And India in Asia Cup-2023 Final!

 

Dunith Wellalage

Just when this writer expressed his extreme disillusionment with the cricket of Team India thanks to the haphazard style of player selection cum mindless experimentation in the run-ups to all possible international tournaments, and even threatened to permanently lose interest in the matches India play or is going to play, Team India had bounced back to the winning habit by first bamboozling Pakistan into one of its most crushing defeats of all time in the reserve-day yesterday, the 11^th of September 2023 and then defeated the hosts Sri Lanka in a low-scoring match today, the 12^th of September 2023, thus making way to the Asia Cup-2023 Final to be played on Sunday, September 17. India have now 4 points from 2 matches continuing to top the points table with a formidable net run-rate (NRR) and either Pakistan or Sri Lanka can join them in the Final depending on their virtual semi-final clash on Thursday, September 14. Conceding two defeats from their two matches Bangladesh is out of the tournament and can look forward to having two points at best if they manage to defeat India in the last Super Four match on 15^th September.

In the momentous match against the archrivals yesterday all in the top four of Indian batting delivered, and delivered in a roaring style. It is indeed the rarest of rare kind of feat for India with its openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, helping themselves to half-centuries each and then in a memorable display of strokeplay the next two of the top order, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, notching up their unbeaten centuries. Amid the ecstasy generated for Indian fans it was also a huge sense of relief that finally Kohli had found his long-lost century touch and Rahul who had joined the team after a long hiatus got into the act immediately. This also proves the fact that once the India top order plays to potential no rival team could hope to win on that particular day, and this is also part of the main problem as most often all or most of the top order continue to fail to serve the team, so much so that the team almost loses the winning habit and the hopeful management never daring to apply the axing policy on them. Anyhow, the glorious unbeaten partnership between the two augurs well for the upcoming ODI World Cup-2023. India raced to a mammoth 356 for the loss of only the two openers, and Pakistan looked so lost and totally demoralized that they failed to offer even a worthwhile fight, folding up their reply with a paltry 128 in 32 overs after a devastating spell by the Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav (5 for 25 in 8 overs). No Pak player could even register an individual fifty. The result of India winning by an incredible 228-run margin came in the reserve day which was also affected by repeated rain interruptions, but luckily not enough to wash out the match completely. On the first day of the match Pakistan won the toss and chose to field. The Indian openers laid a solid launchpad on which flourished the Kohli-Rahul partnership in the second day.

That terrific batting display naturally prompted India Captain Rohit Sharma to choose batting first after winning the toss against the hosts in the same venue in Colombo today. After a fairly sound start by Rohit and Gill things, however, began to change as the Sri Lanka spinners, true to their ‘choking’ fame at home turfs, successfully controlled the supposed masters of spin and the wickets began to tumble. The 20-year-old star spinner, Dunith Wellalage, who made his international debut just a year ago dictated the goings-on by achieving his maiden 5-wicket haul and later was ably assisted by Charith Asalanka (4) to restrict India to a modest 213 all out. Even as the Indian spinners were expected to have their tight grip in the Sri Lanka innings the vital blows struck by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohd Siraj helped India to go on taking regular wickets. They knew that taking wickets was more important, because with a target of only 214 restricting the hosts was not going to be effective. And as the match progressed Sri Lanka kept on losing wickets while the runs required were always less than the balls available. The Sri Lankans tried very hard indeed to get to the target for a secure place in the Final, but finally ran out of wickets. Incidentally, it was the youngster Wellalage again who kept the Lankan hopes alive with the bat too (42 not out).  Kuldeep following the match against Pakistan had success in this match too with four scalps and two each by Bumrah and Jadeja. India won by 41 runs and sealed their place in the Final. The Asian war is on for the second spot. 

India Vs Pakistan Cricket: The Zing Seems to be Missing!

 

The cricket matches in all three formats of the game between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan have become a rare variety in the recent years with the ardent discerning cricket lovers waiting for their matches at neutral venues. The matches between them in the one-day World Cup, the T-20 World Cup, and the Asia Cup have always been eagerly awaited. However, in the last two years the fan enthusiasm seems to be dwindling with a sense of listlessness seeping in as regards both Team India and their matches. And risking being rough or grossly unjust I have to point the finger at the Head Coach Rahul Dravid who was appointed in the job in November, 2021. No doubt, he had taken over with the ripe legacies of India—not able to break the jinx of not winning a single ICC title since 2011; India’s group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup played in 2021; Team India management blinded by too many choices of young cricketers (courtesy IPL) thus ushering in the mindless and endless experimentation in the run-up to any international tournament; and the unshakable trust and dependence in the Team India veterans despite their continuous poor show on the field. But Rahul Dravid was appointed with high hopes that being player of legendary status he’d bring in the necessary changes and rejuvenate the team. Unfortunately, the opposite happened.

India lost the Series against South Africa; India’s group-stage exit in Asia Cup-2022; India got ousted in the semi-final in the T20 World Cup played in 2022 and India lost the World Test Championship again this year. What the team managed to do was to win a few scattered matches, mostly against the much weaker teams. All the legacies we mentioned above were continued with unabated energy or even further emboldened. For example, the experimentation-laden team was administered more severe shock treatment bringing in or dropping or inexorably sticking to key or non-key cricketers at mere will or whims or prejudice or favoritism or clout, so much so brazenly that nobody in the Dravid-led management even bothered to justify or make a bid to defend the decisions in some way. The ageing Captain Rohit Sharma followed by the record-breaking Virat and the shifting openers kept on failing the team while the Head Coach kept on looking the other way. The most notable player to gain unjustified faith, apart from the untouchables, is Shardul Thakur while the most-axed but trustworthy players to suffer are Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal at times and even Mohammad Shami and Surya Kumar Yadav who got dropped during the ensuing Asia Cup, in the most crucial league match against none other than Pakistan.

Well, I cannot represent the fans spread globally for Team India, but I can say for myself that I had lost interest in Team India matches played inside or outside, including the most-awaited Indo-Pak encounters. For example, I never even bothered to find out when India was going to meet Pakistan in Asia Cup-2023 that had moved back to the 50-over format which should’ve been matter of keener interest. No doubt, the weather gods too didn’t like the way India prepared to meet Pakistan and the match had to be abandoned. Of course, India successfully moved to the Super-4 stage by defeating Nepal (a Dravidian achievement?). Now, tomorrow, the 10^th of September 2023, India is set to play the arch-rival again, and I’m not seeing any kind of keen interest, far from the usual hype, demonstrated in the fan-fares or in the media for the match. And feeling the guilt somehow I’ve decided to write out my or our agonized frustration.

There is another crucial factor though for the seeming lack of interest—the obstinate rains there in Sri Lanka. Today, I read what Sunil Gavaskar wrote about the organizers not willing to consider changing the venues despite the looming rain threats. He indicated the organizers must be under acute pressure that is most often exercised by the influential players, not just Team India players, but others too. Maybe, this is being my guess; some team would like to play it safe by sharing a point with their rivals rather than working it out in the field and hope for the best. For example, if the Indo-Pak match in Colombo washes out despite having a reserve day Pakistan will get to three points having already vanquished Bangladesh and India just getting one which would mean that to qualify for the Final India will have to beat both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the coming matches, no minnows by any standard.

I never imagined even in my wildest of dreams that one day I’d not only be upset with Dravid, but would also write about his wrong ways, conclusively in my way only; because I always loved and admired that great Wall of a cricketer who stood for the pride of the nation in the most adverse conditions, more often in the Test arena. If you search for him here in this blog you’re sure to find at least one piece written about Rahul Dravid in his glorious years. Ultimately, this is a matter of sadness only, that, a player of that level of excellence should fail the national team so utterly, so miserably. I was never a pessimist, particularly in my cricket writings. But at the moment, I feel no surge of optimism as regards Team India’s progress in this Asia Cup, or much more importantly in the upcoming One-day ICC World Cup-2023—a tournament that is to be played in the subcontinent, and the Head(ache?) Coach prepares well by axing out Ashwin and Chahal, although it’s presented as only a provisional team which, in a more monstrous way, would mean that experimentation is still a far way off from being finally over.

The Horrors at the Guwahati LGBI Airport!

Aberrations do occur, in any field of activity or operation or management, the airport operations mid-air or at ground level being no exceptions. But unfortunately, such aberrations seem to be the rule at the Guwahati LGBI Airport, even after a complete revamp of the busiest airport of North East India that was done by one of the top-rated industrialists of the    country. As fairly regular passengers over the years in the domestic air routes to Guwahati we’d experienced or had witnessed such aberrations, the horrors, regularly too at this airport, occurring mostly at the Security zone. No doubt, security is the topmost priority in our insurgency-infested country; but there are justifiable ways of doing it and not going berserk and nearly attacking/harassing/shaming normal passengers. The security forces should possess some level of intelligence to be able to detect suspicious passengers instead of intimidating every Tom, Dick and Harry. There have been some news reports about such horrors happening to legitimately normal passengers having full records at the hands of the governments; but many stories never come out as most people prefer not to speak about their shame in public. Such horrors remind us of the ‘security tortures’ in the US airports following the 9/11 terrorist strikes, although our country hasn’t been experiencing terror activities in recent years. So, is this because of the hate-laden country where anyone of any background at any public arena could suddenly burst out with bizarre acts of violence?

The Security zone of the airport looks just fine with a full-women team managing and screening women passengers. But unfortunately, despite being of the same ilk as their passengers they fail abysmally to understand the kind of the basic necessities they all carry while traveling—like the minimal cosmetics, mobiles and accessories, vanity bags and purses and so on which are items permitted by the airlines. The all-women young team doesn’t seem to understand, anyway. We came to know the story of an elderly woman who was subjected to mental and physical torture in the name of ‘Security’.

First, she was nearly stripped inside the ‘examination’ cabin as one of the bright Security ladies ran her hands all over her body. At the lower belly of the 60+ woman she felt a lump which could’ve have been any harmless fat accumulation or a harmless hernia or rather tragically some malignant tumor that the woman herself was not aware. However, the smart young girl in dazzling uniform thought the lump could conceal some metallic device or even a bomb! Her loyalty to the highest possible standards of safety made her nearly strip the woman. She relented only when the woman burst into tears as her feeble protests had no impact on the ‘examiner’ and she, fortunately, didn’t turn into an ‘executioner’ conducting a possible surgery on the spot.  

Second, after being let out of the torture chamber the elderly woman discovered that her vanity bag was kept aside as obviously found suspicious by the diligent members of the team. As she approached another bright member of the team picked up the bag and turned it upside down pouring all the apparently mundane items on the desk. As the elderly woman stood aghast one more team-lady joined the other in rummaging through the items: they found the innocuous pin that is used to push out the simcard-tray of the mobile very suspicious, perhaps thinking that the pin could trigger some bomb somewhere; they took extraordinary interest in the cosmetic items; they then discovered a normal nail-cutter and threw it unceremoniously into their own dustbin; they also found a tiny purse containing notes and coins and dexterously counted out all of it, for reasons they only knew; they also found another tiny plastic cover having credit/debit cards and checked each one meticulously; and they objected to everything they found.

They demanded the elderly woman show her ID cards to which the exasperated woman strongly objected. Those cards were already checked and why at all she should show those here, she asked. What was her crime, she wanted to know. By then the elderly woman’s husband, on the wrong side of sixty, distraught by the unusual delay joined her and warned her that they could miss the boarding. As he began to understand the goings-on he started shouting in desperation asking were there instructions to harass passengers selectively and if they thought that all ID cards could be easily forged. One of the ‘examiners’ then proceeded to her table and started jotting down notes as if she made her observations to be forwarded to her high command. And finally, they allowed the elderly lady to proceed. One of them even offered to give back the nail-cutter which the woman refused stoutly asking them to use it. The woman needed another ten minutes to put all the scattered items back into her bag.

And that was not the end. Air India made it still worse for the senior citizen duo. The couple hurried to the boarding counter and found a long queue.  The display showed that the flight was on time. So, they joined the queue and waited and waited and waited. More than half an hour elapsed with the Airline still not announcing a delay, sticking to the same scheduled time and expected time of departure. Already tired from their previous torture the elderly couple’s knees began aching. There were only limited chairs available most of which were occupied by young guys who looked very energetic, but seemingly in extreme need of rest and care themselves. It was a very hot day and the central AC was either not functioning or kept at very low levels. Perhaps one more noble initiative for the objective of conservation of energy! However, it only added to the sorry plight of the hapless couple. The old couple still couldn’t afford to leave the queue in search of some vacant chairs, for the Airline already sounded the warning that boarding counter would close 25 minutes before departure.

Finally, the display sign claimed ‘Boarding Gate Open’. Even after that, the gate remained closed for another ten minutes with the smart executives hopping in and out of the boarding counter as if they were the busiest souls in the world. It turned out to be a delay of nearly an hour, but still not announced or acknowledged or apologized for. The couple only got a text message from the Airline regretting a change of the boarding gate when there was none.

We don’t know how many more stories of such horrors are waiting to be told. In the name of what that we’re made to suffer like this? Security and safety of the nation? Well, first learn treating the rightful citizens as rightful citizens and then talk of their safety. More importantly, learn respecting the senior citizens most of whom are definitely not terrorists. All of the good citizens deserve better than this.