NEW DELHI, SEPT 17: After watching the Indian A team play in Los Angles against their counterparts from Australia, even a gullible cricket fan was in for a rude shock. What was promised as a rich opportunity for the youngsters knocking at the doors of international cricket, has turned out to be a nightmare of sorts.Forget the empty stadium - one could count the number of spectators watching the match on one's finger tips - the diabolical behaviour of the wicket has left the contest at the mercy of factors other than cricketing. The batsmen are facing balls darting and bouncing at such steep angles that even a man protected with full armour will find it difficult to avoid getting hit. Luckily there are no lethal pacemen playing there. These are conditions which even the best of players would dread playing in. And we are talking here of players who had gone all the way across the seven seas to a dreamland called Los Angles with the hope that a string of good performances there could well mean a ticket tothe Indian side and to stardom.Coach Kris Srikanth, before embarking on this journey, was a very excited man and was not interested in the controversial aspects of the tour. All he was excited about was that the boys were getting to play in the beginning of the season and that too against a strong side like Australia. ``The timing of the tour is perfect as there are a couple of slots up for grabs in the Indian side. A good performance in Los Angles, I am sure, will be difficult to ignore for the selectors,'' he had said. And then, on hindsight, came the most significant remark:``I only hope that the wickets there are good.''Even from this distant one can visualise the despondency on the face of the always jovial Srikanth, not to talk of those involved in real action in the middle.Even the national selectors, who too were thinking that the LA tour was a good opportunity for them to unearth new talent, were horrified at what they saw on television. ``We have to ignore performances there as the wicketis too difficult for the batsmen to showcase their talent. Anyone who can turn his arm can be among the wickets on a pitch like that,'' remarked one of the selectors.Of late there have been too many faux pas from the Board, even for the comfort of those who may not be wellwishers of Indian cricket. The post World Cup era began on the wrong note with the Board issuing showcause notices to a few players for airing their views to the press. It was followed by the badly handled Tendulkar captaincy issue. And the series of steps which made the Indian cricketing establishment a laughing stock in the public eye, culminated in the Mithun Manhas affair.Changes were made in the team in Singapore in both the India and India A side by the chairman of the selection committee without taking the consent of his fellow colleagues. And when it was discovered that they had selected a player in the India A side, who, in the last season was not a regular in even his state side, that player was withdrawn from the camp andreplaced by his teammate from Delhi. And finally to avoid embarrassment, the Board secretary, tried to put all the blame on the mediamen by saying `they are writing gossip! This LA affair is one more example of how the Indian Board is serving its own interests and not that of Indian cricket. The annual general body meeting of the Board is taking place next week and it is time for someone to get up and pin down those responsible for these lapses.In the first place why was Los Angles chosen as a venue? And when it was decided to play there, why was care not taken to ensure that the wicket would be, if not in good condition, at least in a playable one? After all it is common knowledge that in places where such ventures are new, the preparation of the wicket is not always good.Nobody seems to care for such details as long as new signposts for the game are being created and there is some TV channel or the other ready to show the matches live. But it is time for cricket-crazy fans to know who are the peoplewho are benefiting from these meaningless exercises. Not Indian cricket, that is sure.
