Let the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council handle the issue for the future and let the respective teams get on with the game.
Leave Sydney behind. The match and the controversy have to be consigned to history. Let the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council handle the issue for the future and let the respective teams get on with the game. Lessons have to be learnt from this dark episode in the history of the game and it is important for all teams to take responsibility for the image of the game.
Any future pacts, if unavoidable, must be signed between the teams with everyone concerned involved and not just the captains. If everyone gets involved, then the pact becomes binding on the players. There is nothing wrong in it as long as the players understand the spirit behind having such a pact.
I know much has been said about cricket losing its culture of being a gentleman’s game. What began as a recreation has now developed into a professional sport. Nothing wrong. But why do we need to indulge in acts that bring bad name to this lovely game? Even the Olympics has gone through changes and cricket too needs to keep pace with times. It cannot afford to be engulfed in controversies at the end of every match or a series.
In the last decade or so, we have seen avoidable controversies on matters as over-rate, umpiring, comments by someone; I feel sad when I look back at how this game has come to mock at the traditions that made cricket such a spectacle. Professionalism should be welcome but not acts that bring bad name to the game. That is why I feel it is important that everyone take responsibility and not just leave it to the captains.
Perth will be a great challenge. And for many reasons too. The shadow of the Sydney Test looms large amidst reports that the pitch will be as fiery as it used to be when Lillee and Thomson shared the new ball. It will be the most important match of the series and I expect India to make changes - bold or otherwise - to take on the best team in the world.
India has to win the Perth Test to stay in the series. If India finishes with a 2-2 result in the Tests series it would be a victory of sorts for our boys.
I would play Virender Sehwag as an opener at Perth. He was picked for the series but then humiliated by being condemned to the bench. He is a batsman who can finish the game with his positive approach and that is what precisely India needs at Perth. India needs to shed makeshift arrangements.
If asked, I will suggest Sehwag to open because he is the only regular opener. Dinesh Karthik was forced to become an opener. Here I would like to remind people that every number in the batting order has its significance. As a player, you work for it. When you have a regular opener, play him. In days when Sehwag was in form the team would look for a partner for him. Today they are looking for a partner for Wasim Jaffer but then Jaffer is himself out of form.
If the team is willing to stick to Jaffer because of past form then why not extend the same encouragement to Sehwag, who is the most explosive batsman in this team and can meet fire with fire at Perth. It is also important to consider current form. You have to play the man in form.
cricketnext.com
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