Cycle-Stand Orators

Saurav Ganguly sometimes stretches on the field and feels his back. Must be searching for daggers. India's change of fortune has greatly reduced the dart population on the captain's back but he has kept some of them to throw back at former players. The team hasn't forgiven ex-cricketers for their polemic on TV after India's defeat to Australia. In Durban, Ganguly referred to Navjot Sidhu, without naming him, as "a joke" while adding a pointed "you know who I am talking about". The rest, he said, "are too ordinary to comment on". Sunil Gavaskar and Sidhu on ESPN and K. Srikkanth on SET MAX were among the chief critics of the team during the early stages of the Cup. Gavaskar said the cricketers were not patriotic enough, that they were concentrating more on making money than playing cricket. Sidhu had suggested that Dravid stand as goalkeeper for Manchester United.

An ESPN source says that its news team had to suffer the embarrassment of pacifying the players. Harbhajan reportedly complained to the peacemakers: "I play cricket for 250 days. If I make some money during the rest days, is it anybody's business?" Earlier, Srinath had stated before the match against Namibia that the commentators' remarks had made hooligans in India burn posters and pelt stones at cricketers' homes. While the ESPN commentators have mellowed down, Srikkanth continues to be offensive. For a man who makes observations like "Ganguly should come in to bat at number 14", it's self-defeating to make bloomers like calling Ricky Ponting "Ricky Martin" and Brian Murphy "Eddie Murphy". A few days ago, Ganguly and Dravid bumped into him at the Johannesburg airport. They had a long chat, but it's not clear if Srikkanth got the message that current cricketers have louder voices in the media than the former.