by Sumit Srivastava
A few days ago, the BCCI released a terse statement to the media which said, “The BCCI has decided to discontinue the services of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh with immediate effect.”
Somewhere this decision can be taken as the reflection of the dismal show by the Indians in the ICC World Twenty20 and in the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. The board says that it has acted quite professionally and that they have been sacked because their performances were not up to the mark. It means that it is clear that the performance will be the sole raison d’etre for team selection.
After the forgettable 2007 ICC World Cup, the board had decided to take the services of Prasad and Robin and they looked quite useful till a few months back. With a number of series victories, both at home and away, it looked as if the things were going in the right direction. But off late the journey for the side has not been that easy, with bowling and fielding not looking in good shape at all.
It was not long ago when both the coaches, especially Prasad, were being praised highly by everyone with India winning the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, victories against Australia (both at home as well as in Australia) and reaching the peak of the ICC rankings.
But suddenly things had changed for both of them. Fielding and bowling had become vexing problems for the team and dismal performance in the two ICC events didn’t make life easier for both Venky and Robin.
The fast bowlers were not performing well for most of them were not fit and were getting injured quite frequently to one’s annoyance. Young bowlers like Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh and Ishant Sharma were having a few technical problems with wrist position and dip in pace. They were not very confident of themselves but the coach was unable to rectify those problems.
Fielding standards too were at an all time low giving Robin Singh sleepless nights. Robin used to be a marvellous fielder in his playing days and was not shy of diving or making slides. But somehow all his efforts with this Indian side have gone in vain.
But if only last few months have played the key roles in sacking of Venky and Robin because they didn’t perform, then why Gary Kirsten should not be removed? In fact he was the main coach, the brain behind all the strategies made for the side. So he should have been the very first one to be held responsible for the show.
Was he not sacked because he is a foreigner? Had Venky and Robin been foreigners, would they have been treated like this? If the performance is the sole reason, then Kirsten should see himself next in line to be sacked if the team does not perform in the next few upcoming series.
Prasad and Robin were not informed about their termination by the BCCI . Both came to know about it only through news channels. Prasad and Robin have served India quite well both, as players and as coaches too, and they could have and should have been given a better treatment by the BCCI.
BCCI is an independent body and it takes decisions on its own and at times many abstruse ones too. It would call someone as senior and proven as Rahul Dravid into the side to stand as the Wall on bouncy tracks saying that he was a champion. Then it would dump him once the team is back on to low bouncy pitches. It would hire a few professionals and then would not even bother to inform them about their terminations. That is certainly not called professionalism.
BCCI is the strongest cricket board (richest too) in the world. Should the Indians feel proud of it? It is running big events like IPL, Champions League Twenty20 and trying to fetch as much money as it can with every single opportunity it gets. Should the Indians feel proud of it? It gives some really bitter treatment to its own players. Should the Indians feel proud of it?
BCCI does whatever it wants and to be on the safer side, when in India, do what the BCCI does.
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