Monday, January 7, 2002 The long flight home from Sydney would have given Jacques Rudolph plenty of time to ponder the injustices of the world. It's easy to sympathise with the young man. We saw a little of him in the unofficial Test between South Africa and India at Centurion, but it was enough to be convinced about his remarkable talent. He scored only 21 before being run out, but hit four delectable boundaries - two of them beautifully executed late-cuts off Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble - and looked every inch an accomplished No. 3. It is a pity that his Test baptism must wait.

But that's the trouble with quotas: they keep deserving people out, and it is ironic that a system devised to deliver equality and justice invariably ends up being unjust. The only way to judge the merit of a reservation policy is to weigh the good it achieves against the bad.

India has lived with reservations for more than 50 years now. From education to employment, food rations to local transport, the quota system permeates nearly every sphere of Indian life. While it is indisputable that reservations have served as a legitimate social tool to redress deep imbalances in our society, opinions have been sharply divided about the degree. A decade ago, college students self-immolated on the streets of New Delhi to protest against a government decision to raise the percentage of reserved seats in government colleges to over 50% from 35. The male-dominated Indian Parliament is still holding out against a proposal to reserve 33% of seats for women despite every political party supporting it in principle.

But however skewed, affirmative action has served India well, and while adjustments have become necessary in some areas, there is strong case for continuing the policy.

Mercifully, Indian cricket hasn't needed reservations. Two of India's longest-serving captains have been Muslims and the current Indian team is full of players from small centres. But quite obviously the ground reality in South Africa is different, and however unjust it may appear to individual players, the South African Cricket Board needs to pursue the policy of affirmative action until parity is achieved.

Were it not so sickening, it would be amusing to hear Clive Rice forecast (or is it an instigation?) a players' rebellion against the current selection policy. His reasoning that nowhere in the world is sports ruled by a quota system is not only laughable but betrays a convenient lapse of memory. Nowhere in the civilised world was a majority of citizens so disgracefully subjugated on the basis of colour. To equate the situation in South Africa to anywhere else in the world is to make a mockery of common sense and natural justice. Unique problems demand unique solutions.

Most observers and commentators are making the mistake of viewing the current crisis from the narrow, cricket-alone perspective. Cricket cannot be, should not be, greater than the nation. Despite a huge urge to see the re-establishment of cricketing relations between India and Pakistan, it would be foolhardy to advocate a cricket tour to Pakistan when a war-like situation prevails at the line of control, and when diplomatic relations are at such a low.

The transformation of the South African society is of greater importance than the South African team winning the World Cup. Every citizen, more so those who benefited from the gross regulations of the apartheid regime, must bear the responsibility for atoning the sins of the past. If there is a price to be paid, so be it.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

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