Can Dhoni Men Conquer New Zealand?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Save Sub-Continent to Save Cricket
Take away sub-continent from the world of cricket, you have mere five teams playing Test cricket! Zimbabwe already in oblivion with many teams refusing to tour due to political uncertainty, Bangladesh on other hand is struggling to build a competitive team has an axe hanging over its test status. I am afraid, Pakistan may have well joined the bottom of the list, post Lahore.
It was always believed that sportspersons won’t be terror targets; sadly it is no more a joke. I feel sorry for the Lankan team being on the receiving end, though I am now happy and relieved that we still have a strokeful Sangakkara, magical Muralitharan and a dependable Jayawardane with us.
Aftermath of the attacks have caused a serious doubt in the minds of players taking part the in the lucrative IPL, though the league Chairman Lalit Modi has maintained that cricket is safe in India. Looking at the number of terror attacks since January 2008 one has to admit that the assumption can only be a myth.
I was there on the first day morning of the Chennai Test at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium; there were lots of talks a week before about the security after the Mumbai terror strikes. I felt that something was missing. It wasn’t usual. Slowly I realized that the boundary line was circled by armed commandos and not ball boys! The Chepauk appeared a fort. This is no kidding. Imagine 5000 policemen and 300 commandos were deployed for security during the Chennai Test.
Cricket has changed forever, at least in sub-continent. If this is any sort of an indication the way game will be played in future, then the government of India or that of any other sub-continent nation should seriously consider recruitment plans soon keeping in mind the amount of international games played. IPL is no excuse; on contrary it demands more security.
Team of security officials landing before every series and weighing the security at every venue will become a common sight. Packed stadiums, banging plastic bottles on chairs and Mexican waves were customary at every venue but now, I am afraid crowds might stay home because of fear.
In a cricket frenzy nation like India where cricketers get more attention than its politicians one would considers himself lucky if Sachin’s Ferrari crosses by; getting his autograph is even bigger but a more stringent security will mean that no common man will get to touching distance of their cricketing heroes. I feel pity for them being big time losers.
Hereon cricket teams are not going to be comfortable touring Indian sub-continent. Neither there will be a sense of comfort nor assurance for the touring team, no matter how royal the security provided to them. Sponsors may back out fearing interruption during tours and cancellation of tournaments. A year back American billionaire Allen Stanford was flanked by all time greats Viv Richards and Ian Botham displaying billions of US dollars at a promotional event for Stanford Twenty20; now he is surrounded by cops for his involvement in fraud.
Clearly, world cricket is highly dependent on India to continue being its financial backbone. So for not one but many reasons, the game in sub-continent needs to be saved, if it has to aver its position as a global sport.
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