The defeat in the second test at Ahemedabad, against the formidable Proteas in. three days is an ignominy. It is one of the heaviest in the history of Indian Test cricket. There are 3 aspects to this defeat. The first one-the blame has to be fully and squarely accepted by the curator, a former cricketer and the GCA. Neither the players nor the captain should be blamed. Mr.Dhiraj Prasanna, a cricketer who had done national duty had no business to prepare a green top. Agreed that it was Kumble, who had won the toss and could have inserted the opposition. But Indian ‘swingers’ and ‘seamers’ have seldom been successful on home, even on favourable conditions. And what is this crazy idea of providing helpful pitches to the visitors. Every country prepares pitches to suit its strengths. Has any country, during overseas tours, even doing the golden era of the spin trio ever offered a spinning track? So that their batsmen could learn the art of playing spin on turning tracks? And then with the limited overs cricket eating into the share of test cricket, has it not boiled down to being a spectator’s sport? When viewers buy tickets for 5 days of absorbing tussle between the bat and the ball, is it morally right and ethically correct to deny them 2 full days of play? The Indian players should not be blamed at all. Just few days back, essentially the same set of players, had acquitted themselves creditably in Australia. Form cannot change so drastically and that too for all the players. It is just the ineptitude of the curator.

The first observation takes us to the second issue that needs to be addressed more seriously. Most of the blame of ‘match-fixing’ has been bandied about the players only. Do we not read something between the lines when a curator, goes out of the way, to oblige a visiting team? There could be more to it than meets the eye. In the name of a ‘green top’ he had offered a sub-standard surface, which was not worth playing. Just in the first session, of the first day, it had some life when the South-African bowlers used it to their advantage. A good surface is one, which lasts 5 days. Initially it should offer some swing and seam movement to the bowlers. Then it should slow down, aiding the free score of runs. Towards the end, by the 4^th or 5^th day, cracks must appear to facilitate spinners. Thus it would be an even contest, between the bat and the ball and everyone would have something in it. This was not one of those surfaces. In fact if only Kumble had inserted the option and had our bowlers skittled them out, the result could have been reverse. Even then it would not pass muster. Even Caesar’s wife is not beyond suspicion and this applies to every player, groundsman and administrator. International cricket being what it is and with ratings of teams and players constantly changing, the financial ramifications are huge. What is the guarantee that there was no financial undertone to Mr.Prasanna’s actions? What if he had received express ‘instructions’ from vested quarters? Will the BCCI please set up an independent investigation to find out the reasons, which prompted Mr. Dhiraj Prasanna to come up with this kind of a pitch? Since the year 2000, this is the second time, we are going down to South Africa by an innings. Also after 2001, when Aussies defeated India, this is only the second occasion when the match has been completed in 3 days.

The third aspect of the defeat is the impact of Sachin Tendulkar on Team India. He has now been playing close to 2 decades and cannot be expected to carry on eternally. Then why does not he show any inclination to step down gradually? And why doesn’t the team adjust mentally to his absence. When he is there in the team, most of the opposition’s strategy and plans revolved around him. So the other players have that much more of ‘free space’. In his absence, every other player’s strengths and weaknesses are closely studied and their weaknesses exposed threadbare. The players’ on their part also feel like a rudder-less ship or a father-less family. This leads to the travel of the overall performance graph of the team southwards! But then they are all professionals and must learn to be mentally tough and face any situation.