Here is the comment I posted on the Indian Express website in response to Harsha Bhogle's column - None to witness a sunset in Indian cricket history
To the best of my knowledge, a vast majority of the Mumbai players are in England playing Club/League cricket.
That is, if they are not donning the national colors.
You will be privy to more information in this regard that I.
I personally think its a cheap shot, calling out the Mumbai cricketers and accusing them of a lack of respect.
If respect is what you seek, it will be instructive to peruse through the list of Mumbai cricketers who donned India colors on the Mumbai Cricket website. And list down the names that are not there .
If you are looking for respect, look no further than the MCA. Who have yet to publicly facilitate thier players for engineering what is possibly the greatest turn around in the history of Indian domestic cricket.
And if it is respect you seek, please peruse through all the obits on Dilip Sardesai and list down those that eugolize his contribution in Mumbai winning an unprecedented 15 Ranji titles on the trot.
When, at an institutional level ( and I am not even thinking of the BCCI and their shenanigans with stopping Player pensions) there is no respect for the game or its players, why expect kids who have just broken into the game to show a sense of history?
When learned hacks think nothing of bypassing Dilip Sardesai's contributions to Mumbai's cricketing legacy, instead couching their obits around the West Indies tour of 71, why expect kids to know any different?
Why fob off our responsibilities on a generation whose ignorance we have lauded ( Virender Sehwag not knowing Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad's record) when we have all along encouraged this behavior?
Cheers
Thursday, July 05, 2007
I beg to differ
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10 comments:
I sincerely hope you get a response to this from Harsha, Homer. (as opposed to from a sub-ed at IE).
My lament (expressed earlier in comments here) against Harsha's writings off-late is that he's got a voice that's heard and yet time and again chooses to either highlight or construct a dark side when a bright one exists. Its perpetuating the problem of us finding fault with everything associated with cricket when we lose...What makes it worse is, thats clearly not what Harsha's setting out to do. Well meaning, articulate, honest and yet ...
Mumbai won the Ranji trophy this year. What a fitting tribute to the man - who from all accounts would often visit the school games...
Cheers.
Well to me Harsha has become a communist.. run with the hare and hunt with the hounds is his mantra.. Just because Ravi Shastri/ Sunny came to Sardesai's funeral (did they? I assume they did) because they were not commenting in Honalulu doesn't show their respect for Mr. Sardesai. Our culture doesn't respect/ remember history.. period.. And you are a part of that culture Mr. Bhogale
I too thought, it was harsh on young Mumbai cricketers, even though Harsha said in as many words that 'he hoped most of the players were indeed out of the city.'
He should have generalized it as a lament on Indian players'/administrators’ apparent lack of historical sense.
Why blame the current crop alone? How many Mumbai players of the late 70s, 80s and the 90s were present to pay their last respects to Sardee man?
--x--
Homer, I noticed it quite late, but thanks for the post on my blog.
Sfx,
Thanks for your comments.
Cheers
anonymous,
thanks for your comments.
It will be interesting to see if the Indian team wears black arm bands in rememberence on the first day of the first Test against England.
RD and AK did, for Dr Rajkumar. Will they do the same for Dilip Sardesai?
cricketguru,
thanks for your comments.
I concur entirely.
Cheers
Homer, I agree with what you say. Harsha's lament would be ok if this were a "wake" organized by MCA for Sardesai and none of Mumbai's curent players attended it. MCA's website does not even condole Sardesai's death in bold letters with their own words rather are using a PTI story. And even in the page where they are running the story, they have advertisements running. Talk about RESPECT for the dead. I wish Harsha had taken this up .
Prabu
Prabu,
Thanks for your comments and your insights..
Cheers
Even though i think you make a valid point, i think the crux of the matter rests on speculation - nobody really knows where the current Mumbai cricketers are (Tendulkar, Agarkar, Sharma and Powar are in England). Besides, Mr. Bhogle doesn't know whether any of these cricketers have been in touch with the Sardesais without having come to the public function?
All in all, i think Harsha Bhogle means well, i just wish his lament had been articulated and timed better. I don't think it was intended as a cheap shot.
Kartikeya,
When Mr Bhogle concludes his article by stating
"In the end, it is the respect for what came before that symbolises a culture. Mumbai’s young cricketers let themselves down by not paying respect to one of their best."
how is that not a cheap shot, especially when the presence or absence of players is a matter of speculation, as you rightly point out.
Cheers
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