Of Indian cricket, talent and attitude

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth – A prodigious talent lost to bad attitude

I remember the time in the late 90s when the news about the involvement of top Indian players like Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and others in match-fixing had surfaced. The fans were angry, very angry. There was a lot of cynicism about the game and every close finish was scrutinized keenly by the fans. The fans had a common thought process about every match in which India snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The answer was simple – it was a fixed match.

Then came along the now-highly decorated Indian team of the 2000s. Sourav Ganguly was elected captain of a team that had virtuous players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath etc.  Ganguly and Dravid were relative newcomers having made their debut four years before the change in leadership. There were a lot of young talents like Sehwag, Zaheer, Yuvraj and Kaif that were being drafted into the team. It was then that the Indian team played some of its best cricket. The point is that this team was as vulnerable to the lure of easy money as any other team. Product endorsements by cricketers had just started, and by no means was the money in cricket as much as it is today. However, these were good men.

The advent of this team meant that once again we did what we do really well – forget. We shoved the doubts under the pillow and enjoyed the success. Most importantly, the Indian team could once again lose a close match without its integrity being questioned. And that is the way it should be, isn’t it? You win some, and you lose some. For close to a decade, the ugly saga of match-fixing did not rear its head again. Yes, there was the odd incident that occurred, but Indian cricket remained largely unscathed.

It was now time for cricket to take on a brand new avatar. T20 cricket and IPL had burst onto the scene. For IPL, it was pretty much a case of veni, vidi, vici. The tournament not only resonated with the fast food generation, but also managed to woo the mothers, mother-in-laws, aunts and sisters, who replaced their daily soaps with the IPL for two months. It did well as there was instant gratification – something we are so used to these days. This also meant that there were opportunities – both good and bad. While the fact that the IPL is a great platform for young Indian players has been well-documented, it also brought instant stardom to hitherto unheard of players. Players like Paul Valthaty and Swapnil Asnodkar, among others, became overnight stars. With so much money being pumped into the tournament, the focus almost entirely shifted to the economics of the game. In the bargain, the sport took a backseat. Yes, there were good cricket matches, but the ethics slipped under the scanner.

So, what is it about young Indian cricketers that make them susceptible to the virus of fixing matches? In a fascinating address to young management students, Harsha Bhogle had spoken about talent and attitude. We are country that place talent on the highest podium – as we should. However, what we achieve due to talent, we squander because of our attitude. This is true not only for sport, but in all other aspects as well. It is a known fact that attitude translates into performance. What we fail to understand is that in a media-savvy sport like cricket, it is imperative to hold on to that attitude even off the field. It is important to have the right kind of heroes to look up to and emulate. So, the question to be asked it: is it the captain’s job to look out for his team even off the field, or does his role begin and end when the team enters and leaves the park?

Indian cricket is at a crossroads now. It must protect its young talents like Sanju Samson and Karan Sharma. Let them play cricket and facilitate all the arrangements to instil the right kind of attitude in them. While it is true that fixing matches is largely an individual decision, systems can be put in place to try to prevent cricketers from going down that road.

Else, we will have many more Shanthakumaran Sreesanths – prodigious talents lost to bad attitude!