Sunny Side Up

Here's another NICE mess you've gotten me into…- Oliver Hardy

Graham Ford has refused to coach Team India and so has John Emburey. Ford perhaps thought that one year was too little a time to get things in order and the fact that he’d work without his support staff could make things tougher; Emburey on the other had now believes that Indians will burn out, they won’t be able to beat Australia and all the blame would end up on the coach. Why the hell was John Emburey considered in the first place is a question that will never be answered. John Emburey should thank a certain Sunil Gavaskar for making people acknowledge that John Emburey still exists. A man with hardly any coaching expertise is called to present his case by Gavaskar to make the selection process look worthwhile. In the aftermath of Ford's rebuttal and Emburey's snub, Gavaskar only commented that they were back to square one.

What is Sunil Gavaskar's problem? He's not happy with anything that he doesn't suggest. He was on the committee that selected Greg Chappell to coach India and he was the first one to piss and moan about Chappell. Dave Whatmore was almost the short-listed and was willing to work under any conditions but Mr. Gavaskar wasn't too happy with an Aussie. If Gavaskar's word is the end all when it comes to Indian cricket why does he wait till the last moment to open his mouth? The reasons the board gave were as stupid as Gavaskar's- Dave Whatmore campaigned too hard for the post! These people started sending feelers to Whatmore in West Indies during the world Cup and then later had meetings with him in Bangladesh while the two teams were playing a test match and then they say he campaigned too hard!

Now that Graham Ford has refused the TV channels will have a field day and discuss this issue to shreds. They will again pose non-sensical questions like why the hell can't we get an Indian? You know what for once I agree with the argument; get a darn Indian and not just any Indian get someone whose heart bleeds for Indian cricket, someone who wears his patriotism on his sleeves, someone who won't sleep till Indian cricket reaches the dizzying heights it promises to scale. Get Mohinder Amarnath, Lalchand Rajput or Javagal Srinath or Parthiv Patel! Let this guy come and conquer all. If he's successful then great and if he fails greater still for this stupid debate will get over. Jimmy Amarnath keeps crying that he's never considered so give him what he wants and let him prove whatever the hell he wants to prove! Recall Anshuman Gaikewad at least viewers will not have to listen to his expert views on TV channels; get Madan Lal for as it is he can't speak and for once he'll get a chance to let his actions speak or request Ajit Wadekar to take up the reins again for at least he'll not say 'foreigners' reduced us to a laughing stock.

If everything fails get Sunny Gavaskar. After all he refused many people for they weren’t right for the job. The fact that Whatmore was ready to accept the challenge and perhaps make Sunny eat humble pie didn’t go down too well with the Master. Get Gavaskar and pay him so much money that he can't refuse. But we all know that Mr. Gavaskar won't do it for he'll have to let go of his favorite past time- complaining. And of course, if you ever say this in front of him he'll either explain how he has the sole right to speak about this issue for he has given the country so much yada yada yada or he'll ask you to prove your credentials. He has a strange way of dealing with issues- he walks out of the ground if the umpire goes against him, he makes sure you are fired if you don't toe the line, he'll ensure you are not hired if you speak too much or too little! All this sounds very familiar to me....for it seems like India's second greatest cricketer (the first being Kapil Dev according to Wisden and not me!) is behaving like me when I'm pissed off at some thing.

And if that is really the case then you ain't seen nothing yet!