by Paul Coupar
Saturday, January 12, 2002

In the short gap between the last Test in Bangalore and the start of the one-dayers, we have the chance to catch our breath and reflect on the recent India-England series. Unfortunately it looks like it will be remembered for off the field issues and continuing Anglo-Indian misunderstanding as much as for the cricket.

Despite the best efforts of Nasser Hussain, many Indians' abiding memories will be of the English sending a much-weakened team (again), barricading themselves in their hotels (again), playing largely uninspiring cricket (again), and losing (… again).

English supporters will celebrate a doughty performance from their team. But for many, the abiding image of the tour will be of an Indian fan solemnly displaying a picture of Sachin Tendulkar, like a bishop bearing a cross, with a burning effigy of a Scotsman in the background.

To reach for the petrol and matches because six of your cricketers were ticked off by Mike Denness epitomised what for many seems foreign, bizarre, even mad, about India. But the English don't understand these strong feelings only because we are often so shamefully unwilling to try.

Firstly, we fail to understand because we don't appreciate the Tendulkar phenomenon. India is changing fast. There is great national pride about self-government, technological excellence, and rapid economic growth. But in the national consciousness pride vies with memories of subjection and the continuing reality of the dire poverty of millions. Self-doubt and a new found assertiveness sit in an uneasy balance.

As Harsha Bhogle has highlighted, in this modern India Tendulkar is a talisman, the best batsman in the world and a potent symbol of Indian capability. Much the same was true of Bradman and Australia. So attacks on him provoke strong reactions.

And Indians have a fair gripe. Ten years on, the decisions of match referees remain inconsistent. Michael Atherton (Cambridge University, Lancashire, and England): dirt in pocket; fined. Sachin Tendulkar (Bombay and India): cleaning grass from a seam; suspended ban.

Nor was this an eccentric overreaction to a single incident. India and Pakistan are simply fed up with shabby treatment by cricket's traditional powers. Before 2000 England had not toured Pakistan for 13 years. Top players consistently duck the subcontinent: Boycott, Gooch and Botham, and now Stewart, Gough and Caddick. At home, three match series have been the norm.

This cannot be justified on cricketing grounds. When England did tour the subcontinent in the `80s and `90s we were regularly stuffed on the field. We've had cracks about buffoons and mothers-in-law, siege mentality culminating in 1987 with the door of the team room being kicked shut on a schoolboy's fingers, several dodgy prawn biryanis, not forgetting Shakoor Rana …

Misunderstanding has ruled. Different ideas of personal space have been taken as harassment. Hurtful comments have been made as wisecracks. Too often the attitude has been: "If we don't understand it, let's ignore or ridicule it". Or worse - the 1986 Australian party took to dropping rupees from their hotel balcony to enjoy the ensuing scramble. Behind closed minds and closed hotel doors English and Australian tours have too often ignored the beguiling mystery, seeing only muddle. We have lost out, and the game's paymasters, the Indian public, have rightly felt shabbily treated.

It is this resentment that Jagmohan Dalmiya harnessed. But in holding the Test series to ransom, in his brash grandstanding and posturing, he only reinforced stereotypes. He has provided more ammunition for those who more or less openly dismiss India and its cricket as amateurish and bizarre, who view the whole affair as a lot of nonsense about some fines handed out by Mike Denness, and who fail to understand because they do not even try.

Sadly, Anglo-Indian understanding seems as far-off as ever.

Paul Coupar is a student and cricket fan

Punter's Point is the weekly column that is written by a Wisden reader. It should be an opinion piece of up to 500 words on the subject of your choice, topical or otherwise. Please send it to feedback@wisden.com, giving your phone numbers and a postal address. The best piece to arrive by 4pm Friday (BST) will be published on Wisden.com the next day. Wisden reserves the right to edit the pieces.

More Punter's Points
Enough mudslinging
An ego-less focus

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd