IPL debacle

Talks are going on for replacing Mahi with some other young gun. But would that be of any use? If players don't perform what can a captain do? You got to have a team like Australia's in order to experience the magnificent captaincy talent of a guy like Ponting or Waugh.

The Australian team is at the top of the small pyramid of a meagre 10 international cricket teams, for more than a decade now. They are consistent, they bounce back like no other team in the history of sport ever has (West Indies could never bounce back). They take up responsibilty, they face termination just on losing the final; we on the other hand feel happy that we were the runners-up. It is all approach and nothing else.

A big pot of blame for the poor performance in T20 WC hangs on the IPL and its (in)famous night-parties. In fact, our players need to take up dictionary and look for the meaning of the word party. We party to celebrate, but in IPL they party coz they are part of IPL.

Players get worn-out, they think more of the parties than the upcoming matches and we see results right in front of our eyes. And when our captain-perfect says-it was because of the IPL parties that the players could not perform well. He gets a thrashing from the veterans as well as the young guns, who all are by mistake on IPL payrolls.

Things have to be straightened out, as this is amongst the few sports where India stands SOMEWHERE. We need strategic changes at the governing bodies, we need people who take up responsibility and not pass on the bait at the time of failure. We need people who are actually willing to take the sport to greater heights and not just the hoopla associated with it.

That's the last ball to score the winning run for cricket as a whole.

--sudharm baxi