What else can you say? 4 out 17 players are dropped from selection consideration for the reason that they did not give a presentation/document on how to improve themselves/team to deal 0-2 situation that Australia is in. Out of the 4 dropped, 1 already flew back home.
I’m not going to take sides here, but present my viewpoint on this whole mess.
It is fair on the team management to ask points from the players that could aid the team come out of the rut situation. But, asking it in writing, well that is going to be little tricky. Not everybody will prefer to give in writing. After all things can potentially backfire at you big time, especially if you give it in writing. Let’s say, if Shane Watson had to write 3 points, logically it would be “I’ve to score runs. Big runs, to be precise Big Centuries. I’ve to start bowling too. Provide breakthrough’s the team need. I’ve to step up as Vice-Captain in terms of assisting the Captain in decision making”. Do you think Shane Watson can give this in writing and get away with a failure with the bat, zero contribution with the ball and the end game going in favor of India at Mohali?
What if, if the young kid like Usman Khawaja thinks, Michel Clarke captaincy is the true culprit for the these losses. Oh yeah, Clarke captaincy could very well be the culprit too. Mind you, Javagal Srinath once told that the reason for Tendulkar’s failure as captain is, “Tendulkar expected every player to perform like Tendulkar”. In others words, Tendulkar failed to see the player in the person, but expected every player in them to produce a Tendulkar. May be, Clarke is expecting everybody to perform like Clarke too. Do you think a player like Usman Khawaja can put this in paper and get away with it? Even if he attempts to think so, he will quickly come back to senses, only to realize what happened to Simon Katich when the southpaw had tiff off with Clarke. To me, it is not easy to put things on paper. Even if you can, you cannot ignore the repercussions. By the way, when such situations arise for India (already raised few times in the recent months when India were in dire straits), I can’t imagine a guy like Ishant Sharma making a presentation.
Let’s agree that the players are wrong in their attitude/approach for not completing the assignment given to them. Do you think it was right by the Team Management to drop these players on failing to complete their assignment? Absolutely NOT is my strong opinion. There is always a PAY CHECK that can be put on HOLD, which is surely bound to pinch the player. And there could be more ways too to make people comply standards. But, dropping the players is extremely unwarranted. Did the Team Management take into account that dropping these players could potentially alter the results of the 3rd Test Match, which also means disappointing millions of followers back home? If players displayed immaturity in their behavior, the management response is beyond worse. At times, I’m forced to ask how come so much power is vested on Team Management. Did they even consult their board for the grounds of dropping a player? And, this is far from what happened between Pieterson and England Team (ECB) or Gayle and West Indies Cricket Board. Somewhere there was valid reason from the Management perspective to keep these players out. This one is truly insane.
At this time, I’m so proud of the way things were handled in the Indian Setup. All the greats were a part of puzzle in England. They received a benefit of doubt in Australia for their contributions in the past. Yet with each growing Test Match defeat nothing appeared happening at that time. Eventually (8-0 and 1-2), (Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Gambir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh) all those important figures in Indian Cricket were phased/eliminated/dropped out from the setup on a periodical basis. By the way, I’ve no doubts what so ever that Harbhajan Singh is finished after this home series. Rather he is only given a deserving send off with over 100 caps under his kitty for his contributions in the past. Well the point is everybody was aware that there was a tiff of between Dhoni, Gambir and Sehwag. There was a cloud cover in Dhoni, Laxman relationship. But, it was all left for the media and individuals to speculate while the decorum was well maintained in public. If Dhoni had wanted, he could have any day saved Gambir’s career. Had Gambir been dropped a year ago, he might have made a comeback now. But, he was persisted purposefully so as he won’t make a comeback (Obviously he is into 30’s now and the queue has grown considerably big. By the time he is ready to stage a comeback, he might hear the same music of Wasim Jaffer). Finally it became a popular decision to move ahead of Gambir. I don’t think he is likely to make his way back. With Sehwag, there could be a lease of life in middle order for his legendary contributions. But I’m sure he must have learnt his lessons too.
Bottom line: This is has turned very ugly. Australia has to learn a lesson or two from India, not just in Cricket.
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