The problem now passes on to the selectors
With the announcement having been made that the Indian team for the Sahara Cup is to be selected on August 10, the excitement is palpable
Partab Ramchand
04-Aug-2000
With the announcement having been made that the Indian team for the
Sahara Cup is to be selected on August 10, the excitement is palpable.
Surely the release of no team in recent times will be awaited with
such keen interest as the squad for the Toronto series against
Pakistan. In fact, the excitement in a way is unique. In the past the
emotions and arguments centered around which players would be picked
or dropped, depending on their talent and form. This time chief
interest will centre around a few players and whether they will be
picked or not. And for a change, this reasoning will have nothing to
do with their cricketing ability but their alleged off the field
activities.
That there is a question mark over the selection of players like Md
Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and Nikhil Chopra and the coach
Kapil Dev is now taken for granted. In fact with each passing day,
opinion against them is solidifying. In the past, opinion polls were
far from accurate but of late, they can be taken as a reasonable
yardstick of the pulse of the people. And going by these, there is
little doubt that a majority of the cricket fans in the country are
not only convinced that the 'tainted' players are guilty, but many
also feel they should not be considered for national selection. The
Sports Ministry has made its stand clear that these cricketers should
either themselves drop out of contention, owning 'moral
responsibility', or not be considered for selection. The Board of
Control for Cricket in India, on its part, has stood by the adage that
a man is innocent until proved guilty and the president AC Muthiah has
made it clear that the players cannot be dropped just because they
face certain allegations.
Let's take a few opinion polls which have appeared in national
magazines lately. In one magazine, 65 percent feel Kapil Dev is guilty
of match fixing and 56 percent want him removed from his post. As many
as 78 percent feel the guilty should be dropped and 55 percent are not
in favour of the guilty being granted amnesty. More specifically, a
staggering 87 percent feel that Azharuddin is guilty of match fixing,
and 64 percent feel the same way about Jadeja. In another magazine, 61
percent believe that Indian players are involved in match fixing while
52 percent say that 'tainted' players should not be considered for
selection.
Muthiah has called for the CBI inquiry to be completed quickly. His
view is that the players are demoralised with the seamy events. This
is understandable. Certainly, they cannot be in a positive frame of
mind with the proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
But since it is certain that the CBI inquiry will not be over in a
week, there is very little chance of the allegedly involved cricketers
being selected, whatever the BCCI's stance may be. However, it is not
known whether the Chandu Borde headed selection committee has received
any instructions in this regard so all this adds spice to the
proceedings. But it is worth noting that the Board has always said
that it never interferes with the selection process.
However, when looks at the issue closely, is it really a major problem
that the selectors face? In the first place, the 'tainted' players are
by no means sure of a place in the side. Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja,
Nikhil Chopra and Nayan Mongia are all players who can be dispensed
with. A team can still be picked around Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav
Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad,
Robin Singh, Ajit Agarkar and a few young players including a new
wicketkeeper.
Indeed, if anything, the major problem seems to be centring around the
coach. Kapil Dev was appointed last September for a two year term. But
he is now in the dock, first because of non performance of the team
and second, following the serious match fixing allegations against
him. If the 'tainted' players are not to be considered, by the same
yardstick, Kapil Dev also should be dropped. Which means a new coach
should be appointed. Which again raises the question, should the
tenure be only for Toronto or for a longer period? The five match
series against Pakistan is the only international engagement for the
Indian team before the BCCI's AGM, generally held towards the end of
September, during which the coach is usually appointed. Yes, there are
a host of questions which have to be answered and the coming days are
bound to be interesting with hectic off the field manoeuvring. Watch
this space.