The five never required charity, definitely don’t need pity

For a follower of Indian cricket, sifting through fact and fiction over the last week would’ve either been...

For a follower of Indian cricket, sifting through fact and fiction over the last week would’ve either been very easy or extremely difficult. No middle path existed. You could’ve either immediately dismissed news of VRS schemes and instant retirements, or spent endless, helpless hours trying to find out what was really happening, who had heard what, and what it all meant.

The drama outside the selection committee meeting surrounding Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion was so much more intense than what was going on inside. Reporter after reporter told us stories of how a deal had been struck with Ganguly to give him a proper farewell. As time went by, the scale kept getting bigger and soon deals were being struck not just with him but with the whole lot. The anchors on TV were explaining their unsourced reports in such detail that it seemed they had themselves just finished mediating with Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar on behalf of the BCCI.

Ganguly and Kumble have had to spend substantial time over the last three days denying any such retirement arrangement, both publicly in front of the cameras, and privately to their acquaintances in the media. When we hesitantly called a usually reliable BCCI official to ask if there was any substance in the theory, he shot back: “If you believe that, you’ll believe anything.” Touché.

Indian cricket’s latest obsession is how to give the Famous, Fabulous, Fantastic Five (choose whichever adjective your reverence or sarcasm demands) a decent farewell. A noble thought, no doubt, but team sports rarely work that way, and definitely not games which don’t allow substitutions like football or basketball. And the biggest problem with this whole bye-bye debate is not its content, but that this may not be the time for it at all.

If Yuvraj Singh had been in top form, there may have been a point in the argument. If Rohit Sharma had consistently been racking up 100s and looking ready to let himself loose on the world, there could’ve been a case. If Kaif and Badrinath had shown adequate poise in their more public opportunities, there may have been some basis.

But it seems that we’re desperate for a change just because the middle-order looks old, and not because it’s living on borrowed time like, for example, Kapil Dev was in his last year when he was blocking a fully equipped Javagal Srinath.

Test cricket cannot be treated as a finishing school. One of the problems these days is that the media is so eager to pronounce young players as national heroes that some of their performances are blown completely out of proportion, leading to an impression that they’re good enough for the highest level even after a couple of one-day 40s.

Story continues below this ad

When Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid made their Test debuts, the middle-order had been packed too, just as it always has been in India. But they made instant impact at the world stage when given half a chance, and didn’t let up for years after that. That’s how they managed to keep players such as Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli and Praveen Amre out of the team. They were ready for the highest level when they broke in — they didn’t learn on the job.

The superiority of the middle-order ensured that a whole generation of talented India batsmen couldn’t make it to the Indian team because they weren’t good enough in comparison. But those who were genuinely gifted still tilted the scales in their favour — Sehwag was asked to open because he just couldn’t be kept out any longer, and went on to become one of the best in the world. More recently, Gautam Gambhir pushed Wasim Jaffer out by the sheer volume of runs he scored in the game’s shorter versions.

Who among the second-string batsmen, or the leg-spinners, has shown such authority? And if the players we too hastily label the ‘next big thing’ can’t keep up with the ‘seniors’, how will they compare with the Pietersens of this world?

When the five finally exit, they should with dignity, informed in advance about their imminent sacking as a tribute to their long service, but not given extra opportunities because we want to be nice to them. They haven’t needed the Indian cricket establishment’s charity over the last decade, and they definitely don’t need its pity.