Too many superstars!
Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis - 27 May 2002
The problem with Indian cricket is that there are far too many of
these so-called cricketing superstars. It just takes a couple of good
performances for Indian fans, supporters and the media to make a
superstar out of an ordinary mortal. So much so that the player
himself starts believing that he is indeed God's gift to the sports-
loving community. In the current Indian team, Sachin Tendulkar (I find
the hype surrounding him particularly shameless), Rahul Dravid, Sourav
Ganguly, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, and even Harbhajan Singh and Javagal
Srinath are all superstars.
We fans help these superstars develop an inflated ego in no time. If
the team happens to do well in a match in which there is a good
performance by one of them, the concerned player feels that the credit
for the performance is his and just his. These superstars, perhaps in
their subconscious, stop respecting the fact that cricket is a team
game and that they are irrelevant without the other 10 players in the
side.
Another facet of the game that we the fans, the media, the selectors
and the commentators make a big fuss about is captaincy. To be the
captain of India is an honour indeed, but that does not mean that he
is, in Orwellian terms, "more equal" than the others, and that he
deserves a major share of the credit for the team's victory. He might
not feel that way initially but we force him to feel that way in due
course.
The way we talk about a captain's record (overseas wins, domestic wins
blah blah blah) is also pathetic as is the way the captains
themselves start reacting to this. This is irrelevant in the game of
cricket, isn't it? All it does is create an unhealthy sense of rivalry
amongst the team's superstars.
Most of our superstars also seem to feel that they should be made the
captain. Commitment is the last thing that can emerge from this
situation. I am sorry to say that no one in the Indian team seems an
exception.
We indeed have stopped breeding the likes of Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil
Dev, Eknath Solkar and Gundappa Vishwanath. Instead, we are producing
a pathetic bunch of 'professional' cricketers for whom actual cricket
soon becomes secondary. I do not think that this was something Sunil
Gavaskar envisaged when he started his campaign for better
compensation for players in the 70s.
Let me, at this point, make it clear that I do not blame the
Tendulkars, the Dravids, the Gangulys and the Kumbles personally. They
are victims of our peculiar and unhealthy craze for the game and the
way it is controlled.
If I still have not made myself sufficiently clear let me sum up my
message. On any given day, none of our superstars gives us a feeling
that he is giving his all and playing for the pride of the nation.
Mind you, it does not matter who the captain is Tendulkar, Ganguly,
Dravid or Kumble.
The captain just cannot command a wholehearted effort from the other
superstars in the team given the environment in which we breed our
cricketers. Tell me frankly in which other country do you see
cricketers given such a godly status? Nowhere else, right? Does that
mean there is a dearth of good players and good teams elsewhere?
Should I even bother answering that?
The views expressed above are solely those of the guest
contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing
for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed
columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the
feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on
CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by
CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
© CricInfo
[Archive]