The Saga of 2 last names with Ks Kohli and Kumble and finally
one judgement.
Gradually as more News updates appear on this saga
additional heat is guaranteed.
The essence of each news Item is same though.
We are in the age where a captain insists who the team coach
should be…now that’s what I say Uber cool …Imagine…A school ward choosing who
his teacher should be…a lawyer chooses who the Judge should be…or in corporate world
I get the power to choose my boss…wow…it’s a such a desirable thing to have…
Mostly people will discard my request, not before exhibiting their utter
disdainful behaviour…the milder ones though will just humour it away, as a
wishful thinking…But certain Mr. Kohli will certainly take me seriously…
But desires, most of the time, brings along a sense of
destruction with it…
Same thing applies to Indian cricket team dressing room. A
sanctum , as few would wish it to be, where a captain wishes “I am the boss, ON
THE FIELD AND OFF IT TOO”.
“OFF THE FIELD”, mind it, ideally must be the fiefdom of the
coach..That’s what most cricket pundits will advocate…That’s how most of the
great teams have operated in past. Be it the 1980s West Indies team or the late
1990s and early 2000s Australian team …
Just as Sunny Gavaskar implied on NDTV “ON FIELD CAPTAIN IS
THE BOSS, BUT OFF THE FIELD COACH SHOULD BE THE BOSS”. That’s the basic premise
of all team sports and not just Cricket. Be it Soccer or Badminton or Hockey.
There are ample instances of Mr. Kohlli’s endeavour to
ascend the chair of “THE BOSS”. Earlier I used to brush apart the aggression display as extremely
necessary weaponry in order to win matches. But the aggression leading to
behaviour of Alpha Male characteristic is neither a desired behaviour nor a
productive one either.
There have been one previous specific official instance when
Mr. Kohli’s Alpha male characteristics were brought to cricket fan’s attention.
That was when Mr. Ramchandra Guha resigned from Supreme court appointed COA. He inimical to the idea of “Captain being the
Boss everywhere”, because he had apprehensions of disaster if such an ideology
is followed. The case that he pointed out was that of Harshs Bhogle being
removed from commentary contract, because of his critical views of Indian team
in certain matches.
If this is true, which I sure am, then we are staring at
autocratic behaviour of a captain who is not only trying to thrash the
opposition “ON THE FIELD” but “OFF THE FIELD” as well.
So here we have a cricket captain who just does want to hear
any bad sound bites, at all. Being critic will be treated as a criminal. God
forbid what a devil’s advocate be treated as.
Does this raise a question if taming of India by Pakistan on
CT 2017 final was the outcome of Kohli Kumble squat… It looks very likely to me
that India lost as the players wanted to get rid of Kumble…
To hard core cricket fans nothing can be more preposterous than
the statement that “India lost to Pakistan because they wanted to get rid of
Kumble as Head Coach”. But the underlying situation must be analysed in a very
reasonable manner before disdainfully discarding it.
I visualise myself as Kohli, and determine my behaviour by
using known characteristics of Kohli.
I(Kohli) havenot spoken to Kumble since last 6 months, which
started due a turf war that ensued between us. Kumble , My (Kohli’s) adversary,
is providing one after another , stupendous results, which looks very sustained
as well. I(Kohli) am in despair, as I am not getting enough ammunition to target
my adversary. When the time came for
selection of head coach , just before CT 2017, I had talks with the team of
Sachin, Saurabh and Laxman. I try desparately to get rid of Kumble, by divulging
our lack of cohesion and agreement in front of the infamous trio. They donot
pay heed to my blabbering as Kumble has been a real result oriented work horse,
who has actually delivered.
Additionally they donot feel , that I(Kohli), as captain is
the all season boss of the team, irrespective of whether Boss being “ON THE
FIELD or OFF THE FIELD”. The decision to retain Kumble as head coach is almost
inevitable …if.. We(Indian team) manage to win the CT.
Hence what is the last resort that I(Kohli) am left with, in
order to prevent Kumble from being appointed as head coach of the Indian team?
Loose to Pakistan in the CT final. Yes , that is going to provide me enough
ammunition to fire, that will prove just enough, to get rid of Kumble being
appointed as head coach.
Now. Back to my real world. Wouldnot Kohli have actually
choosen to loose against Pakistan in that crucial final? More likely he
certainly would have,considering which stakes are higher, winning the CT final
and deal with Kumble or loose the final to get rid of Kumble forever. CT win is
not as much worth as that of getting rid of Kumble anyways, from Mr. Kohli’s
perspective. Also the fact that Kohli is
averse to opposition WITHIN THE CAMP AND OUTSIDE TOO, strengthens my
visualization. Biggest instance of Kohli’s averness is removal of Harsha Bhogle
from panel of commentators. It’s not only Mr. Kohli’s aversion. There is also no
love lost between other team members and Kumble. The team members, who refuse
to practice 50 catches a day. The team members who don’t want a regulated lifestyle.
The team members who wouldn’t like scolds or pep talks after India’s abject
surrender to Pakistan in the final.
Additionally there are palpable signs that the team
deliberately choose to lose the final against Pakistan. It has been widely
reported in the media that in the sanctum, called Dressing Room, it was decided
that if India wins toss then choose to bat first. Now I am not sure whether Mr.Kohli
was part of the decision or not, but Kumble certainly wanted that. On the field
what Mr. Kohli did was to choose to bowl first. So has Sanctum’s piousity been
maintained? Isnot this the first step to loose the match considering the flat
pitch that was in the offing.
My question is how many more matches India team is going to
loose to adjust to the ego of one man Mr. Kohli. Is he worth to captain a side?
My two cents Kohli is good as an aggressive batsman. So let
him be so. Remove him from captaincy. He is not worth it. That’s because it is imperative
that eventually Cricket must prevail over an individual’s ego.
Lal Swain
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