'Men' In Blue?

Lazy, incapable, overrated, sloppy and toothless are just a few negative words in my vocabulary which I can hurl at the Men In Blue. No one quite ever knew how apt those 3 words would become come the 23rd of March. Let's face it, India were not going to win the World Cup of cricket - but to go out in a humiliating way as we did does hurt.. even though I'm not much of a cricket fan!

Cricket is a sport which almost gives Hinduism a run for its money as a religion in India. Every ball, every run, every mistake and every selection is looked at very closely by vast majority of the public. In a country which treats cricket with so much regard, the players are under immense pressure. You feel sorry for them sometimes without a doubt. That said when a country treats the sport as a religion - the players are surely not less than godly figures! They get hefty pay packages, both from the BCCI and their endorsers. You need to hit just a couple of centuries or take two five wicket hauls to get a solid endorsement. The players are kings when they win, they are all devils when they lose.. and when they are able to enjoy basking in the glory and the adoration of all the fans during the good times, they should also learn to cope with disappointment, and the very valid anger of the fans during the bad times.

Yes, cricketers are human beings. They are prone to their fair share of mistakes.. but, they are also professionals. That word is something which Indian cricketers have not heard of for sure. Professionalism is lacking in every area in India - be it education or cricket. With the amount of money these guys take home, the heart and commitment that they showed for their country - the country which they represent was appalling. Indian cricket is suffering at every level.

The BCCI is the richest cricket board on the planet, that's all it is capable of being. It cannot make firm decisions and choices, something which I felt Greg Chappell was willing to make at tough times. The Asian mentality though, is that some players have the god given right to be in the team, just because they happen to be 'dada' or the 'little champion'. Let us rewind, the little 'champion' is champion of nothing - he has not won a single World Cup. 'Dada' is a great cricketer, but at times I felt that his ego and pride came in the way of making Team India champions. He was overly vocal during the end of his captaincy and was selfish in his last match as captain, period.

We cannot expect a bunch of "yes men" as selectors and coaches who simply nod their heads in front of players and fans. They aren't hired for that. Greg Chappell failed in trying to bring the World Cup back to India. He experimented too much at times. No one noticed the rotation policy when India beat Sri Lanka 6-1 two years ago. He made tough choices even though the public didn't endorse it. He was brave, something which I cannot say for the Indian players.

In my opinion, he is not completely responsible for the pathetic performance of the team in the World Cup. You cannot teach a team with so much experience how to bat 50 overs. You cannot teach them how to show commitment. Of course, as a knee jerk reaction - he will not remain coach and Rahul Dravid will be removed as the captain of India. Dravid is a brilliant batsman, but cannot be the captain of our team. Here's the question then, who can be? It cannot be Ganguly, who has been too selfish and thinks of nothing but himself. Tendulkar has already demonstrated that he cannot be a leader of a team. We might well be in for a South Africa style appointment of a captain, maybe Yuvraj Singh?

What the 11 players have to be taught is that they are not 11 individuals. A collective effort has to be made in order to win anything. We saw disjointed performances devoid of any sort of cohesiveness, not only in the World Cup but matches leading up to it. If India cannot play as a team, we will continue to fail and perhaps in 2011 we will lose to Bermuda too. We aren’t playing tennis or golf, this is cricket – a team game.

Cricket in South Asia has to change drastically either way. We don't have strong enough domestic leagues. We don't have people who are capable of making tough choices and when they do, they're ridiculed. The fans' expectations are unrealistic at times, but India's disaster was something which very few expected. Many people are asking for the senior players to quit. Get real, that isn't going to happen.

As always though, there will be a thorough 'review process' and the appointment of a 'world class' coach is imminent. Then, the Bengal tigers and Nawabs of Najafgarhs will definitely 'learn' a lot.. for instance how to bat for 50 overs and field properly. They will hit a couple of fifties, make their money by dancing in front of the cameras and live a happy life. For Indian fans though, the dreams of winning a World Cup are proving to be elusive.

The Men in Blue are not only IN blues, they're giving us fans a lot of the blues too!