Abject Surrender

Abject Surrender

Indian Cricket Team’s drubbing at the hands of South Africa in the just concluded ODI series is pathetic to say the least. Winning or losing is a part of the game but this is abject surrender. In all the four matches we played there was not an iota of doubt the final outcome, and India did not give any semblance of fight. Such one sided matches kills the spirit and interest in the game.

We often lament about the lack of funds and facilities for the poor standard of sports in the country. BCCI is the richest sports body on the earth and Indian cricketers are highly paid compared to their counterparts in other sports. Despite such fabulous fees and five star facilities, they fail to perform match after match. It was distressing to watch some of our celebrated cricketers playing like novices under pressure. It is mainly the absence of 4 Ds ie; devotion, dedication, determination and discipline which are responsible for our poor performance.

After every debacle we start searching for scapegoats instead of trying to find the root cause of the malady. Let our sports bodies be managed by professionals and make merit and performance the sole criteria for selection and retention in the team. On the other hand, if our politicians introduce quotas and reservation for different categories based on castes with an eye on vote bank, that will be the waterloo of Indian sports.


E.M.ADITHYAN
December 4, 2006
Elangalloor Mana
Edapal-679 576
Kerala