Friday, February 26, 2010

Why I think Dhoni is not a good Captain… :-(

Being a Ganguly’s captaincy fan, I often end up making these statements. Cant help it. From strategy point of view in many games I feel Dhoni lacks(evident in the 1st ODI against SA) but more so because of his players selections.

A good captain to me is the one who first of all identifies good talent, backs it, persists with it. The present bunch of youngsters in the team don’t give the feeling that the current team is the best India can have at this stage. Infact many of the selections in the last couple of years leave you with the feeling that how did these guys enter the national team.

Ganguly developed a team which could serve the nation for a good decade. He backed players with genuine talent who could have their places in the side for years to come. Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Dhoni are all Ganguly products. And he backed them even in their tough times, had full fledge arguments with selectors to the point of blackmailing them with his own resignation. But as a Captain you have to do it.

Ganguly even persisted with Agarkar, Pathan and Jaffer in spite of their bad form for he saw some talent in all of them. You cant just go in with some average person who with good form can stick it out for a couple of years. Even Dravid got in Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and backed them. This is where Dhoni lacks. Last year or so hasn’t seen a single new comer who has given the feel that he will become a regular part of the Test or One Day team for the next 4-5 years or so.

Joginder Sharma, Badrinath, Praveen Kumar? I don’t think any of them deserve a place in the national side. Do we have a back up for the test middle order once Sachin, Dravid and Laxman retire. At present I don’t think so.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Telangana ? :-( ? :-(

She sat there, crying, next to the body of her child. She was shouting to the many people around to let her be alone, let her feel her sons body by herself. I saw this all in shocked horror. Her son, a student at some university had committed suicide for the cause of Telangana state. Some people had led the students believe that their future would be great only if the state is created which in turn would lead to locals being given preferences in admissions, jobs and everything.
People started blocking roads around. A large number started gathering. Some people saw an opportunity in it, an impetus to their on going protests for the past two months. Shouts and chants started filling the atmosphere. The car in which I was travelling was already surrounded by a mob.
She just sat there, numb to all that was happening. My car started moving, finding its way through the mob. I saw the last glimpse of the woman for whom her world had got over. The suicide had killed two people. The shouts and chants began getting louder, for the creation of their state, their own state. Incidents of student suicides are on the rise for this cause. They are now ready to give blood. Something must have gone terribly wrong at some point of time somewhere for people to get to such extremes. Have things gone so wrong that a mother’s tears are not cared for? A helpless mother just crying away and asking, “why??”” Would there be more mothers whose sons bodies would be used for political mileage or have the emotions got so strong in the region that these sons would be called “shaheed” a few years later.