middle class people like us who were not eligible for subsidies meant for BPl category people and were having already other I.D.cards to prove their identifications wherever required. We were therefore not concerned about the difficulties that the poorest of poor will face in getting their Aadhaar nos, opening accounts in banks and the complex process of linking their Aadhaar nos. to their bank accounts.

Then came the bomb shell for us when the Govt. curtailed the number of subsidised LPG cylinders to be provided in a year to 6 (later raised to 9) and further compounded our problems by coolly announcing that the subsidy portion of the cylinder will be credited to the bank accounts linked to the Aadhaar numbers of the consumers. This means that those of us not having Aadhaar cards will not get the benefit of LPG subsidy. Not withstanding the Supreme Court’s interim judgement that Aadhaar is not compulsory for getting the benefit of  social sector subsidies like the LPG subsidies, the Govt. is going ahead with almost missionary zeal in instructing the various oil companies to implement the Aadhaar linked release of LPG subsidy scheme from different dates in different districts without showing matching concern for the need to ensure that all consumers get their Aadhaar cards and get them linked to their respective bank accounts well in advance. There is every possibility that the scheme instead of preventing the leakage of subsidy, the purpose for which the scheme was conceived will actually deprive large number of genuine consumers of the benefit of subsidy to which they are entitled.

The recent press report of West Bengal Chief Minister expressing her displeasure in the matter and her reported writing to the Prime Minister is a silver lining against the backdrop of shadow of uncertainty engulfing those not having Aadhaar numbers. Her remark that centre can not do away the LPG subsidy till all consumers get their Aadhaar numbers and  if need be her boys will gherao IOC offices should be music to the ears of those who are yet to know how to go about in getting their Aadhaar numbers. Her suggestion that centre should provide lockers to the citizens to keep their various cards can not be brushed aside as a mere joke  because of the hassles the common men face in getting various cards to satisfy the requirements of the various authorities.