BCCI decisions aimed to quell criticism

The Board of Control for Cricket in India made whole lot of decisions at the working committee meeting on April 7. A vast majority of people have been led to believe that the Board has come down heavily on Team India. I am not sure I can even begin to subscribe to such theories since I think much of what has been said is to quell the criticism.
An attempt has been made to tell us that the failure in the World Cup was because India does not have fast and lively pitches. The twin batting failures came on sluggish tracks in Port of Spain and had nothing to do with the fact that India does not have too many strips that can be branded lively, let alone fast.
There are some other decisions made in the meeting in Mumbai that defy comprehension and come across as hurried and not well thought out. For instance, the Working Committee has accepted that a change in the manner in which the selection commission is formed and the need to pay the selectors for their efforts.
Of course, this has been a long standing demand but to time it with the World Cup debacle is to cast aspersions on the selectors who did a good job of picking the best possible side (Ramesh Powar, Mohammed Kaif and VVS Laxman would only have been warming the benches, you see).
This is also a clear attempt by the BCCI mandarins at populism. There has been so much talk about how the players have focused on making money that the Board has felt the need to hurt players’ incomes. There has been a section in the Board which has sought to cut the players to size, by tightening the purse strings.
It should not be long before some player – or even a sponsor – takes BCCI to court. At this point of time, players may be too shell shocked to even react to the diktat that players cannot enter endorsement deals with more than three corporates at a time. Or, to the directive that more than two players cannot endorse a product.
I am disappointed that the selection committee was rushed into naming Rahul Dravid as captain for the series in Bangladesh. There has been no analysis of his less than imaginative captaincy in the World Cup. On a pitch on which Bangladesh used three left-arm spinners to stifle India, Dravid’s handling of the bowling left a lot to be desired.
His reluctance to use Virender Sehwag’s off-spin until Bangladesh needed just 32 runs was as striking as his decision to employ Sachin Tendulkar in a seam-up rather than spin bowling mode. And in the game against Sri Lanka, Sehwag was not pressed into service at all, shocking when you consider how the island team stacks left-handers in its line up.
Obviously, with coach Greg Chappell having indicated his desire not to seek extension of his stint with the Indian team, the Board did not want to rock the unsteady boat too much more. But if cricketing decisions were made with a bit more thought rather than as knee-jerk reactions, the Indian team may have emerged from the depths it has sunk to.
There has to be a deeper reason – and it has to do with lack of application and a mental strength. These are issues relating to player insecurities that need to be dealt with. There must be some thought into how players have apparently worked against coaches like John Wright and Chappell
Above all, I see no bid to ensure that the team concept is ingrained in the minds of India’s cricketers from the junior level. Often we see players place themselves and their ambitions ahead of team needs, however subtly. There is an urgent need to ensure that all players, big and small, understand that team has to come before self.
If this is not implanted in young minds, there is no chance that it can be achieved when players make it to Team India and establish themselves as individual stars.