Fair play and justice take a ‘free hit’

By H Natarajan

Those who believe that there is no sense of fairplay and justice in this world need not look beyond the happenings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

First there was the furore created by the presence of cheerleaders. I have no issues with the cheerleaders; the IPL brand of T20 cricket has a carnival touch to it and the splash of glitz and glamour is not out of place and especially appeals for the younger generation. But what hurts is: How can the moral police justify the presence of the cheer girls in public when the bar girls have been stopped from earning their livelihood through dancing in private. The bar girls were fully clothed from top to bottom compared to the revealing outfits that we get to see in high-profile places, especially in the metros, and kept their distance from customers while dancing. Yet, the state government deemed, in their sense of judgment, that what was happening was vulgar and needed to be banned. It was an action that drove thousands of families, including young children and old parents depended on the salaries of the dancers, to great miseries. Many of the bar dancers ended up committing suicides.

The cheer girls, in comparison to the bar dancers, wear skimpy outfit and showing copious skin. Most importantly, it’s been done in a public place frequented by even young children. Now, if the alien culture of cheer girls is okay, why discriminate our desi bar girls? The question is relevant to cricket because RR Patil, the State Home Minister who is also the second in command to CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, is from the National Congress Party headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, who is also the chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Of course, Patil – he wears the tag of “Mr Clean” and is otherwise a refreshingly different from most politicians and is– would like to point out (and possibly rightly, too) that some of the bar dancers are also doubling up as call girls. But the point is: Were they guilty of that in the place they were dancing? If so, then they girls and the bar owner should have been arrested and the bar closed. To condemn the entire profession for the ‘sins’ of a few was a bit too much. The sad irony is that many of the girls who were making an honest living by merely dancing were forced to take up prostitution to feed their families.

Justice was not seen to be done again when Charu Sharma was sacked as the Chief Executive of Bangalore Royal Challengers – a convenient scapegoat – when the guys who were mainly responsible for the poor showing escaped the guillotine. The flamboyant Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Challengers, has gone on record to say that he regretted not being involved in the selection of the team at the auction and went by the judgment of Charu and captain Rahul Dravid.

Who can pull up Mallya for his own mistake which he has admitted himself? And does Mallya have the cricketing expertise to select international players? Most importantly, his statement unambiguously reveal that his team has been let down at the very selection stage itself which Dravid was principally responsible. Yet, Dravid escapes the axe while Charu cops it! Reportedly, coach Venkatesh Prasad, too, would have been shown the exit, but for Dravid’s intervention.

Clearly, there is a miscarriage of justice in both of the cases mentioned above.

And indications are that there are attempts to get Harbhajan Singh off the hook or, at worst, relatively lightly for an offence which has a maximum penalty of life ban. The BCCI has appointed an enquiry commissioner, Sudhir Nanavati, to probe the off-spinner’s slapping of a fellow-player on the field of play. And Nanavati had revealed that the footage of the incident was shocking while match referee Farokh Engineer went on record while telling journalists that "what actually happened is a lot more serious than you guys think." Yet, the probe may prove to be a waste of time and money with Harbhajan, at best, escaping with a slap on the wrists. Rashid Patel and the late Raman Lamba copped 13 and 10 months bans respectively after a disgraceful, on-field fight during a 1991 Duleep Trophy. Harbhajan actually slapped an India team-mate. If he is let-off with anything less than at least the tenure of ban slapped on either Patel or Lamba, the BCCI would not be seen in good light. Yes, there would be pressure on the BCCI to reprieve Harbhajan who is a key member of the Indian team, but it’s equally important to send a resounding message across – especially to players who may think that they can get away with anything because of their status.

The happening in recent weeks reminds me of what George Orwell, the great English novelist and essayist, had said: “Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting.”

Cricketers who shed blood, sweat … and tears

By H Natarajan

The sight of sporting heroes shedding tears often leaves an indelible mark in our minds because we assume these men to be granite strong - physically and mentally. Breaking down publicly is something we perceive as alien to their personality. We assume our heroes to be supermen, but behind the public veil they are almost as normal as anyone else. They may be super in their skills but they are as human as anyone else when it comes to emotions.

Sreesanth underlined the fact when he sobbed before live television cameras. It may well have been a scene from boys playing cricket in the neighborhood than the high-profile Indian Premier League – the playground of the most celebrated cricket talent in the world. The world has seen Sreesanth wearing the garb of a tough cookie, almost a bully - a David willing to take on towering Goliaths like Andrew Symonds and Andre Nel. Yet one tight slap across his face brought down the veil of Sreesanth’s tough image along with torrent of tears.

The young paceman is not the first cricketer to break down in public, though he may be the first to cry publicly for physical assault. There have been many, many instances in the past when cricketers have cracked under emotional stress.

One of the earliest known instances of a cricketer crying publicly was during the 1967 India-West Indies Test at Calcutta (as Kolkata was known then). The Eden Garden was bursting at the seams after local authorities sold more tickets than there were seats. Predictably, trouble erupted and the players had to run for their personal safety. As the mob let out its fury, speedster Charlie Griffith - a hulk of a man – ran for his life. He thought that the crowd was out to kill him in retaliation for ending Nari Contractor’s international career on India’s 1961-62 tour of the West Indies. The big-made Barbadian was reportedly crying as he ran, when in actual fact the spectators were trying to help him get to the safety of Grand Hotel after pockets of the stadium went up in flames on New Year’s Day.

Peter Lever, also a fast bowler, was another to experience distress after he had pole-axed Test debutant tail-ender Ewen Chatfield with a short ball. It hit Chatfield on the temple as he staggered and collapsed. He lost consciousness and was twitching and moaning. His heart had stopped. But for the timely intervention of England physio Bernard Thomas, Chatfield would have been dead. Lever, meanwhile, was on his knees crying bitterly. "I honestly thought I had killed him as I saw him lying there in convulsions. I felt sick and ashamed at what I had done and all I could think when I got back to the pavilion was that I wanted to retire." Mercifully, Chatfield survived and went on to enjoy a fairly long Test career.

A fast bowler broke down yet again in public – this time at Sydney in 1975. Michael Holding, playing just his third Test, saw the umpire Reg Ledwidge turned down a caught behind shout off his bowling against Ian Chappell. The young Jamaican could not contain his disappointment and burst into inconsolable tears and had to be comforted by Lance Gibbs who rushed in from gully.

International sports brings with it enormous stress and none feels it more than the captain as the buck finally stops with him. Australia had lost 0-3 against the West Indies in West Indies and followed that up by being 0-2 down at home. Kim Hughes, the Australian captain, was under pressure and he could take it no more. He walked into a press conference and announced his resignation as captain from a prepared statement, but could not finish reading it completely as he broke down in tears.

Indian men are generally known not to cry in public, but Dilip Vengsarkar proved to be among the exceptions after his valiant effort to give Mumbai victory in the 1990-91 Ranji Trophy final ended in the narrowest of failure – a two-run defeat – against Haryana. Vengsarkar was heart-broken at the other end on 139 after last man Abey Kuruvilla was run out. The sight of Vengsarkar sobbing and taking a long time to make his way into the gloom of the Mumbai dressing room is still fresh in my memory.

Vengsarkar’s Mumbai team-mate, the maverick Vinod Kambli, was another to break down publicly after match referee Clive Lloyd declared that India had defaulted its 1996 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka at Eden Garden after the hosts failed to quell the crowd trouble that had erupted following India’s capitulation during the run-chase.

Another of India’s legendary cricketer, the tough Kapil Dev Nikhanj, famously broke down inconsolably on the Karan Thapar TV show, `Hardtalk India,' after he was accused by a team-mate, Manoj Prabhakar, of having sold himself to bookies. It was one of the most unbelievable and sad sights to see the strong fast bowler crying bitterly – his words an incoherent mess in the emotional turmoil.

The betting and match-fixing saga saw another public outburst when Hansie Cronje cried during his confessions before the King Commission in Cape Town. Cronje was another physically huge man and a superstar, but when emotions reach a critical point, it can break down the strongest of men.

One of the saddest displays of emotional outburst was when Adam Gilchrist broke down during a Test match in South Africa. One of the most loved and respected players in the world, Gilchirst broke down under the onslaught of rumors alleging sexual liaison between his wife Mel and Australian team-mate Michael Slater. A website published that Slater had an affair with Gilly’s wife Mel and went on to question the paternity of the couple’s child, Harrison.

Gilchrist penned his thoughts in his book, Walking to Victory: "I felt sick in the stomach. It was the start of the toughest period in my life. Mel was at home with three-month-old Harry, so we couldn't even be there for each other. Whatever I suffered, it was many times worse for Mel -- having her integrity abused like that when she is not even a public figure. “

Gilchrist said his emotional churn peaked in the course of his double hundred in the first Test against South Africa. “On reaching my ton, I did not know whether to jump for joy or give a determined 'up yours' to the crowd and whomever it was who had started the rumour. In the end, I had no control over my reaction. I simply ran off the wicket, raised my bat to acknowledge the team and the support staff, felt the emotions bubble up and squatted with my head down. It was the first time I remember crying on the cricket field."

The Gilchrist couple went on to sue the website and the matter was subsequently settled out of court.

Retirement is another time when a player faces emotional upheaval of having to leave the turf that has given him so much for him and his family for many, many years. Leaving all that and going into a whole new world is a life death for many. Even a big man like Inzamam-ul-Haq could not bottle up his emotions till he reached the privacy of the dressing room when he cried publicly when given a guard of honor in his farewell ODI.

As the Jewish proverb goes, what soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.

Tears are perfectly natural and shows the human side of the mega stars.

Harbhajan & Sreesanth – Brothers in harm

H Natarajan

If Harbhajan Singh’s audacious assault on Sreesanth in full public view and before TV cameras exposed him as a spoilt brat, then the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also stands culpable as an erring parent failing to reform a wayward child. The Board has not only been tolerant but, worse, defended the off-spinner’s outrageous behavior in the past.

Bhajji’s slap was not merely on Sreesanth but on the BCCI as well. Harbhajan, in turn, was ‘slapped back’ with a 11-Indian Premier League (IPL) match ban worth Rs 2.7 crore, but the BCCI could add a further five-Test or 10 One-day International (ODI) ban as per the ICC sanction, but who will chastise the BCCI for its own failure as a parent?

The late Hanumant Singh was the first to point a finger at Harbhajan’s misdemeanor by throwing him out – along with two others – of the National Cricket Academy. If Hanumant, suave, cultured and fair, could be provoked to take a tough action against a youngster, then it was an indication of the players’ indiscipline. The then NCA director NCA reportedly told a friend: “I would like to be proved wrong on this, but my experience says he (Harbhajan) will be an embarrassment to the nation.” Prophetic words.

Sreesanth may have subsequently called Harbhajan his ‘older brother’ and the off-spinner may have hugged his ‘younger brother’ at the hearing before the match referee. These histrionics were purely for the camera men – just like the Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly posings at the pool table in Zimbabwe. Make no mistake, the episode involving the two loose cannons will have a huge impact on the Indian team when the two share the same dressing room the next time they turn out next for a Test or ODl.

Harbhajan has his strong supporters within the team and they will certainly not take it kindly to the fact that it was Sreesanth’s provocation which triggered the ugly turn of events. Sreesanth is a known baiter, a habitual offender and someone who has scant respect for anybody (seniors or juniors, opposition or team-mates) when he is in the mood to show his abominable aggro – which is just about every time. Harbhajan may have copped the punishment, but it’s Sreesanth who is likely to face the heat of the Indian dressing room. I for one will not be surprised if he is treated like a pariah by his Indian team-mates.

Bhajji’s slap tore apart the façade of toughness that Sreesanth’s portrays on the field when he sobbed liked a child on copping it on the face.

It seems increasingly evident that quite a few in the present Indian team are unable to handle their instant fame and money and are acting in a fashion that’s unquestionably detrimental to the health of millions of impressionable young minds watching them on TV and at the grounds. The escalating rise in aggression, now leading to physical violence, is clearly getting out of hand. While nobody advocates Munnabhai-style Gandhigiri, no right-minded person would also like to see boorish behavior, totally alien to Indian culture. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid are tough blokes without finding the need to indulge in disgraceful antics like his doing pelvic-jigs, making faces that suit Ramsay’s horror films than a cricket field, or indulging in ridiculous theatrics – all of which the exhibitionist Sreesanth has been guilty of.
Sreesanth’s needling cannot be condoned and needs to be penalized with exemplary punishment. But there is no excuse for anybody – least of all a player with ten years international experience – to lose control of himself the way Harbhajan did. Bhajji’s act has weakened an already depleted Mumbai Indians. Worse, it has brought the team loads of negative publicity. Harbhajan is seen a publicity nightmare with Mumbai Indian getting rid of hoardings in which the off-spinner’s face appears.

Bhajji has shamed Indian cricket, brought ill-fame to the IPL, let down his team and, more importantly, his sponsors Reliance who have paid huge money to buy him. The slap on Sressanth was also a slap on the Indian Cricket Board which had gone to extraordinary lengths in defending him a few months back in Australia. One can imagine the repercussions internationally had the same offence been committed against, say, Ricky Ponting or, to turn the argument around, had Andrew Symonds slapped Harbhajan.

It would be safe to say that one has not heard the last on the fracas. The BCCI has appointed Sudhir Nanavati - a senior advocate of the Gujarat High Court and also the Chairman of the BCCI Finance Committee - to go into the matter. And if the commissioner does a good job, it would come as no surprise to see Sreesanth coming in for punishment as well to make an example out of him.

The BCCI, following the Harbhajan-Symonds flare-up, had advocated for a ban on sledging. Now that shit has hit the fan, the BCCI should take the kind of action that would deter potential from daring to cross the line that would bring the game into disrepute.

Sting operation vindicates “professional mourners”

By H Natarajan

Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great Roman philosopher and orator had said: “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murder is less to fear.”

Substitute “nation” with “Indian hockey” and you will appreciate Cicero’s thoughts on corruption in the context of the rot that has set into the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and as a consequence into game in India.

The sting operation by a private TV channel that exposed IHF secretary-general, Kandaswamy Jothikumaran, accepting bribe to include a young player in the national team has not exactly come as a shock to insiders who were shouting hoarse thus far but without any proof. KPS Gill had dismissed players critical of the IHF as “professional mourners”, but with Jotikumaran getting caught in the act, the aggrieved players have been vindicated.

Jothikumaran has stepped down, although crying that he is innocent and that he was “framed” but KPS Gill, like after India failed to qualify for the first time in history for the Olympics, remains unaffected by calls to step down as the IHF chief which he has been running like his personal fiefdom. KPS has chosen to ignore the call of even the Sports Minister and namesake, MS Gill.

Jotikumaran does not have a squeaky-clean past. At the Olympic qualifier in Barcelona in 1996, he was suspected to be the mastermind in allegedly fixing a match between India and Malaysia – a goalless draw that kept out Canada. Anand Philar, a friend, former colleague and an insightful hockey writer who has traveled with the team worldwide, was an eye-witness. He says Jotikumaran merely laughed when he Anand pleaded with him to stop the farce. “Only a few Indian players were in the loop regarding the fixed match while coach Cedric D’Souza was kept in the dark. That night, Cedric wept like a child in my presence, heaping abuse on Jothikumaran while declaring that it was the “end of Indian hockey”, reveals Anand. “In the event, the team was split down the middle. I traveled with the team back to India and during the flight, I was a privy to some horror stories regarding the fixed match. The players directly involved in match-fixing, received lucrative invitations to play in the Malaysian league,” he adds.

If the Olympic sport of hockey in India is tainted by corruption then it must be said that the International Olympic Committee itself has had lived with a history of corruption charges some of which has been documented by Andrew Jennings in his book, the 'Lords of the Rings - Olympic Corruption'. Two years back Jennings also investigated several allegations of bribery within FIFA.

With crass commercialization making inroads into sports, administrators – as much as players – find themselves lured by baits of instant - although unfair - riches. That’s one of the major reasons why politicians hang on to plum positions in various sports bodies in India.

The KPS Gill-Jotikumaran rein of terror has been on for 14 years in which time Indian hockey has taken a precipitous fall. While Jotikumaran has been finally forced to quit, KPS continues to show complete disdain for accountability.

The IHF has angered the FIH, the apex body for the sport worldwide. It was unhappy with the way Ric Charlesworth was treated by the IHF. The FIH also warned that Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho and his support staff had violated the code of conduct by their unrestrained attack of umpiring at the Olympic qualifiers in Chile and left themselves open to sanctions. The FIH is also concerned with the functioning of the IHF and has warned that India could lose the right to hold 2010 World Cup.

KPS Gill has to go. That is the first step toward ushering in an era of change.

Kallis closing in on the all-rounders’ Mt Everest

By H Natarajan

Jacques Kallis is inching closer towards immortality. He is a series or two away from a five-figure career run-aggregate in both Tests and One-Day Internationals to become the first man in the history of both forms of the game to log in 10,000 runs, 200 wickets and 100 catches – unquestionably brilliant by any stretch of imagination.

Kallis’s humungous performance is best appreciated by the fact that barring Sir Garfield Sobers, no bowler in the history of the game who has captured 200 wickets has scored over 7000 runs. To turn it the other way round, no batsman in the 7000-run club - apart from the great Sir Gary - has managed to get 200 wickets. In fact, not even 100 wickets. Being a frontline bowler and batsmen takes a huge toll and players often sacrifice one for the other – much like top players in tennis who give up doubles play to save their energies for singles.

Sir Gary is widely regarded as the “King” among all-rounders. So how does the South African compare with Sir Gary? Cricket pundits generally dislike the idea of comparing players from different generations – and with good reasons, too. Sir Gary played most of his cricket on uncovered wickets which tested batting skills to the optimum. The protective gear available in the West Indian’s time was apologetic compared to the present era. Modern players also have copious scientific data to identify and bring about swift correction in skills – thanks to the huge back-up support that is available to modern teams. One cannot also ignore the fact that modern bats and rules have also veered towards making the game increasingly batsman friendly.

One must hence keep in mind that any comparison of different generations may not entirely be fair to the players. But let’s get on with the exercise, nevertheless, to arrive at the comparative numbers.

Sobers’s multi-tasking also included his role as West Indies captain for 39 Tests. That he fared better in both batting and bowling – even if only marginally – showed that the cares of captaincy did not affect his performances as a player. Kallis has led South Africa just once without distinguishing in any noticeable manner. The captaincy factor cannot be ignored as it’s a huge responsibility which has taken a toll on the best of players - Sachin Tendulkar being a classic example.

The argument in favour of Kallis could be that cricket today is played almost round the year with ODIs adding to the burden of the players in terms of added work, travel and little time for rest and recuperation. Kallis has played 119 Tests in little over 12 years compared to Sobers’s 93 spread over twenty long years. Kallis has also played 274 ODIs. Sobers, who would have been a rare ornament for one-day cricket, was at the end of his fabulous career when the overs-limit game was in its infancy. It meant that the great man’s ODI career was just restricted to one game.

Kallis compares well with Sobers in the Test arena. Sixteen of Kallis’s 30 Test hundreds have come in South African victories while 12 of Sobers’s 26 centuries won the game for the West Indies. In terms of batting averages, little separates Kallis from Sobers. The West Indian legend averages 57.78 as against Kallis’s 57.14. Kallis has scored four hundreds more than Sobers, but he has also played 26 Tests and 42 more innings.

The one anomaly Kallis needs to address before he hangs up his cricketing boots is to get a double hundred against his name. Kallis is the only player among the top ten run getters in Test history without a double hundred. And that will also be a negative when he is compared to the very best batsmen in the history of the game.

If Kallis has not got the credit that some of the other great all-rounders in the game like Imran Khan, Sir Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Sir Richard Hadlee and Sir Gary himself it’s because he lacks in flamboyance. He does not inject the kind of excitement that the above-mentioned greats have. His approach lacks aggression. Like Rahul Dravid for India, Kallis brings in huge security and value to South Africa, but he loses out on charisma and glam quotient to other players in the side. I guess it has everything to do with the mind. If Kallis and Dravid were to drive a Ferrari on a wide, traffic-free, inter-state highway, it’s quite possible that they will drive the powerful machine at 50 kmph. Kallis and Dravid are the kind of players who can charge VAT (Value Added Tax) but not Entertainment Tax! The latter is reserved for their more electrifying team-mates like Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.

If Kallis minimized the risk factor in his game, Sobers thrived on risks – he was a gambler by nature, on and off the field. He once brought a swift end to a Test match at the Brabourne Stadium to be at the Mahalakshmi Race Course. But on another occasion, his risky declaration cost West Indies the series. Safety-first was never Sobers motto, unlike Kallis.

Kallis has been a late bloomer. After a pathetic start to his Test career, he just managed a modest average of 31.73 after 20 Tests. But his sheer consistency since then has today given him a Test average of 57.14, the sixth highest - after Sir Don Bradman, Herbert Sutcliffe, Ken Barrington, Ricky Ponting, Wally Hammond and Sir Gary - among those who have played at least 50 Test matches.

In summing up, it’s worth looking at Kallis’s mind-boggling numbers in Tests and ODIs combined: 19,198 runs, 46 hundreds, 112 fifties, 469 wickets and 226 catches. At age 32, Kallis still has a few good years of cricket left in him. And by the time he finally hangs up his cricketing boots, the above figures is likely to assume monumental proportions. Maybe, then, the cricketing world may well look at him differently.