A Cricket Crisis

1. The Good News: Punjab - Bengal Friendship Amar Rahe!

Harbhajan comes to Ganguly's defense:

Harbhajan denied the accusation that Ganguly wasn't fit to captain the side, adding "...it may be the coach's [Chappell's] own observation but, as far as I am concerned, Ganguly has been proved as an excellent captain, which is evident from his match winning record."

The spinner also dismissed the notion that Ganguly was only interested in captaincy and creating difficulty among team members. "I have played for almost five years under the captaincy of Ganguly and never felt like that," he insisted. "In fact, he takes personal interest to boost each and every player during practice as well as during a match.

"Ganguly has rebuilt this team and whatever the team has achieved so far, credit goes to the captain."

Damn it, why couldn't all punjabi-bengali relations have been this good! Sigh...


2. Bad News - What a lazy bunch of bastards! Out, damned spots!

I have to say it, what a lazy bunch of bastards. Rotten spoiled whores who are happy being pimped for advertising contracts but burst into tears of indignation when being pushed to work harder on the cricket field and on their fitness. (examples here , here, and here , courtesy here) The one day team is already one of the worst in international cricket - there is no reason any of the players should feel overly secure of their place there - if they don't want to work hard, they can fuck off and leave.

The test team is hard to measure at the moment - they did well in the past, but they have barely played anything for a year . Where they are at will come out soon enough. If they turn out to be just as bad, then there is no reason to keep the rotten apples. Let's start again.

There are surely some players out there who are willing to push themselves to the limit instead of resting on their asses. At a guess - Dravid, Kaif, Tendulkar, Kumble, Pathan, Balaji strike me as being made of the right stuff. I hope others too - like Laxman and Sehwag.

Ganguly did great things for Team India, but he hasn't for a while. He's become the Duke of York - he led his men up the hill, and now he's leading them down it again. Let's not wait till we reach complete bottom.