The direct telecasts of the Sahara Cup matches from Toronto left me bored. And I thought that this would never happen to me!
It was no fun watching the same two teams playing against each other day after day. Anwar and Sohail open, Srinath measures his run-up. Kumble flights his spinners, Mongia appeals once more..... how long can one watch this? It was such a comedown after watching the enthralling Test series between England and Pakistan. Akram and Waqar made the Englishmen hop around, set menacing close-in fields and controlled the game. It was great to watch. The crowds which had packed the grounds (with the exception of Headingley) added to the fun of watching the game.
I think there should be a ban on two international teams playing day after day against each other particularly in remote areas where no one is interested in the game. It is a parody of the game. Hardly 250 turned up for the Sahara Cup matches despite all the pseudo-enthusiasm whipped up by the Indian commentators who were bowled over by the charm of the sponsors and talked like their PR men. When cricket is reduced to this level, it becomes a bore. So while the locals had the sense to keep away from the game, the handful of immigrants as usual made an ass of themselves, waving the flags of India or Pakistan and screaming slogans like Pakistan zindabad and Ganapati bapa moriya.
The Canadians must be wondering why the two teams from India and Pakistan came all the way to distant Toronto to play cricket. The excuse trotted out was that the Sahara Cup was intended to 'spread' the game. But the no-no response from the sensible natives made it clear that they would rather watch ice hockey, football or simply stay at home.
Cricket needs a special kind of atmosphere, which simply was not there at Toronto. I think money was the only motive for the Sahara tamasha. One of the overawed Indian commentators interviewed BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra and gushed so much that it was sickening to watch. These matches had no competitive edge, and the Pakistanis performed as though they were sleepwalking. Their fielding was the shoddiest I had ever seen from an international side, yet Wasim Akram simply did not appear to care. There was one instance when Waqar Younis, fielding on the long-leg boundary, allowed the ball to go between his legs into the fence. The next ball was again played towards him. He tried to pick it up with one hand, failed and allowed a further two runs. The bowler, Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the few Pakistanis who appeared to be interested in the game, looked in despair towards his skipper. Mind you, Waqar Younis will be playing a lot of one-day cricket in England during the next few years. If only the Glamorgan cricket club officials had watched him in action at Toronto, they would have wondered whether they did the right thing in signing him up for 150,000 pounds.
It is time that Bindra and his successor put an end to this one-day tamasha in exotic locations. Both the players and the officials must realise that test cricket is the real thing. If Indian and Pakistani teams cannot play Test matches in their country, why not hold them on neutral territories? Won't it be possible to organise a three-Test series in England during July-September? England has plenty of suitable cricket grounds which could be spared for such matches. If some of the one day farces could be cancelled, there would be enough free dates for more frequent Test matches against Pakistan which could be scheduled in Australia too, during our winter months. Of course, the matches will clash with their own domestic seasons, but I am sure the ABC can spare some of their grounds for the Indo-Pak clashes.
It is likely that India will win the Sahara Cup. There will euphoria in the country and the players will be lionised. Tendulkar will be compared to Mike Brearley and Don Bradman. All this is rubbish. The Toronto tamasha cannot be a factor to judge any kind of cricket. The Pakistanis had not prepared themselves for it and treated it like a lark to make some money. If Indian cricket had to march forward, it is time to give up this kind of tamasha and play more Test matches, even in neutral venues. Unless we combat Akram and his men in the five-day version of the game, all the ballyhoo over the Toronto tamasha makes no sense. If at all we had to play these tamasha matches, can we at least organise triangular series? The one to one tournament is the worst kind of cricket, whatever our ESPN commentators say!
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