Have been watching the news for last few days and news channels have been doing follow ups on the anniversary of one of the worst disasters in my living memory. It has been a year since tsunami devastated the Asian shores. I can still remember how it was a Sunday brunch where people who didn't know the gravity of it all, including me, were discussing as to how there were some tremors and reported earthquakes in bangalore and some similar news from chennai. After learning the depth of tragedy, we realized how mind numbing news it was we all scrapped the plans of new year celebration then.
this year too there doesn't seem to be any respite from the tragedies. Hurricanes, cyclones and earthquakes seem to be just following up in line after tsunami. Its Xmas day today and air hangs heavy all around me. Here in Dhaka every celebration of new year will happen under heavy apprehensions of mishaps that are lurking around the corner all the time and these are not just nature's wrath but man's own devices.
Buzzwords of the year have been freedom and I guess it has been made just all the more elusive this year and for years to come...Hope shall be the word for the years to come. Hoping and living....
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Foggy days ... Foggy ways
I think foggy days in north India have coincided just in time with foggy ways in which Indian cricket team gets selected. Every Indian cricket team selection invites plenty of opinions. This time it was specially so given the fact that so much drama had been created before selection over Ganguly's career. Drama and episodes were so interesting that it looked straight out of Ekta Kapoor 's production house. The bandhs, the effigies, Rajsingh Dungarpur's comments and late night parlays between the BCCI president and Ganguly generated so much media heat that it became bigger than return of Mihir in Tulsi or who got crowned for which idol title.
It is really sad that Ganguly had been picked up in the Indian team under these circumstances and his meetings with Sharad Pawar and results thereafter don't leave a good taste in mouth. The way meeting was being described by BCCI spokesperson and the timing of it just didn't gel. Just imagine at 10 in the night or so, ex Indian captain and BCCI president would sit together to discuss health of Indian Cricket or dire straits of individual's cricketing career.
There can never be a perfect selection criteria in cricket unless there are right selection parameters. In athletics normally best top performances at a selection trial decide as to who makes the cut. But team sports sometimes don't have the luxury of such clear yardsticks.
Cricket being game of uncertainties, doesn't lend itself so well to be measured by pure statistics but I think normally current form of the players has always been a good yardstick. And I think BCCI should really evolve a good system of individual player's performance points and ranking system to aid the selection committee. This will help make things transparent enough and make players hit the grounds more often than the BCCI officials' doorsteps to get selected. Hope that will stop Mr. Sidhu from raving and ranting about puppet shows.
It is really sad that Ganguly had been picked up in the Indian team under these circumstances and his meetings with Sharad Pawar and results thereafter don't leave a good taste in mouth. The way meeting was being described by BCCI spokesperson and the timing of it just didn't gel. Just imagine at 10 in the night or so, ex Indian captain and BCCI president would sit together to discuss health of Indian Cricket or dire straits of individual's cricketing career.
There can never be a perfect selection criteria in cricket unless there are right selection parameters. In athletics normally best top performances at a selection trial decide as to who makes the cut. But team sports sometimes don't have the luxury of such clear yardsticks.
Cricket being game of uncertainties, doesn't lend itself so well to be measured by pure statistics but I think normally current form of the players has always been a good yardstick. And I think BCCI should really evolve a good system of individual player's performance points and ranking system to aid the selection committee. This will help make things transparent enough and make players hit the grounds more often than the BCCI officials' doorsteps to get selected. Hope that will stop Mr. Sidhu from raving and ranting about puppet shows.
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