Board plays all games except cricket

Even if the Board had made up its mind to get back the former Indian captain(the selectors were under too much pressure to include him after theAustralian mauling) they could have handled the situation more tactfully.They should not have allowed it to reach a stage where the Indian captainannounces to the Board just before the team for the first Test was to bepicked, that he is quitting.

They could have also avoided the embarrassment of having to tell the worldthat they “don’t know why coach Kapil Dev did not turn up for themeeting.” Mercifully for them, Kapil is holding back and said today his“first priority is to win the Test series against South Africa.”

After retaliating to the humiliation of being first told he can’t attend theselection committee meeting by choosing not to go to Mumbai (subsequently hewas sent another letter in which he was asked to attend the meeting),Kapil’s statement could mean that he is still keeping his options open. Orhe is operating in tandem with Tendulkar and would also quit after the Testseries. What those options are will be hard to guess, though Kapil can nowuse this situation to his advantage and bargain’ for more powers forhimself.

Nobody is going to believe that Tendulkar has quit owning moralresponsibility’ for the Australian debacle. Had that been true, he wouldhave done this far earlier and not stun the Board just a couple of daysbefore the series against South Africa is to begin. It is believed thatTendulkar had a long chat with chairman of the selection committee ChanduBorde and secretary Jaywant Lele before the meeting was to begin. Despitemuch persuasion he did not agree to change his mind and only relented tolead the side for the Test series.

One could still see a silver lining in this sea of uncertainty and that isTendulkar would now be free of the burdens of captaincy and can concentrateon his batting. He is too focussed a player to let the past bother him andno matter who the captain, he is going to do what he knows best: Mixresponsibility with freedom while batting.

As far as Azharuddin goes, his faith in God has once again been vindicated.He has got another chance to prove wrong all those who thought his days areover and can now chose the moment and quit the centrestage gracefully.

But just imagine the scene in Mumbai where the captain says he is quittingand the coach is missing’ and you have a complete picture of despair andhelplessness afflicting Indian cricket. As one selector put it: “We don’tknow what we are doing and what we are supposed to do.” Need one say more!