Hero to Zero

Avinash Subramaniam

From... Sourav is just the kind of skipper Indian cricket needs. Sourav is a class act. Sourav should give it to the Aussies. Can't wait to see Sourav go head to head with Waugh. Hope Sourav is not meek and submissive. Hope he doesn't decide to fight fire with nothing. Sourav is aggressive. Sourav is the Prince of Calcutta. Sourav is the Emperor of the world. Sourav is the center of the universe. Sourav is the best thing to have happened to the Indian captaincy. Sourav fights for his players. Sourav can be the tough guy when it comes to giving his teammates a dressing down. Sourav is the best thing to have happened to Sachin. Sourav will bring out the best in Sachin the bowler. Sourav will bring out the best in Sachin the batsman by taking the pressure of him. Sourav will bring out the best in Sachin as the fielder. (God knows how.) Sourav will usher in the era of a new, improved Sachin. Look how he has given so much confidence to Sunil Joshi. Look how he is moulding this team into a fighting unit. Look how much more aggressive this team is looking nowadays. Sourav is also not letting the captaincy affect his batting. Sourav will be one of the few captains we have who will thrive under the additional burden, no adrenaline pumping challenge, of captaincy. This is the kind of man we need. And look, he even kisses the Indian crest on his helmet. How incredible heady. Hail Sourav, the saviour of Indian cricket.

To... God, look how Dada is playing dirty with Sachin. Look how he deprived him of getting that 100th wicket in the match in which he scored his 10,000th run; in which he won the man of the match award in a match which India won. It wouldn't have made any difference to Sourav had he let Sachin have a go at the Aussies and a shot at topping off a near perfect day. But no, Sourav is petty. He only thinks about personal glory. He couldn't resist taking a childish dig at Steve Waugh. He couldn't let Sachin have his perfect moment. He had to make his presence felt. He has an attention problem. He is an arrogant captain. He is a brash, hot headed, man. He doesn't deserve to be captain. He can't bat. He can't field. He sets a poor example. He is brusque with his teammates. He has no respect for white skins. He doesn't have a colonial hangover. He doesn't confirm to our standards of what is acceptable and what is not? He is too aggressive. He is a big mouth. He sets a poor example. His behaviour and manner doesn't befit that of a leader of the national side. Look at Steve Waugh. Sourav should turn to for lessons in behavior.

Ok, we hated the man for everything he did. We called him cunning. We called him manipulative. We wished we could find some way to torment him. But no, Sourav should strive to be like Steve Waugh. Instead, look what a despicable soul he has become. He is going the Azza way. (Like we know jack-shit of the Azza way!) This win against the Aussies is actually bad news. It will only make Sourav worse. He will become even more arrogant. He will care even less about his teammates. He will start thinking the win had more to do with his attacking captaincy. (Even if it might well have.) He will let success go to his head. We better pull him down a peg or two. We better indulge in the oldest Indian pastime: get judgmental and dish out verdicts. This is not the kind of man we want to lead our side. (Like we ever know what kind of man we want.)

Sure we do, the perfect man. Small problem, such a specimen of leadership doesn't exist. And even if he does, in our heads he can't be Indian. Worse, chances are, the colour of his skin is perhaps what will determine the amount of servitude it will engender in us toward him. Never pausing for a moment to ponder the difference between fact, fiction and faction. A difference we will probably never be objective enough to let alone allow ourselves to see or even want to see. But then, if cricket in India is akin to religion, logic and good sense are bound to take a backseat. And while it's all very fine to be the most passionate, most colourful, most boisterous, most everything cricket fans in the world, the 'most' judgmental is surely something the harried, sledged, hemmed-in, and mentally 'disintegrated' Indian skipper can do without.

Maybe the writer who said Ganguly and his regal ways are not used to the rules we common folk have to live by, or something to that effect, was being unduly harsh on the Indian skipper. Maybe that writer was being unnecessarily naughty in suggesting that Ganguly is lying when he says all he was doing was checking with Cammie on who won the toss. Maybe the Aussies can't stomach the bitter doses that is their own medicine. Maybe this is all part of the concerted attempt the Australian cricket machine launches as part of their famed 'astra' of mental disintegration. Sure Ganguly has erred on many counts. But, maybe, we should still give him the benefit of the doubt. (After all, hasn't he fed our single biggest recent cricket fantasy?) Maybe he will mature into a captain we'll all have little to be critical about. Maybe we'll stop constantly looking for Indian cricket's favourite scapegoat. (Now, that's a good one.)

So, where's the next sucker who wants to be captain?

Ps.: Presume for a moment, all we're looking for is scapegoats, sort of lends a whole new dimension to the question Kyon miyan, banoge captain? (Or for that matter, the still not fully unearthed match-fixing scandal.) So that's what Azza was: The Fall Guy. The Fall Guy then, the Fall Guy now. But then, poor Azza was always scapegoat material. Remember the circumstances he was made captain? Silly me. And here I thought justice had been done. Well, a different story for another time. Till then, reactions, violent or otherwise, can be mailed to s.avi@mailcity.com

Avinash Subramaniam

Mail Avinash Subramanium