Bohat tapa howa hay bhaee yee writer tu boaht tapa howa hay. Make sure that Indian team aviod him when traveling 
CAN’T BAT, BOWL OR FIELD YET WANT MORE MONEY
By Tapan Joshi
Mumbai, January 2, 2003
Not even an eternal cynic would want to start the new year writing gloom and doom about this Indian cricket team but the way Sourav Ganguly and the rest of his flat track bullies are going about in New Zealand, they will need divine intervention to make this year’s World Cup a success.
In the world cricket community, India has always been an average nation. Now, India has in its ranks batsmen who are hailed as being closest to the late Sir Donald Bradman, India has batsmen who average in the 50s in Test cricket, batsmen who have a strike rate of almost 100 in one-dayers. India has an off-spinner who is the best after Muthiah Muralitharan, it also has a veteran leg-spinner who is “different” from a conventional spinner.
**Yet, India remains an average cricket nation. **
Greed. That’s what has occupied the minds of the Indian cricketers. They have adhered firmly to a soft drink slogan, “Yeh Dil Maange More.” :hehe: Unfortunately, it concerns only commercial gains and not the hunger for victories on the field. **Everyone, including Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, are looking to make as much money as they can while they are in international cricket. These super stars don’t care much for Indian cricket, and they don’t care at all for all those millions of ‘fools’ the world over who are their fans. ** (AQ and some1 he is calling u guys fool )
A few months ago, I had an opportunity to ask Steve Waugh the secret of succeeding abroad. Said the great man, “I can talk about the mind-set of some of the Australian teams who have visited the sub-continent. From the moment they land in India, they become obsessed with conditions, wickets, water and food and everything else but cricket. In 2001, we made a conscious effort to go out as much as possible, know more about the country and not let such external things worry us. We were done in by a great innings from (VVS) Laxman and some fine bowling by Harbhajan (Singh) but I feel we acclimatized a lot better than many teams that have come to India.”
Similarly, all the Indian skipper has done in New Zealand is whine about the wickets. We Indians are not above double standards as well. When a visiting skipper complains about the dust bowls we dish out, on which spinners come into play from 10th over itself, our legends like Sunil Gavaskar and the media brand him as “whiners”. So what about Ganguly himself now in New Zealand? If the wickets are not up to the international standards in New Zealand, then are they of international standards in India? Any answers, Mr. Gavaskar?
What is appalling is the attitude of the entire Indian team. Forget being apologetic about the spineless performances in New Zealand, these cricketers are busy scheming how to boycott the World Cup and bring the ICC on its knees.
Pride. That’s another quality the Indian cricketers have not cared to imbibe. They are arrogant, yes, but not proud about representing the country. It was a great experience listening to Matthew Hayden in Sri Lanka during the ICC Champions Trophy. “It’s not about money, I am not into cricket for money, really. Sure, I love it when people say I am the best batsman in the world these days and such things. But how I would like to be remembered? As a patriot. When I am done with the game and walking down the street, if a kid points to me and says, ‘There’s Matty Hayden… he was a real fighter for Australia…’ That’s what I want to be.”
It was pride, even more than skill, that made Viv Richards what he is. Ali Bacher had once offered the great man a blank cheque to play in South Africa during the apartheid days. Resurrects Viv, “It was a matter of belief, of pride… I would have never gone to South Africa during the apartheid days. And not for a second did the blank cheque from Bacher attracted me. It was a no straightaway.”
And here are our modern demi-gods, whose obsession for money knows no bounds. John Wright, the Indian coach, starts jogging when he is frustrated with his wards. They way things are going for his team these days, it seems he will have to jog all the way to South Africa!
