How much is too much? - A biography of a dying hen

BCCI has a great thing going on right now. Match winners all over the team, number one test ranking, world’s greatest batsman in the side, one of the finest, if not the best, Captain, and now a World Champion one-day team.

And yet, they continue to put in the relentless effort to destroy it all.

It is sickening to see Indian cricketers perhaps being the most outrageously overworked employees in the world. Every conversation in this regard is quickly dismissed with one of two counterpoints: one, they are also the most highly paid athletes, and two, nobody is forcing them to play other league cricket. And I will be hard pressed to pick the more ridiculous statements between these two. Paying millions doesn't mean that the whole concept of workload goes out the window, and as custodians of the game, BCCI can't create sponsored leagues and sit back to say they are not forcing anyone to join. That BCCI power has been grossly abused with IPL is the biggest understatement of all time.

India had a great world cup, and it really isn't so hard to understand how emotionally and physically fatigued this team must be. Heck, I'm completely drained just by watching it on TV. I'm ready for a vacation, to soak it all in, bask in the glory and just recharge a tad. Well, no such luxury for our boys in blue. They barely get a couple days with families at home, if that, before trooping back to their base camps for our celebrated IPL, whose creation itself was borne out of revenge and not from a vision for developing the sport.

To further drive my point home, we can look at the Indian team roster for last 24 months. The World Cup was the first time when we played at full strength in forever, and that needed some pretty long-term planning. Our injury lists are ever growing, with more players going through surgeries and cricket-less recoveries every year. Between long-out-of-touch rehab periods they are simply losing time that can't be bought back with the BCCI billions. Their schedule is simply exacerbating these problems to new heights.

It reminds me of the children’s story about the hen and golden eggs, the one that apparently should be required-reading for all BCCI officials. It doesn't take a genius to see that instead of being nurtured for long lasting glory, the hen is being beaten to death with a sledgehammer.

It also pains me to think about the quality of cricket that athletes (both Indian and otherwise) will be able to produce on the back of a long World Cup. Would that even be fair to fans, let alone these cricketers?

BCCI has got to take a serious look at the schedule of this Indian cricket team and understand the whole concept of work-life balance. This unreal greed for money, milking Indian Cricket for every penny that it is worth, all that is already unbefitting of a non-profit organization, is simply undermining BCCI’s primary function of being custodians of the game of Cricket in India, and catalysts for its development.

Moving IPL to be a bi-annual tournament might go a long way in solving these issues. Not only would it keep Cricket fresh for audiences, it would also provide a realistic opportunity to get ICC’s nod for a calendar spot which would do wonders for the tournament and all Cricket boards.

Someone has got to ask the question, How much is too much?

A New Era Beckons

A Journey. Chest thumping. Arms raised in jubilation. Men on knees. Tears in eyes.

A dream realized.

India beat Sri Lanka to claim the title of Champions of the World in Mumbai yesterday. I had dreamt of writing these words for months. I had dreamt of witnessing this moment for my entire life. I was a year and 6 months old when India last lifted the World Cup, and shockingly, I am told, that food, sleeping and biting my Dad’s foot were higher on my list than Cricket. I was little, barely self-aware and didn’t know anything about reverse swinging Yorkers. Consequently, I spent my entire life hearing glorious stories of 1983, always wondering what it would be like to someday see the Indian team win it again! What was that National Pride like, when you conquer the world, and become Champions. Period.

The manner that the victory came in, was an apt conclusion to what has been a perfectly-scripted campaign for India. Apart from doing all the other incredible things, India consistently found new ways to win a Cricket match, never relying on a single individual, strength or performance. That to me has been the biggest reason why India deserved this title. The fact that the opening pair, that India relies on more than anything else for tight chases, departed right at the top of the inning, only to have the younger generation show their mettle and carry India over the line, was both poetic and symbolic. There is no doubt that all of India, and perhaps the world, would have loved to see Sachin score his hundredth hundred here but what eventually happened would have been a very close second.

This was also a game for redeeming oneself. We saw disciplined performances in all departments, with less sledging and more doing from India. This was best demonstrated in measured aggression by bowlers, and India’s extraordinarily spirited performance in the field. They certainly saved the best for the last by good measure, and batting efforts were in a similar breath. Save the winning runs, there weren’t any violent shots. It was a day for quiet grinding, measured risks and Cricket that befitted the moment and not the personalities. Ever since Yuvraj flung himself flat out to stop a certain boundary, there was no doubt, this was an Indian team that was here to win.

In barely four years as Captain, Dhoni finds himself at a curious stage of his still-young career, with very few things that remain unaccomplished. The man has seen India win numerous tough tours, reach the number one test ranking for the first time ever, won the IPL as well as the Champions League for Chennai, won the Twenty20 World Cup, and now to top this cake with the crowning jewel, he has led India to a World Cup triumph, one that came emphatically with a thump over long on, on his own bat. One needs incredible amounts of confidence to back oneself after a lean patch, to take on the responsibility on the biggest stage possible, the Final of the World Cup. Dhoni did. He came and he delivered.

Credit can not be taken away from Gambhir who also played an inning of his life. With the exception of the mindless charge to lose his wicket at 97, Gambhir was the cement that held the Indian chase together. With measured risks, quiet accumulation and handsome shots, Gambhir guided Indian recovery, first with Kohli, then with Dhoni. By the time he made his way to the pavilion cursing himself, he had already steered India to calmer waters. Victory was within sight. Knotted stomachs. Rumbles. Bitten nails. Tri-colors.

If India won like Champions, Sri Lanka lost like Champions. They were both graceful and fiercely competitive. Some questionable selection decisions might still linger in discussions, but nothing should cloud the fact that they did most things right when it mattered. Their fragile middle order was identified by everyone as the Achilles’ heel, and perhaps their top batters tried to shield it a bit too much, however, 274 was by no means an easy total. Jayawardane, once again, showed what a class act he is. Every batsman has his own style, and Jayawardane’s style seems to be about hitting boundaries that look so innocuous that the resulting runs come as a shock. The man plays a brand of Cricket that is perfect in its deft touch, grace and composed brilliance. What he produced yesterday was brilliant. To do it in a World Cup final is unreal.

It was a shame for Sri Lanka that an inning this brilliant still ended up on the losing side. Irony continued with two of the most celebrated Champions of Cricket barely leaving a mark on this game. Murali and Tendulkar didn’t live up remotely to their own high standards, but the inspiration their very presence brings to these two teams can not be questioned. It was just one of those days.

After six weeks of grinding that lifted each individual and made them all part of a team, an objective that was bigger than each one of them, Dhoni’s expression after hitting the six said it all. It was all too raw. Confusion. After Australia, Pakistan and now Sri Lanka, had we really done it?

Pandemonium. Delirium. Roars.

Silence.

India,

World Champions.