Cricket making headlines for wrong reasons.

The recent controversy between Ganguly and Chapell has hit the headlines of all the newspapers across the country. The manner in which this news has reached the public is simply ridiculous. Why did Ganguly discuss about the happenings between him and the coach with the media? Doesn't it sound so immature and childish, very similar to how a kindergarden kid would complain to his mother about how his school teacher had shouted at him? If he has problems with the coach, he should have contacted the BCCI directly. Why does he have to take the coach's viewpoints personally? All these incidents doesn't auger well for the Indian cricket team.

Policies similar to that of Australian cricket team have to be implemented in Indian team as well. If a player doesn't perform well for say, 10 consecutive one dayers or 5 test matches, he should be chucked out of the team, irrespective of whether he is a captain or a favourite of BCCI president or whether he belongs to selectors' favorite states such as Karnataka or Bengal or Maharashtra. Our country's huge talents go unheard of because of such differences. Why do people from North East states never enter the foray of cricket? Is it because they are not skilled in the sport? NO.....They are not given enough opportunities. In a country having the second highest population in the world, possessing such a huge man power, Is it very difficult to find atleast 50 talented, hardworking cricketers?

Many players are being treated as permanent members of the team, no matter how worse they perform. Do I have to mention these names? Ganguly, our very own captain, it's high time for him to just retire and get off the team. He claims that he has brought in many victories for the team under his captaincy. How many matches were his contribution significant in the last few years? India was successful in many matches due to the contribution made by youngsters like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Kaif. At a point of time when our whole country's expectations were carried by the shoulders of Sachin, these players proved that India can win even if Sachin gets out. This is a positive sign for Indian cricket. But such players are not given good chance to prove themselves in test cricket. The same old Laxman and Ganguly are part of the test team for ages. Com'on, selectors, Laxman is not going to repeat the Kolkata innings every time he goes out to bat in a test match. Why is he part of the test squad always? I couldn't recall a good test innings from Ganguly apart from the recent slowest, boring century he made against Zimbabwe, to prove a point that he can bat.

People might argue about Sachin's contributions in the past 2 years. If Sachin failed to make good scores, he had come up with a good performance in his bowling. Although he had been in and out of the team due to his back injury and tennis elbow, he had always strived hard to get more runs. It is evident from the effort he puts in, unlike Ganguly who only knows to show-off and who can't run fast and take 2 runs instead of singles. Ranatunga would have easily taken 2 runs in such a situation. He can easily judge whether a particular stroke would fetch him a single or a two and run/walk accordingly. But Sourav mostly prefers to walk and at other times, he gets his partner run-out.

To be frank, I was also a fan of Ganguly during 1997 Sahara Cup matches between India and Pakistan in Toronto. But I feel, after he took over the captaincy, his attitude towards the game has undergone a drastic change. John Wright was able to adjust with Ganguly's shortcomings but Chapell may not do so. If our selectors and BCCI sincerely wish that India should do well in the coming world cup, they should let Chapell take over the job of tuning our team's performance and groom the youngsters with potential to perform in high pressure situations. How many finals have we lost? Something is terribly wrong here.

Chapell, Wishing you good luck and pleaaaaaaaase help our team to bring home the coveted World Cup from the mighty Aussies.