Westward ho!

It’s funny this name BCCI. It stands for Board of Control for Cricket in India but if anyone has been following the happenings in the last few days, they have done everything other than keeping things in control.

I go back to the old issue of India coach after Guru Greg went (or was he asked to leave?) after the World Cup fiasco. It seemed, time was too short to find a coach for the Bangladesh tour. And it also seemed, a ‘phoren’ coach would be found before the tours to Ireland and England.

When I first heard the name of Graham Ford, I was a bit taken aback. Hey, was this some custom-built product from the Ford factory which (sorry who) would go on to engineer India’s rise in the world of cricket. Well before Ford could turn on the ignition, there was a problem with what they call the self-starter. Ford himself was not ready to crank, so for Indian cricket to burst to life was just not going to happen!

I think this is the biggest embarrassment India could have faced in any field – sporting or otherwise – where the coach-designate walked away coolly saying he was not interest in the job. Hey, is this what the Indian coach’s job is worth, where a white man walks in, gets the job and flies away. And what does he do, says he can’t take the job because of family compulsions blah blah…

Come on Graham, yes, I am going to take the liberty of addressing you by first name, could you not find a better excuse of shying away from a job which perhaps is as demanding as what our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does?

People never knew what you were when you were deputy to Bob Woolmer. And I doubt, if, after this, you will ever get a chance to prove yourself as a cricket coach. Being cocooned in a job as comfortable as director in Kent may give you the comfort of megabucks. But will anyone other than the counties ever get to know you? No way.

I guess you chickened out even before you wore India colours. But let me tell you, this is something which will be remembered for a long time of how a “phoren” coach ran away just like a batsman scared of an Allan Donald steaming in to bowl!

Coming back to the BCCI, they must take full flak for the way the whole coach issue has been handled. It was with much fanfare and in full view of the media glare they saw Ford and John Emburey come and present their credentials. Both flew back to England after that, so comfortable to be away from India.

Come the selection meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, the next sacrificial lamb is waiting to be offered. First he was bleeted and then his head put on the chopping block. Ok, if you have still not got a hang of who I am talking about, it’s none other than Virender Sehwag.

I believe Rahul Dravid tried to present his vice captain’s case before the selectors, but it fell on deaf ears. And when Dravid realised he was batting, or taking guard for a lost cause, he decided to keep mum. And with that, a great batsman’s career was shovelled into the grave.

So what in the first place was Sehwag’s fault? Was his triple ton and then a 250-odd against Pakistan forgotten? Was Sehwag the dashing stroke-maker not thought fit to play ODIs or Tests ever again? Or was it that Colonel – Dilip Vengsarkar – yes, the chairman of the selection committee trying to prove his point that he never wanted Sehwag to go to West Indies for the World Cup.

Whichever way you look at it, the ugly head of regionalism in cricket selection has again raised its head. And I guess as long as we have a Maharashtra strongman as the BCCI chief, nobody is going to look north, south or east, it will be just West!