India have some serious concerns

My search of the archives reveals that India’s last Test against Pakistan (January, 2006 at Karachi) ended in defeat, despite a hat-trick by Irfan Pathan in the first over of the game, and a fighting, strokeful century by Yuvraj Singh in his team’s second innings.

The defeat was wholly unexpected, so Anil Kumble will do well to be on guard as he leads India out for the first time at the Ferozeshah Kotla today. Winning the one-day series is no cause for complacency.

Kumble obviously has fantastic memories of the Kotla. Only two bowlers in the history of the game have taken all ten wickets in an innings, and the fact this feat came against Pakistan makes it even more academically significant.

But India’s new captain, who is also the oldest member of the team, is wise enough to know that past glory is never good enough for the present.

Indeed, he has some serious concerns even before he goes out to toss. Losing both RP Singh and Sreesanth is a double blow which could leave Kumble’s side defanged, unless the Kotla track is a turner which helps him and Harbhajan.

Munaf is the replacement seamer, but he has been out of big cricket for a while. And India’s batsmen will also have to make a quick adjustment from limited overs to five-day cricket.

Pathan, who took five wickets at Karachi in 2006, is currently out of the side, and Yuvraj, in spite of being in the form of his life, may not make the cut for the first Test.

Moreover, Rahul Dravid, is no longer captain, highlighting the topsy-turvy nature, sometimes farcical nature of Indian cricket over the past 20 months: and we haven’t yet begun discussing the imbroglio over Dilip Vengsarkar writing columns, or Shah Rukh Khan making his presence felt at various venues to the chagrin of the BCCI.

I believe the BCCI has been hair-brained and peevish in turn in these matters. Consequently, what should have been dealt with common sense or simple bureaucracy have become high-decibel controversies.

Should Vengsarkar be allowed to ventilate his views in print if he holds the post of chairman of the selection committee? There are pros and cons, if former and current players are to be believed, so the moral ground is tenuous. Where protocol and precedent are concerned, the matter is clearer.

If the BCCI doesn’t permit such writing, Vengsarkar must accept it — unless he contests the ban legally. My point is why should the BCCI have let the problem fester for so long? Why not slap him a notice at the first offence?

The pow-pow with Shah Rukh Khan is so frivolous that it is unfunny. Undoubtedly Shah Rukh is a big draw, but he does not go demanding television coverage.

The BCCI’s issue should actually be with the broadcast agency which covers the match, not the actor. The fact that Ratnakar Shetty and Rajeev Shukla see this from opposite poles speaks for itself the dichotomy within the BCCI.

This was the classic case of a storm in a tea cup. But I reckon free publicity never hurts; and I don’t mean Shah Rukh Khan.