 Public memory is short
Granted Rahul Dravid's decision on winning the toss at Mumbai to field was a rank bad move on the part of the Indian captain, but the crowd's call for Sourav Ganguly to be brought back exceeded the skipper's choice in stupidity. Every captain and that does not exclude Sourav Ganguly has made
equally unwise decisions which have boomeranged on his team, and it has never been the signal for a demand for the recall of his predecessor. In the case of Rahul Dravid, it seems he has to prove himself every match. Mercifully, the Indian captain is endowed with a superb temperament unaffected by ups and downs.
A section of the crowd also disgraced itself by booing the priceless Sachin Tendulkar, but that was only a temporary aberration likely to be corrected the moment the master blaster scores his next hundred. Tendulkar is mercifully out of the game with an injury and has a great opportunity to come back to international cricket well rested and recharged, whenever he returns to the scene post surgery.
There is another new whipping boy in Virender Sehwag. How fickle are we the public and cricket experts of the print and visual media alike? Is an outstanding talent like the Najafgarh hero not entitled to some respect when he strikes a bad patch? How can we forget his famous exploits against the best bowling in the world in such a short while? Even knowledgeable critics - I can here mutters from some quarters that that is an oxymoron – are already baying for his blood, and that makes you wonder at the possibility of a nexus between the media and vested interests. Why don't we wait for a whole series before we pass judgment on a successful cricketer who has hit a trough in his career? In Sehwag's case, the selectors have not done themselves the favour of identifying a possible replacement for him at the top of the batting order. Even in the match between Rajasthan Cricket Association and an MCC XI, they did not attempt to blood a worthy successor.
After the creditable win in the opener of the ODI series at Ferozshah Kotla, the pressure on the Indians has eased a bit, and Sehwag should breathe easy. Here's an opportunity for him to come back into form.
V Ramnarayan
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