“ECB please do not rob us all of KP” is the voice of the English cricket lovers. An English columnist says “KP is full of ego & selfishness” – I guess that is something which every star in every field of discipline is made of, with only very few exceptions.
ECB has been highly incompetent in getting things sorted with KP & to allow him perform for the crowd. Now I would say this is a failure from both the parties (player & the employer) for not able to accommodate the other party’s vision. All that is required is for the ECB to shed their ego and look at the issue in a straight manner – “KP is the best batsman in the country”. This is the reason why cricket administrators are elected from the lot of ex-cricketers & administrators. It is believed that they will be able to empathize with the situation and manage the egos of the players.
EGO – this is just an extension of the self confidence & the pride that an individual possesses. When you are so much more confident about your ability & know for a fact that not many can match you, you tend to take your pride beyond the limits. Now there is a fine line between being self confident & feeling you are the best. The latter brings about the effect of “EGO”. The primary function of the administrators is to manage players’ motivation and to keep the unit united. I don’t mean to say that the players have to get away with their attitude towards the team and hide under the shadow of “management’s failure”. It is equally important from the players’ perspective that they behave at their best possible discipline and keep an eye on achieving the team’s goal.
Ricky Ponting to me is the worst of all in terms of EGO & bad discipline, but the ACB have managed to keep him at the world stage amidst the idiotism he carries with him. Ricky wouldn’t be playing international cricket if only for the generous backing from the ACB knowing he is “Super talented” among all the others around him. Now is there a lesson to be learnt here?? I am afraid “yes”. It is physics which underlines the technique of catching a ball – “If you go for it with hard hands, then you are actually making a scenario where 2 hard particles are travelling towards each other which will result in a spill or a drop catch”. KP situation is quite similar to this, where both the ECB & the player are not willing to give any space for the other party. This does not give any chance at all for the player to extend his career. Sad for the Cricketing fraternity because KP is probably the one player who, even the opponent team will admire while he is flowing.
Chris Gayle chapter was one other similar hard story where the player’s association was just not willing to let him have his space. At the end of it all the WICB asked Chris to ask for an apology and Chris replied to it in a press conference saying “For what?”. Now let’s look at it from the revenue part of the story, it is the players who earn the revenues for the Board and eventually the game itself on a broader picture. The only job of the administrators is to manage player’s expectations & to help them stay bereft of any grudge towards representing the nation. When you are a player who is most sought after and guess what you also have exposure to lot more cricketing avenues other than representing your country like IPL, BBL, SLPL, English county, Aus county and so on, you are most likely to be attracted to the latter when representing your country is not a fruitful option.
To me, after Sir Viv Richards & BCL if someone has shown the kind of swagger in confidence it has to be KP (without prejudice). They are more often than not, able to announce themselves to the situation and the opposition. Having read a lot about Sir Viv and seen a lot of BCL, I am sure they would have been of the same kind as KP & Gayle are, who want the Board to come after them and never the other way around. Gone are the kind of players like Sachin & Dravid who would rather want the money & the celebrity status last on the list. It is the generation of these extraordinary cricketers who look for “immediate gratification” in money & the status. These are the players who want to be in the lime light all the time & the world to look at them constantly. They are never far from having their feelings expressed to the world never mind the medium used for the purpose (Twitter, Shitter etc). With time, the administrators around the world must have been prepared to face this trend which was inevitable. Shiv Chanderpaul continued playing for the WI amidst the players’ dispute with the WICB. This is because he is from another generation of cricketers who wear the country’s badge no matter what the situation is.
Sir Alex Ferguson reflects on losing out Lucas Moura (the Brazilian prodigal talent) to PSG saying “It is really crazy that how money drives talent away from what would have been their best avenue to grow and mature”. This is from a man who always has believed “No individual is bigger than the club itself”. I am sure Sir Alex felt for the Brazilian boy who was unable to be wise. This is the underlying truth behind the sporting world around now. Even the great man himself has fallen prey to the ever growing foolishness that the players these days are driven into.
The lifestyle of the current generation is such that they lack patience and perseverance. Administrators have to stop expecting Chandrepauls, Sachins & Dravids. They should instead be prepared for the likes of Gayle & KP if they are to run this game.
Tough luck you administrators!!
originally published in http://kp-aphenomenon.blogspot.in/
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