Touch of Green !!

The shameful behavior of the Eden crowd is well documented in all papers and the Chappell finger controversy, the immense expectations have all but swept the euphoria of a 6-1 score line against SL. The Sourav issue keeps coming back, like a bad penny and this is going to spill over in the test team and mark my words – it is going to cast a deep shadow. Rahul has to accommodate Dada and Dada will create factions with in rather than bat since he knows where his skills are. Chappell, although endowed with a sharp cricketing intellect can not control so many extraneous factors like the BCCI hangama and at best of times is not known to be a very sportive gentleman. His tough exterior and a no nonsense attitude will be tolerated as long as there are wins. The moment that dries up, there will be no shortage of sharpened swords ready to pounce on the kill.

Going back to Eden - The jeers, the parochialism and the emotional attitude of many (and I hope that it is a small but pretty significant portion of the crowd) left a lot to be desired and at times, the men in blue would have wondered whether they are playing in India or not. Where do we draw the line here ? Kolkatta protesting because of Sourav's exclusion, Bangalore because of Kumble, Hyderabad because of VVS, Madras because of Dinesh Kaarthik and so on..Is Bengal bigger than India ?? hmmm....I remember back during the test series against WI in 1975, Venkat the captain of the 2nd test was made to carry the towel in the 3rd and was not even in the 4th test at Madras. The odd Chepauk fan did hold the poster 'No Venkat No test' but the Patuadi led team did not feel that they are not playing in India. One cricketer at the end of 4th ODI remarked 'Thank God,,we will be back in India tomorrow'..that says it all.
It is also fairly evident that the Eden curator Mukherjee refused to comply with the team requests for shaving off the grass. In the end, the tinge of green did more psychological damage to the men in blue than holding any real terror of bounce but it has to be said that here is a ground where Kumble once took 6-12 and where SL spinners turned the ball a mile, once under lights but Mukherjee preferred a green top !! Isn’t amazing ? Now, you add the problems associated with deciding the match on the non cricketing basis like that of spin of coin, dew factor and also whether the association belongs to Dalmia or Powar camp. Luckily, the last match is at Mumbai and hopefully Sudhir Naik, the Wankhade curator will shave off all the green from the wicket. But, I am told that even at Wankhade, the pitch has turned to be too flat and not like the one where India beat Australia in a test match a few seasons ago.

Now, let me stretch this Powar, Dalmia camp theory of associations to the SL test venues. The 1^st test belongs to the Powar camp (with Sreenivasan supporting him for a long time) but the rains have killed the preparations of Partha and gang. The 2^nd test – well that is at Kanpur and I am told that Bajpayee of UP cricket association is a strong supporter of Dalmia. Well, the green park wicket – whatever you do – nothing much worse than what it is already can come out. But a real under prepared wicket will help Murali more than the Indian spinners since he will be able to pitch one outside the pitch and can get still get the batsman bowled (or rather chucked I should say !!)

Picture Courtesy : India Times