V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly have scored hundreds and Irfan Pathan has given an all-round display, not to mention Harbhajan Singh, who has ended a wicket-drought by dismissing four lower order batsmen - all against the second eleven of one of the weakest teams in the world. Still, all will be forgotten and the Indian fan will now start rooting for India as though it were one of the top teams in the world. We love it don't we, both spreading the wildest rumours when India does badly and praising the team to the skies when it wins?

In a disturbing recent development, personal differences are surfacing and unseemly revelations are being made of behind-the-scenes skulduggery regularly these days. Sourav Ganguly reveals that he was asked to step down just before the Bulawayo Test, without naming the person who made the suggestion. He also claims that he is a supporter of Laxman unlike others in the team. Who are these others and why should their opinion matter if they are not the team management? What is the captain trying to do, drive a wedge between members of his own team? How then does he hope to build a strong Team India?

There are stories emanating from highly reliable sources that Ashish Nehra stormed into Rahul Dravid's room in Colombo demanding an explanation for dropping him in the tri-series opener. Zaheer Khan is said to have raised the issue of accountability of the team management for some selection decisions, like the exclusion of L Balaji for one of the games. Soon, statements by the new coach and others flew left right and centre, hinting at bad attitudes, dissension and what have you.

Now with the captain leading the wash-the-dirty-linen-in-public brigade, what hope on earth can be held out for Indian cricket? Don't you think any talk of India acquitting herself well in the 2007 World Cup is just so much pie in the sky?

V Ramnarayan

Published on Sept 22^nd,  2005