Dreams Shattered... but show must go on!

Over the past week, there has been lot of hoopla about our Indian Cricket Team which gave a dismal performance in the World Cup 2007 in Carribean, and had a shock exit from the group stage itself! Well i'm no expert in jugding what went wrong and what happened, but thot of penning down what i felt. First of all i do agree that the "1-Billion" expectations has gone to dogs, but has any1 thot actually why is so much of expectations from the team! I mean this team is no doubtedly the best in the world in terms of the Super-Cricketers it has! But a close look
into this team will actually tell the story! The unit which was sent to Carribean had not actually played together as a team from Alteast last 6 months! I mean apart from the injuries to Munaf, Yuvraj , there was more off-field drama with the mantra of experimentation going on! Infact only for the last 2 ODI series at home the team had a chance to be together! Now ppl will argue that why all is this needed?? The answer is simple but hardly any1 thinks abt it! Its a Team of 11 which has to win at the end of the day! You could see that even with minnnows like Bangladesh! The way they played their cricket! Enjoying each moment of it! Wowww! Thats the way to play a sport! I know its tough to have the burden of representing a country like India wherer Cricket is a religion and still Sachin is the demi-god! Even i'm a a crazy fan of Tendlyaa! But then there should be a reasonable understanding in all these matters! Our media perhaps gave the biggest send-off to our team before going to Carribean! Pages were flooded of the team's preparations and then the "expert" comments from people who actually had no knowledge of what cricket is all about, and then this drastic change within a fortnight, any lay man can see it all.. The team is worth for applaud but then people forget that there are other 8 teams fighting equally hard ( or perhaps more :D ) than our team! The things which come in my mind while talking about our team can easily be told in term of their strengths and wekanesses:

Strengths:
1. Perhaps one of the most destructive batting line-up in the world with Sachin, Saurav and Dravid Amassing runs all these years under their belt.
2. One of the best wicketkeepers India found in over a decade.
3. Some very decent bolwing line-up.
4. Emergence of youth like Irfan, Munaf and Dinesh Karthick!

Weaknesses:
1. The batting lineup is not consistent.
2. Having Utthapa and Sehwag ( both play alike in the sense they ll be out going after the bowling) in the team.
3. The jelling of the team as a single unit didnt really happen, with politics doing the rounds for over 3 yrs before this world cup.
4. Too much of experimentation resulted in not giving enuf thought of picking the best team well before in hand.
5. Too much of individual talent but hardly team effort.
6. This point my friend Siddharth told pretty well.. The presence of Dravid should always be near the bowler, at mid-on or off continuously talking to him or at the slips! But he was sometimes found at covers, and strangely later even at the boundary!!
7. Team never went for the kill, and always went for "Play Safe" game!
8. With so much of experience, the pressure situations always faltered the team.

Well there are many more to it! But what i want to say from this write up is actually very different from cricket!It's about the psyche of people in this great country! The day india lost to bangladesh, there were a billion curses! People never understand that in a game especially a ODI game, the better team wins! The same people who made audio cassesttes of Dhoni, ransacked his place! See the heights of madness! There is a small example here! In the
recently concluded CB series in Australia were cruising in the group matches and belted both England and New Zealand. But in finals, England thrashed Australia in straight matches and it was 1st time in some 17 yrs that Australia has lost that series! And after that Australia lost in New Zealand also! But then, did we ever hear a news that Pointing's house was attacked?? or were there any protests? The problem with our team is the administration! The richest board in cricket, perhaps is more of a business which are lead by people who have no knack of admistering a sport, and are for the sake of those politicians who want to mint money! The adminstration has to satisfy every1. There has to be players from all the zones! Else there would be a protest! Rather than bringing a player on his credit, the zone which he represents is considered! Such things do affect the way a team is chosen!Chappell did a pretty good job, but his funda of experimentation went bit too far or may be the board dint give him the freedom which a coach should have. Either ways, the team suffered! I personally think that our team was capable of being till semis if not win the world cup, but its obivous that a team very low in morale cant do miracles! They dint have any opportunites to come back! And if they did in a match or too, the expectations from the fans hit the sky! This adds to the pressure of the players! I still remember the incident in Wankhede Statium where Sachin was Booed by the fans coz the way he performed! That was his homeground! The place where he grew up playing cricket! There has been upteenth incidents which happen here! Cricketers in India live life on a double-edged sword! A player should play not for the sake of fulfilling some billion dreams, but because he loves playing it! That's the difference with other countries!Aged-horse like Muttaih Muralitharan was a live wire on field during the all important match against India last week! Indians had that pensive look all through out the match, coz they knew their fate if they lose the match! They will the worst time of their lives back home!Anyways, this has been tooo long a write up... hope atleast some will agree with what i have written here! Else... can always say that opinions are different and unique!In the end, this World Cup has still lots of store in it, and well i'm surely gonna enjoy every bit of it! After all, Show must go on!