(1888PressRelease)
May 02, 2007 - Minnow must have been the most used, if not abused word in cricketing circles for the last few months. On last count, minnows' usage was threatening that of 'World Cup', 'Open', Caribbean' and the 'West Indies'. Here's a sampler, from even before the tournament kicked off, not to mention, before the minnows kicked the biggies in the gut - 'Beware of the minnows!' 'Don't underestimate the minnows' 'Minnows can cause major upsets' 'Should ICC allow minnows to play in the World Cup?' '16 teams but half are minnows!' 'Only four games without minnows in preliminary stage' 'Minnows must earn their place' 'All teams start off as minnows'
But as manure is to a garden, minnow is to this World Cup. It has enriched the tournaments no end. And if world cricket is fortunate enough, these very minnows will add to the growth of world cricket. At a hefty price though: with the elimination of Pakistan and India. Add to that, South Africa's upset by Bangladesh, and then, Ireland knocking out super minnows' Bangladesh. But then, maybe world cricket needed the minnows to pull out some weeds?
In sport what doesn't augur well for one team, promises to be payday for another. And when a minnow upsets an arguably stronger team, someone always says, 'the telltale signs were there' or 'these guys are playing beyond their expiry date'.
Only expected then, that the big man of Multan, Inzamam ul Haq called it quits after a dismal World Cup, and Younis Khan somewhat unexpectedly refused the captaincy, though not for the first time.
On the Indian front, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, for loss of a better word, are being rested in the one-day series against Bangladesh, while Virender Sehwag has been dropped from the test team, and Harbhajjan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar have not found a place in either team. In addition, India's selectors and cricket board have once again resorted to reactionary tactics – first the endorsements issue, then bringing back the likes of Dinesh Mongia, who though treated badly in the past, doesn't quite fit the "youth bill" being conveniently passed.
Already, 'Wake up call' and 'heads will roll' are as abused as 'minnows' once were. Or for that matter, the 'underdog' or 'dark horses'. Only in the minnow's case they were meant to be bottom of the barrel 'underdogs' and darker than night 'dark horses'. Their purpose in the World Cup wasn't even defined, or maybe it was – that of providing practice after the warm-up games - why else would the ICC website list the supposed Super 8 itinerary without any minnows but with Pakistan and India and the other 6 top ranked teams.
To rub salt into open wounds, what could have been the biggest draw of the World Cup, a Pakistan v/s India match on super Sunday, 15 th April, turned out to be a damp squib – minnows Ireland v/s super minnows Bangladesh. Further, the subcontinent's nightmare run continued – and an arguably more seasoned Bangladesh went down to part-timers Ireland.
'It's just a game'- the rationalists, intelligentsia, agnostics, hermits and fixers will call out. 'It's much more than a game'- those back home in Ireland and Bangladesh will be thumping their chests. Ironic, but when one team becomes history, the other makes it. That's something that usually happens with minnows. With the seasoned, and often jaded biggies, it's just overhauling bigger scores, hitting bigger sixes.
Is there something new to be discovered? In India's defeat and Pakistan's loss, will these two former champions 'reinvent the wheel'? Will they be forced to shed their senior statesman, many of whom could be made 'scapegoats'. Already coaches' contracts and lives have been terminated. What, with Bob Woolmer's mysterious death, one cricketing career has already ended. Uncannily, almost like that of his friend's Hansie Cronje. And with Greg Chappell's exit, Subhash Chandra's Indian Premier League, the "winds of change" are threatening to blow across India.
So, what does the subsequent India-Bangladesh series have in store? Or rather, what will change by then?
With the exclusion of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Ajit Agarkar from the one-day sides, the powers that be, might just have heeded Greg Chappell's last warning of an alleged "mafia" of senior pros in the team. Whether this is true or not, no cricketing reasons can be attributed to the dropping of Ajit Agarkar, who has been by far one of India's better bowlers over the last year.
Like the World Cup squad, there's a surfeit of openers with Gambhir, Uthappa and Sehwag – or possibly Sewhag will take on Tendulkar's World Cup role, and look to play in the middle order. And even though the vice captains for neither test nor ODIs has been announced, Sehwag's role could be a vital one, at least as Dravid's confidante. If nothing else, there's an obvious attempt to go with the Chappell and Dravid way. And with Dravid in-charge, that for starters, is a step in the right direction.
But make no mistake these are uncertain times for Indian cricket. And the team to Bangladesh is an inexperienced, unsettled and under-confident one. There are players like Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Mongia who have never cemented their spot in the team. Erstwhile match winners like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni haven't won India a game in eons. Dravid's been undermined and torn between various factions. Zaheer Khan bowled yet another terrible first over in India's last World Cup encounter. Sreesanth never made the final eleven. R.P. Singh never made the final World Cup squad. Piyush Chawla awaits his second coming. Manoj Tiwary awaits baptism. And only Dinesh Karthik wears the exuberance of youth. Looks like the one day series could be a battle of minnows!
ODI squad:
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh. Test squad : Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid (capt), VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, VRV Singh, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Munaf Patel.
