Though I don't yet have a protruding belly like Pawar and nor do I have had Guthka in my life and neither can I be as corrupt as the BCCI honchos, I was wondering what would I have done if I was a BCCI honcho after the WC debacle.
No overnight miracles - First things first, nothing can be changed dramatically overnight as to start with, we are not a sports nation at all. We don't ahve a sports culture. Rarely do parents encourage their kids to be sportsperson. I faced the same when I was 12. I wanted to follow cricket professionally but I was told that I had to be a nice boy, study and go abroad. So, till the time our culture does not change, we will rarely be consistent champions in any sport.
Coach - They say that the coach needs to be changed. I would agree. Not because I feel Chappell has done any wrong but just because that he now can never work in peace in India with media and public unfairly baying for his blood. So, for his better, he has to go. The question comes, who replaces him. I feel the best person to replace him would be Robin Singh. He has played international cricket till recent past and he showed a cool, intelligent cricketing mind whenever he was in the middle. Yes, he might have problem dealing with prima donnas who started playing international cricket much before Robin but then, the prima donnas need to come back to earth after this debacle. Robin can be a very good mentor for the youngsters and a good fielding coach is what India badly needs which he doubles up as.
Captain - There is no need to change the captain until and unless captaincy starts taking a toll on his batting. India needs Dravid as a batsman more. The reason I feel no new captain is that we don't have 1 single young player who has a secure permanent side in the team. Sehwag, Yuvraj etc are themselves on wrong footing right now as far as their own performances are concerned.
Youngsters - Steve Waugh was given number of chances before he became a true world beater during 1987 WC. Same thing with Andrew Flintoff. Remember how Marvan Attapattu started? A long series of blobs and low scores. So, why should India not invest more in Raina, Utthapa, Pathan, Piyush Chawla? It's time, they are given a long run without seniors breathing over their neck. Sachin and Ganguly should retire from one day cricket as they are surely not playing the next World Cup.
Prima Donnas - We need a plain talkers like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar to break the egos of some of our 'stars' like Sehwag, Yuvi, Dhoni. They need to be brought down for their own good.
20-20 Cricket - The 20 20 cricket is here to stay and this will dictate the way 50 over game is played too. We need more participation in these games.
Pitches - This is a demand which is older than Harappa now. We need to have good, sporting wickets. Let the spectators be disappointed if they don't see 600 runs in a day but we need wickets were bowlers have an equal chance too.
Media - Ban media from stupid over-exposure. All the old cricketers who are flocking the television studios should be given alternative employment so that they don't bore us with their idiotic comments. Imagine Kirti Azad talking about discipline. My boy, if you knew what discipline was, you would have played a lot more for India. Or imagine Sanjay Manjrekar talking about quick running between the wickets. Last time I heard him say that, I fell off my chair laughing.
And for the fans, well just go and enjoy the World Cup. I loved watching Aussies bat last night. Hayden was great but I am impressed again with Clarke. Some real class this lad has.
