What are Messers Pawar, Modi, Shah and Shukla doing in the team photo?
How is it that when the team is in strife, it is not the Boards problem but when successes come along, Board dignitaries want their mugs front and center?
And what does one say to the 2 Million Dollars awarded by the Board to the team? And what about Lalit Modi and his impromptu award of a Porsche for Yuvraj Singh? Or the 1 crore announced by the Board for Yuvraj Singh?
Carpetbaggers.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Whose Team?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
34 comments:
Amidst al lthis happiness, a touch of sadness tinged irony - the 5 galacticos, arguably the greatest 5 that played for India haven't won a single "World Cup" - not even under-19. I wish the team had toasted to them, would have been fitting.
Another question to ask Homer is who paid the tickets for their travel? Does FBT apply to these idiots?
I guess now they(BCCI admins) will also go on a cruise which they missed due to early exit in 50 over world cup. :)
On other note great day, will celebrate it to the fullest , don't know when will this happen again
Cheers
Whatever, but just look at Dhoni-- he's so serene, modest, and doesn't pine to be the cynosure of all eyes.
I recall how Ponting didn't want to let go of the WC Trophy.
So how many crackers did you fire? My dog crouched under the sofa all night-- she couldn't bear the patakhas' sound!
It absolutely is the board's team. They should be there in my view.
And when the team is in strife, if not the board, then who gets around to taking decisions? The perenially abused selectors, the board president, or the silly fickle fans?
I think the board president belongs there... It is fans who ought to hang their heads in shame.
Kartikeya,
If it is the Board's team, it is not the national team.
And if it is the national team, it is not the Boards team.
And either ways, it is not their personal fiefdom.
And for all the vitriol about the silly fickle fans, it is they who pay the Boards bills.
This was the team's moment, it should be the team that takes center stage, not Board officials.
Cheers
Oh man, we are still stuck with this idiotic debate of whose team ? Its Indian national team, which is controlled by BCCI.
Comparing this with the government, whose goverment it is ? Congress or India s ? Then whose citizens are we ? We are Indian citizens governed by Congress (and allies).
Board has to be given credit some time ? Or is it just to be bashed even? We lost WC, board bashed, ICL started, board bashed. IPl started, Board s greedy. Dravid stepped down, Board s the culprit. India won the Tests in England, board board. Coach advertised, board board. India wins a world championship, board board.
Oh cmon Homer.Dont sound like a negative singer. Saviour the moments, thats rare. Did you celebrate the last WC win ? I dint, cos i was just 4 or 5 then and dint understand whats it all about.
Post 1983 we came close to win at 2003 at the same venue, but freezed out. Now is the time we forget everything for time being and just let the victory sink in. there s always a tomorrow for board bashing, crying negatives, expressing sadness over "Fab 5" not to win a WC, rheotoring seniors to get lost and all crap.
Prabhu,
Winning coveted trophies is not everything in the sports. how well you contribute in preparing a team that could do this, is another benchmark to value and measure the contributions of the great players.
the fab 3 and the bowler did well in nurturing the team, whose results we are seeing today. they have played pivotal roles in getting this players from different parts on board and backed them when they failed first time and fought for them, when the seniors thought they were worthy of further chances.
examples, they are obvious in this decade. compare this with the past generation of Indian cricketers who played in 80s and 90s (not Sachin , Kumble). did they nourish someone ? the work ethic this 4 great players brought to this team, haas been self developed by this 4 greats, which they didnot inherit as their seniors' legacy.
Tubby,
I will celebrate the players and will do so wholeheartedly but don't expect me to laud an administration that is dysfunctional at best.
It was Dhoni and his men who won against the odds. It was their moment in the sun.
Why did Pawar and Modi and the rest have to get their mugs in?
Cheers
I agree with Homer on this. The same board officials who were shouting from both holes and questioning the motives of our great players and treating them as schoolchildren to be punished are now in the bandwagon showing their faces and celebrating with the team. Sharad Pawar is the frickin Union Minister for Agriculture who hardly spends any time for cricket but finds time to go to South Africa and show his face to the world media.
And Tubb with regards to the "great players" - I was looking at India's top players in the past 3 decades and you will see that most of the players who had long careers had won some form of the world cup - either the 1983 cup or the 1985 cup or even the under 19 cup. The Fab 5 + Srinath are the ones that missed out and I found it ironic. Yousuf Pathan by paying the game did not join Sunil Valson but I would still put those two in the same bracket.
Credit should go to " The team " and even the board should not be allowed to share the glory....and even if they want to share glory they should do behind the scenes and not acting as desparate housewives oops BCCI members...to have a photo with winning team .
It would have been ok if they would have met the team in dressing room and congratulated them....but y wre they standing with team during winning celebrations.....at that time only team members and coach is allowed to pose for a pic and not some UNWANTED ADMINISTRATORS ;)
Prabhu,
Test cricket is all what matters. And the great cricketers have been part of some great triumphs. And they have played in the greatest Test series of all time -- 2001 India vs Aus, and yes India won the test series in CHENNAI.
Tubby, I am only pointing the irony of it..nothing else! Yousuf Pathan plays one game and gets a World Cup Medal while these guys have played over 10 yrs (senior level) and don't have it....
Homer
I agree that it was the teams triumph and the board being there to share the celebrations seemed out of place as did Shah Rukh Khan in my opinion.The guy loves publicity it seems but it was not his moment.
Funny how everyone wants to be part of the team in their hour of success yet all deserted them and the board punished them after the WC.
I think the team deserves all the plaudits and Dhoni deserves a special mention for bringing a fresh approach without fear and doubt and heralding a new era in Indian cricket.
amen to that Rashmika :)
I think the Board deserves plaudits as well. Screaming at the board all the time is disingenous....
If its a question of "who's team"? Its the BCCI team. In letter and spirit. They run not only this team, but also all the teams which feed this team with much needed talent (this is important).
In my view compulsive BCCI bashing and vandalizing Dhoni's house are not that far apart in spirit....
Kartikeya,
I fully agree that the Board deserves plaudits for a job well done. Problem is, when was the last time that happened?
When Board officials sat on their backsides when the team disintegrated before the World Cup or when the very same officials were full of self righteous indignation following it?
When the number of Women's Cricket tournaments actually shrinks after Women's cricket came under the purview of the BCCI? Or when Jhulan Goswami goes unheralded after winning the ICC Womens Cricketer of the Year?
Maybe it is for the BCCI arbitrarily cutting off the pensions of ex cricketers who decided to join the ICL, never mind the fact that they served the BCCI and the country with distinction during their playing days?
or maybe for the in stadia infrastructure the BCCI provides its patrons after charging them an arm and a leg for tickets ( and Board officials indulge in black marketing these).
Or maybe for the total lack of class that the Board officials exhibit following a major victory - the BCCI is quick to jump on the bandwagon to announce record purses for the winning team, they cannot, however, put together a half decent contract after over 12 months of negotiation. And did I mention the arbit manner in which salaries are disbursed to the team and the support staff?
Indeed,there is plenty for us to be proud of of the BCCI.
Cheers
Karthik,
The BCCI has no planning when it comes to arranging meetings to select a coach, they don't have a time bound plan to come up with contracts, they don't even pay our players on time but when it comes to planning a trip for four of the topmost officials to South Africa they seem to have all the time in the world! Think about all the planning that should have gone into arranging these trips for these guys and now think about how despite having months to select a coach and draw up contracts, the board is still dithering. If only our media were more responsbiel, maybe these guys would feel some pressure to do some constructive things...
Goodness me. Criticism just doesnt leave our genes. We hv got to whip somebody sometime. Its just not let go to whip or bash somebody. If India wins, then board and if it lost then the skipper would have been bashed, small town skipper, lack of common sense and all that.
Horrible pessimism. Thats why we are years behind Australia in sports culture. Dude if you cry foul over the board, then why not take a step forward to rectify it. You keep harping about BCCI or India s team or about the officials who dont do anything for the game and yet team excels.
Ah, aghast. If you could do something then do it, else stop whinning about it. There is to be a limit to everything.
This is really sick attitude. Absolutely trash. Cant we stand up and applause every one for just about a day or we hv got to cry and look for excuses to cry ?
Prabu, Homer:
How do you know they're not planning? The board's major problem is poor PR. I accept thats the case.
What is the board supposed to do if their players are threatened physically? All reason stops there.
Inspite of the Indian fan and inspite of the Indian press, the BCCI delivers a reasonably successful team, and runs a system which produces world class talent.
The "Board" is not Sharad Pawar and Lalit Modi. The Board is a thousand unnamed coaches and small time administrators. This caricature of the Board which seems to be so popular is a poor representation of what it is.
How do you know they're not planning? Why not assume that they have good reasons for not meeting the October 1 deadline? Their response to the World Cup was a masterpiece of managing a completely ridiculous, insane situation. They made all the right noises until the matter died down.
At the end of the day, the Board's client by and large is the ignorant vandal - either in letter or in spirit.
The Board is also the easiest target - its visible, it cannot win cricket matches, and it has shot itself in the foot with poor PR.
Is the Board dithering about contracts? Do you know for sure that the contracts have not been offered? Do you know absolutely what the coach situation is?
What if nobody good enough has shown interest in the job? What if the side with a head coach has performed well enough for the board to consider a wait a bit?
You say the press is not responsible. At the same time, you rely on the reports of the same press to make opinions about the board.
In the absence of definitive evidence, giving them the benefit of the doubt is the decent thing to do.
I've seen no definitive evidence that the board is evil. Post match fixing i think they've done very well - the Indian team has performed about as well as the talent pool will allow.
By definition there will be millions of opinions about little decisions that could have been made differently - those are opinions without the burden of responsibility and hence worth little.
And Homer... it is not the national team. The Board has earned the right to represent India through 75 years of running cricket - long before the TV millions came in.
Have you any evidence that Sharad Pawar and/or Lalit Modi engaged in black marketing of tickets?
Have you any evidence that BCCI owns all the cricket grounds on which it hosts cricket matches?
Besides, the public "pays" (the vast majority watch cricket free on TV - they would all buy cable even if there was no cricket) because the BCCI maintains a world class cricket team. Nobody is doing BCCI or Cricket a favor by supporting either.
Were the decisions to pick Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa and every other young cricketer who has been successful at international level not triumphs for the selectors? Yet, when was the last time someone had a kind word to say about them?
Did the Board not do brilliantly in the Denness issue? Even the so-called "patriots" who felt Denness had trampled India's national pride didn't have a good word to say about BCCI then.
The electoral system works - and works superbly in my view. The questions about grounds ought to be directed at MCA and DDCA (who are building a new ground)Have you seen the new ground which the Hyderabad Cricket Association has built? Mohali....
BCCI doesn't own a single cricket ground in India. Do you want to keep harping on "BCCI" simply because it is the easiest target?
Point out specific issues by all means. But gross generalizations don't hold water.... they merely reveal biases.
Rocking Karthikeya. I am floored. Superb analysis. I just get the feeling that board has been the easiest target of all.
And as far the coach issue is concerned, the panel could not meet owing to the media commitments of Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri (and yes they would be targetted too for their vested "self interests"). now since they r back in the country and ESPN has no other cricket telecasts of India games untill the Australia tour down under, these gentelmen along with other members of panel can direct their energies to the coach hunt and so far 20 names have been finalised, if we trust the news from TOI.
Hasnt Pathan issue being handled well ? Greg Chappell took him to every possible remedy and in turn confused him. Post world cup disaster he went to home grown MRF academy and worked under TA Shekhar and Dennis Lillie. the results are up to see for every one.
When ICL was launched, the critics said board is dictator, when board came up with its own league with the backing of ICC and other boards, then board is greedy and making money. Why not ? Dont they need to pay the domestic cricketers at par with what ICL would offer them ?
It would be addendum to the BCCI to work on few nagging issues like website, spectator facilities and a good PR.
And critics say they dont have good grass root level. If we dint have good grass root level cricket then where from the cricketers from small cities are coming up ? Sans the big 3 and Kumble, VVS Laxman, Agarkar, Sharma, Sehwag no one hails from this so called big cities.
You d find Yuvraj, RP Singh, Dhoni, Pathan, Zaheer, Balaji, Chawla, Raina, Harbhajan and many other fringe players from small cities. Do you think any one knew Ranchi before Dhoni for good reasons other than politics and crap ?
Do people know that UP had beaten Mumbai in semi finals of Ranji trophy in 2005-06. And yes they too had defeated Sialkot in the Mohd Nisaar trophy. Where did UP get such talent from ? Of course the grass root level.
Time to give fair credit to the bcci.
Karthik,
You want one reason - how about the fact that they don't pay their employees on time? I am sure Modi and co would have already collected their per diems for the South Africa trip. Or how about not informing under-19 and A-team coaches of their appointment and firing until the last minute and expect them to take up the job in a minute's notice?
I should have been clearer in my criticism - it was not about the BCCI organization on the whole, it was about the head honchos. I agree the cricketing structure in India is great - but that was not set up by these guys. It is what it is because of the millions of unknown faces that put their time and efforts because of their love for the game. This is not a criticism of those guys but of the head honchos who are quick to hide behind their schedules when it is time to face the heat but revel in the media circus when things look rosy. Simple as that.
Kartikeya and Tubbyy,
iT is heartening to see that there is at least someone who believes the BCCI is not as bad as it is cut out to be in spite of all evidence to the contrary.
Poor PR is given as a reason for the negative press the BCCI gets. And that is an insurmountable problem? That too for the "richest" Cricket Board in the world? How is that for incompetence.
Secondly, a lot of the administrators and coaches that you mention are not funded by the BCCI or its affiliates. In fact, the BCCI has no system in place to either assess, regulate or define coaching standards in the country. The NCA is only now working on putting together a coaching manual in place.
The response to the World Cup was a statement released by the BCCI making grandiose promises. And within 6 months of the World Cup debacle, the BCCI has made an U turn on a majority of the points listed in the statement. Credibility?
The BCCI ( read Sharad Pawar/Lalit Modi/Shashank Manohar etc) made a big song and dance about player endorsements and put a cap on it. There was a big song and dance about player pay linked to performance with the existing contracts declared null and void. 6 months later, the BCCI is back to square one.
Dayanand Narvekar, Board Vice president, is implicated in the blak marketing of tickets in the ODI at Goa and chargesheeted for the same.
You state that the electoral system works and who am I to disagree. It works particularly well when, despite the term of the Board President being limited to 3 years (and I am not sure if there are term limits), the current mob has
"While much of the attention was focussed on the Board of Control for Cricket in India's crackdown on players who have aligned with the Indian Cricket League there was another significant development that took place. In order to ensure continuity the BCCI has announced a president-elect to succeed Sharad Pawar. That office will most likely be held by Chirayu Amin, president of the Baroda cricket association, for three months, and then, probably, by Shashank Manohar for three years through to 2011."
Bravo.Lets rotate the Board Presidency amongst the "Chosen Ones".
And by the by, the last two times there were Board elections, sutberfuge and skulduggery were on view , front and center. Not to mention chaos and bedlam.Indeed, that is a big vote for the
electoral system!
"The questions about grounds ought to be directed at MCA and DDCA (who are building a new ground)Have you seen the new ground which the Hyderabad Cricket Association has built? Mohali...." If Mohali and Uppal are BCCi achievements, how do the Wankhede and the Kotla become MCA and DDCA problems? And arent the MCA and the DDCA BCCI constituents?
Have you been to the Wankhede lately? For the amount of monies charged to enter the ground, the BCCI has no facilities to provide proper drinking water to its patrons. And the lesser said about the sanitary facilities, the better. And that is just the beginning.
Over sold tickets, crappy sitting conditions, no consideration for spectator comfort is just a sampler in a long list of litanies.
If this behemoth, sitting on the amount of money it has, on the back of a game that it has done nothing to popularize or spread, behaves in the most ad hoc manner without sense or purpose, it opens itself to criticism.
There was a ticker tape parade announced right? The BCCI could have milked it for all it as worth and the honchos could have had their mug shots all over. But no... if there is publicity to be had, even when it is someone elses moment in the sun, go for it!
Cheers
Homer,
This argument's been had !
As far as the origin of this particular debate is concerned and its end point (at this point !) go , it was a "felicitation" - and guess what - the players loved it ! From what I read they even requested a meeting with Sonia Gandhi ... its their moment in the sun and thats how they want to bask...
Qn for you : What has the BCCI been doing right ?
Cheers
Because of indian team's victory....BCCI got a 2nd lease of life....thats y they r not leavin any stone un-turned for their image makeover ......in which they might actually succeed lol !
Congrats India and Homer, Well there are many Controversy's Surrounding the Indian team Now, Hockey has come up with an Hunger Strike and During the felicitation Ceremony when the Politician and BCCI Board Members Sit in front and the Hero's Sit Back, Media and News have all the say about it, anyway this is a sweet win for Indian. "Chake De India".
we indians have a tendency to over do every thing. the hype and hoople following a victory results in brickbats and attacks on the players families when they fail. to my mind, the great show in mumbai was just a gimmick by part time administrator and full time politician Mr. Sharad Pawar. Do you mean to say that BCCI does nat have the people and capacity to organise a decent reception for the victorious team that Mr. Pawar has to fall back on his party NCP to organise the show. Shame on BCCI
we indians have a tendency to over do every thing. the hype and hoople following a victory results in brickbats and attacks on the players families when they fail. to my mind, the great show in mumbai was just a gimmick by part time administrator and full time politician Mr. Sharad Pawar. Do you mean to say that BCCI does nat have the people and capacity to organise a decent reception for the victorious team that Mr. Pawar has to fall back on his party NCP to organise the show. Shame on BCCI
we indians have a tendency to over do every thing. the hype and hoople following a victory results in brickbats and attacks on the players families when they fail. to my mind, the great show in mumbai was just a gimmick by part time administrator and full time politician Mr. Sharad Pawar. Do you mean to say that BCCI does nat have the people and capacity to organise a decent reception for the victorious team that Mr. Pawar has to fall back on his party NCP to organise the show. Shame on BCCI
Plenty Sfx.. No one quite markets the game the way the BCCI does and definately no one makes the kind of money selling cricket the way the BCCI does. The pension scheme for retired cricketers is welcome even though arbitrary in nature
Cheers
Cheers Jane and Ugyen :)
subbu,
Thanks for your comments.
Since it was the BCCI function, the organization or lack thereof is something I would not comment upon although it was disheartening to see the T20 Champs relegated to the background while sundry officials took the front row.
Cheers
Post a Comment