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I have heard of an enquiry commission being set up. I have heard nothing about educating players on their responsibilities and about the hazards of fame and money. The IPL is going to provide both in plenty and unless it takes upon itself the job of telling a few home truths to young men, it will turn out to be a seductress rather than a provider. Travelling around as I do with the Mumbai Indians, I have had the opportunity to talk to a few people and I suspect the disease of arrogance, and therefore the path to under-performance, is well and truly upon us.
A lot of our cricketers start early in life and since university education is considered unnecessary, and inter-university cricket is long dead, they step into a bubble very early. They are indoctrinated into a brotherhood where cricketers are considered hallowed, where favours are meant to be received as a matter of right and the arrogance that is the inevitable result closes the door to further education. As a result most of our young cricketers, so good at putting bat to ball, know very little else and indeed are woefully unprepared for a life beyond cricket. You would have thought that if there was only one thing they were good at, they would bow before it every morning, pay obeisance to it. But humility is not a very well understood word, I suspect it is not a very popular way of life either.
Harbhajan has already felt the effect and, as he ponders over what he has done, must be aware that while he has done very well for himself financially (in spite of the huge fine!), he does not have a future outside the game. Which is why I believe that this incident, should he choose to look at it positively, could well be a blessing in disguise. He is still fairly young and if he can keep his temper in check, could emerge a better bowler. But there is another candidate on the horizon and he needs to be checked now.
Readers of this column know of my fondness for Sreesanth. I find him naïve, gullible, obsessed with fame, a touch stupid at times, but possessed of the finest outswinger I have seen for a very long time. He is a young man full of spirit but, as I have now discovered, not too popular with either his team mates or the opposition. To be fair, you don’t play the game to be popular but his antics have virtually eroded everybody’s patience. I even fear we are on the verge of losing a bowler who, in partnership with Ishant Sharma, could potentially form India’s finest new ball pairing. Given that, is it the BCCI’s responsibility to rein him in and show him a world beyond petulance or do they just leave it to him? Becoming a rich organisation is one thing, becoming a caring one another. The obsession with one is leaving no room for the other.
A permanent manager could play that role. A tough patriarch or a caring elder brother. But we treat the manager’s job callously. Before a manager can get to know a player, the tour is over, another favour has been ticked off and new favour-mongering starts. The frivolousness with which the manager’s role has been treated is an indicator of priorities. A good manager can play a huge role in the development of young minds.
Finally, I notice that the ICC elite panel of umpires has two more names in it, neither of which is Indian. I am not surprised. One of our higher ranked umpires recently allowed four short pitched balls over shoulder height in an over in a 20-20 game and another chose to speak to the media rather than to the referee. If quality has to be a hallmark of our cricket it has to extend to all facets, not just the most visible.
(Commentator Harsha Bhogle is an advisor for the Mumbai Indians team)
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