More »
not even his most scathing critic can deny the talent he posseses...
he has everything most bowlers die for... lovely release of ball... great seam position... and even a great out swinger... with aggressive attitude to boot... virtually everything one dreams of in an aggressive fast bowler... and yet he continues to be out of the team...
lot has been written about how out of hand he gets at times... even his latest bowling coach at warwickshire, alan donald, has come up with a blunt appraisal...
"Just in terms of his desire, and if he has got any ambitions of playing for India for a long, long time, he should his change his habits," Donald told Cricinfo. "I know he is aggressive, he is passionate and I know he just boils over with emotions in the heat of the battle. There is nothing wrong with that but I just think sometimes he lets himself down."
so you can add donald's name to his continuing list of 'admirers'...
as i said lot has been said about his blow hot, blow cold attitude... but there isn't a word why this happens...? what is bcci doing to protect the potential great from turning into a lost opportunity...? are we contributing to his demise as well...?
we are still largely a conservative society... where we don't give much importance or shall i say same respect to the one who does humor... we still call them 'bhaand' to show that how different they are from us... the serious or sober living citizens...
and also in the same vein we don't like the person who show aggression in any walk of life... coz it does not fit into 'our guy next door' type of upbringing... as soon as we see someone with attitude we get uncomfortable in his company... no wonder we are always labeled as soft travelers in spite of having the best of talent...the notion we are shrugging off slowly but surely...
we just don't seems to accept anyone with slightest deviation from the norm and hence the need or burning desire to punish him at the slightest opportunity fills our mind... much the same way the match referee was nodding his head feverishly when he saw sreesanth engaged in some 'pep talk' with kulkarni...
is it that sree really is a problem child... that he doesn't know when to keep calm and when to let go...?
or is it that he is confused what type of behavior will suite the sensitivity of his colleagues...? how much is too much...?
but more importantly who will decide how much is too much...?
i have seen macgrath getting away with talking about the anatomy of sarvan's wife... i have seen andre nel getting away with cursing batsmen virtually every delivery... i have seen flintoff's exchanges with aleem dar and getting away with a pat on the back for being patriotic and passionate about game...
but have you seen sree getting away with anything...? even his colleague slapped him... but got away with it... but not sree...why can't we free santh...?
why...?
11 comments:
Donald himself had a mean streak to him when the situation demanded aggression. McGrath didn't say anything about Sarwan's wife, he made an inquisition about a part of Lara's body, to which Sarwan responded by telling him to consult his significant other.
All this talk of Indians not liking aggression is hollow. You have Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Ishant act stupid but people don't have a problem with that.
I guess Sreesanth is one step ahead of these guys, although there are times when he's picked on because his reputation precedes him. The tiff with Dhaval Kulkarni is a prime example. At the end of the day he needs to figure out what he wants more. Does he want to go the way of Shoaib Akhtar or does he want to channel his aggression to help his team win?
Well said....If Sree sticks around long enough without getting down on himslef too hard...we may be seeing the next generation of indian cricketers....and not the fat and happy type who just wanna fit in and tell their grand kids they played for India!
"what is bcci doing to protect the potential great from turning into a lost opportunity...? are we contributing to his demise as well...?"
The real question is should the BCCI do anything? Should they behave like nannies counseling spoilt brats? Should we all watch the way we act to prevent his "demise"?
At the end of the day, the simple truth is this: Sreeseant is a drama queen and his ODI and T20 records are ordinary. I believe he should make the test team, but whether he deserves to is another question. It is upto him in the end, and when he builds the reputations McGrath, Donald and even Flintoff did maybe people will have more to talk about than his antics, which are always going to get more headlines than his "great potential."
Its funny, I should ask around because I wonder if he was like this before he made the national squad, I suspect not.
sorry guys we all are talking about the disease or the symptoms of it... while the idea of the post was to initiate the discussion about what can be done instead...
thanks for correcting me mahek...
yes i have to admit that talking about lara's dick instead of sarvan's wife anatomy makes mcgrath the holy cow... :)
yes ach i stongly feel that bcci should do something about it... why not they shouldn't...?
i see sree's case no different from lets say an injury to a player when bcci not only pays for his bills but chalk out a rehablitation program as well... its in the interest of player as well as parent organistion that a talent should not go waste...
tho i agree it depends on an individual too... but if by giving him counseling at right time... by making him feel that he belongs... his is equally important... we can save a potential career i see no harm in giving it a shot...
Here is what the bcci should do :
have a talk with the bowler and say this
'Look Sree we know you are good bowler with lots of talent. Visible in the pockets. the SA 2006 and a couple of series here and there. If you have a passion for the game, let your ball do the talking than your emotions. Have your anger in check. We all appreciate your passion and your showmanship. but it should show up in your records".
I think him being dropped out of the team on injuries and form was a kinda message for the lad to mind or mess up. He did sober quite a lot but then old habits are difficult to die.
Indian team needs him as a bowler not the person he is. He blows the lid every now and then. And any captain or player would lose it when they have to run in an spoilt and abrasive Sreesanth who stares every batsman even when he defenses a ball.
We are a conservative society. We have had aggressive people. dada was one of the aggressive to have played for India. So are Bhajan and others, but they are not Sanths.
There have been some players who have been fiercely competitive on the field and then very friendly off the field.
Sreesanth lacks that. Till he doesnt do the change in his behavior he wont be the one bowler he wants to be or the one whom we need desparately right now.
There's only one solution to all this :
The BCCI should ask Sreesanth to spend 2 nights and 3 days with Ajit Agarkar in an empty room.
Seriously speaking, there are 2 aspects to it:
1. From the BCCI's view point, they need to provide better conditions for the player- and this can be psychological too. Other suggestions are perhaps formulating actual mentorship programs, where a promising player (lets just take an example of say - Amit Mishra), is tagged with an experienced player (Even from Ranji) from the past (eg. V. Raju - dont know why - the name just came up). They can perhaps have mandatory meetings - twice a month types, exchange experience on pitches, players, stadiums, cultures etc ), and also keep the player grounded.
2. In the specific case of Sreesanth, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. True he has a good release, and sometimes good seam position, but the records don't indicate him being indispensable. In his case, it's not as much a question of maturity as it is of simply inconsistency. There's a lot more talk and very little action. He's not a kid anymore. He too should know what he wants to be. I believe there were reports where he has pissed numerous people off - Sachin, Dravid etc included.
morethanjustagame.wordpress.com
SP
There is overreaction when it comes to Sreesanth. The incident at Irani trophy happenned and will happen many on times on the field and the world won't care much but if it's Sreesanth who is involved then all hell will break lose. He is Sreesanth, a trouble maker, hence all allowances are cut. I feel sorry for him. BCCI, Dhoni and the team managements over the last 3 years failed get the best out of the only man who won a test for us in South Africa.
thanks sam and sujith for good points and carrying the discussion further... if only some one at the helm stand up and wear the devil's advocate cap for sree...
could not agree more on this bala!
though the other can get away with murders he can let even sniff out... even in that case the instigator got scot free with warning and sree with 60% fine for being 'sree'... disgusting...
Post a Comment