Back To The Drawing Board

I cannot say that I am pleased with the ICC decision that Darrell Hair willno longer umpire international matches, since that is not me. I do not takedelight in someone's plight. Personally, I had forgiven him for the Ovalmishappening where Pakistan, it has now been proved, was wrongly accused ofball-tampering.

But the International Cricket Council was in an unforgiving mood. Since themeeting was attended by the heads of most national cricket associations, I wouldlike to believe they arrived at the decision after due care.

It has pained me to see the bans on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Both areour lynchpins and they would be missed in the upcoming series against the WestIndies. I do believe that they took the banned substances unknowingly and hencethe ban on them is a tad harsh.

I have spoken to Shoaib since the ban came into effect and he, as can beexpected, is devastated. Both his reputation and career have come crashing down.There is no knowing how his tomorrow would shape up. As of now, appeal againstthe sentence looks his only hope.

I really am in no position to comment on what transpired in the panel'shearing since I was not there. I would not know if they failed to put up astrong defence or if the case against them was carefully structured.

I instinctively though feel that cricketers from the sub-continent would notdo it on purpose. They are not drugs or medicine savvy. It must be inadvertentor at somebody's behest. I doubt if the purpose was to enhance theirperformances.

I do not rule out though that cricketers around the world could be tempted totake recourse to drugs in order to recover quickly from injuries. They want tobe back on field as early as possible and hasten their recovery process. Hence,the temptation.

The important thing to consider here is the cause of such spate of injuries.Most of it is because of the unending saga of one-day cricket. There is no breaktill relentless cricket takes it toll. It is not as if cricketers from Pakistanalone are getting injured. The pattern is the same, be it in England orAustralia.

The case of one-dayers is different from Tests where you get to stay at avenue for at least seven days. In one-dayers, most of the time you are headingfor airports after finishing a game. The constant travelling, waiting at theairports and all those check-in at the hotels are extremely draining. Cricketersare feeling the heat.

It has also not escaped my notice that all the sub-continental teams werefound wanting in the recent Champions Trophy. We have to really bring up ourfitness and fielding standards, not to mention the focus if the trend is to beavoided in the next World Cup. We really need to be united as one in ourpurpose. Such an attitude can move mountains as teams like New Zealand, and nowthe West Indies, regularly exhibit.

I do not think the West Indies is studded with stars yet they seemed moved bya common purpose.

In contrast to most teams, India has a most experienced batting line-up. Yet,most have failed collectively. I do not think there is an issue with VirenderSehwag's technique for he has batted in the same manner in the past and scoredruns by hundreds. He is a batsman who thrives on confidence from self orbestowed by others. He needs to be told that he is wanted.

Sachin Tendulkar too is only 33 and pretty young when compared to someonelike me. He is a peerless batsman but a human too and failures are inevitable.Nothing in life is constant so why form should be? Such batsmen do not losetheir touch in one or two months. They are good enough to turn the match on itshead. It's only a matter of time.

The pattern which has emerged in one-dayers is that if you can retain yourwickets in the early overs, you can score as many as you want by the time theovers run out. Hence, it is important to send regular batters at the top of theorder. Someone like Irfan Pathan, I don't think, can occupy that positionregularly.

Sometimes a flat wicket and low total can prompt a captain to pitchforkPathan but doing so regularly is asking for trouble.

India has chosen to confront the recent setbacks by falling back uponseniors. I see the likes of Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble are back for SouthAfrica. It must inspire a new bout of hope in the likes of Sourav Ganguly andVVS Laxman. It cannnot be that Ganguly has run out of his skills at such a youngage. If he can consistently score in domestic competitions, he should be back inthe thick of things.

There is no denying the importance of experience in crunch moments. Whileeven an average talent can prosper in regular situations, an experienced hand isrequired when matters become tricky. A youngster, unused to an unusual situationand the pressure of international cricket can lose his head. A senior on theother hand can draw on his experience to pull the team through.

I do not know Greg Chappell enough to say if he is hard-headed. But I do havean opinion on the kind of coach a team should have. A coach should always befriendly in whose presence cricketers feel comfortable to share their intimatethoughts and fears. He should inspire trust failing which the unity of the teamcould get affected.

PTI