Actually, I started the previous blog after reading the controversial news that Kambli has stated that Tendulkar could have done a bit more for him to elongate his career. But, as I had to prepare for a weekend trip to Manchester and around, I could not pen down all the thoughts and hence this is an update to the previous post.
Whatever Kambli believes, I believe that Tendulkar did all he could not only for Kambli but also for a lot of Bombay cricketers who otherwise did not particularly deserve to be in the National team. And, may be, just may be, that's the reason why Tendulkar failed miserably as the captain of the Indian team. Count on the Bombay players that played for India under Tendulkar's captaincy during various periods:
1. Sameer Dighe
2. Jatin Paranjape
3. Sairaj Bahutule
4. Nilesh Kulkarni
5. Hrishikesh Kanitkar (played for Pune)
6. Abey Kuruvilla
7. Vinod Kambli
8. Ajit Agarkar
The last three without doubt had a some potential but first five must have generated a lot of debate amongst selection committee time and again and any captain would have found it difficult to persist with. But, Tendulkar did. He persisted with many of them and many times for longer periods than justified and didn't he pay the prize?
Quite the contrary, it was Dada who was really unbiased when it came to National team selection and supported the talent over region all the time. He vehemently supported and offered the most required confidence to Yuvraj, Muhammad Kaif, Harbhajan etc. during their budding days. He brutally dumped Deep DasGupta, his home team Bengal wicket keeper and forced Dravid to don the gloves in ODIs. Dravid made most of the opportunity and the move tremendously improved the balance of the ODI side offering Dada the flexibility to field a specialist batsman or bowler depending upon the pitch conditions. The results started showing in. The team that was ridiculous to watch in the 90s became the most progressive team after the scandalous match fixing episode and credit must go to Dada, the best Indian Captain ever, to lead the country with aplomb during those troubled times.
Probably, Dada really valued the value of the India cap and truly believed that the country cap should never be tendered as a favor. It must be earned. Kambli: Hope you realize this sooner and stop finding scapegoats to your self destruction. Nobody but you would have helped yourself out...
Whatever Kambli believes, I believe that Tendulkar did all he could not only for Kambli but also for a lot of Bombay cricketers who otherwise did not particularly deserve to be in the National team. And, may be, just may be, that's the reason why Tendulkar failed miserably as the captain of the Indian team. Count on the Bombay players that played for India under Tendulkar's captaincy during various periods:
1. Sameer Dighe
2. Jatin Paranjape
3. Sairaj Bahutule
4. Nilesh Kulkarni
5. Hrishikesh Kanitkar (played for Pune)
6. Abey Kuruvilla
7. Vinod Kambli
8. Ajit Agarkar
The last three without doubt had a some potential but first five must have generated a lot of debate amongst selection committee time and again and any captain would have found it difficult to persist with. But, Tendulkar did. He persisted with many of them and many times for longer periods than justified and didn't he pay the prize?
Quite the contrary, it was Dada who was really unbiased when it came to National team selection and supported the talent over region all the time. He vehemently supported and offered the most required confidence to Yuvraj, Muhammad Kaif, Harbhajan etc. during their budding days. He brutally dumped Deep DasGupta, his home team Bengal wicket keeper and forced Dravid to don the gloves in ODIs. Dravid made most of the opportunity and the move tremendously improved the balance of the ODI side offering Dada the flexibility to field a specialist batsman or bowler depending upon the pitch conditions. The results started showing in. The team that was ridiculous to watch in the 90s became the most progressive team after the scandalous match fixing episode and credit must go to Dada, the best Indian Captain ever, to lead the country with aplomb during those troubled times.
Probably, Dada really valued the value of the India cap and truly believed that the country cap should never be tendered as a favor. It must be earned. Kambli: Hope you realize this sooner and stop finding scapegoats to your self destruction. Nobody but you would have helped yourself out...
4 comments:
Good read!
i think it is a trend in india to expect others to do ur dirty work for u. think of the whole reservation system.
Good analysis on sachin's captaincy failure. I never thought about that...But its sad that Vinod made such comments in public.
Hari: Thanks for kind words.
Ashwin: Although I will never advocate reservation in any Indian team, I consider reservation in Education in India to be more sensitive. Kambli was just a non-focused, indisciplined character and is acting as a snob now. Nothing else...probably, luck also did not favor him when(ever) he was (if ever) sincere. As it is, He remains an unfulfilled talent.
Rahul:
Thanks man. It's nice that you and many others agree with the analysis. Mr. Vinod for long has been a VINOD (a Joke)
Bongs rightfully feel proud of Ganguly. I can only say that even Greg Chappell would never hesitate to appreciate Ganguly's leadership skills.
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