Uganda’s qualification for the ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA in June next year is an indication of how cricket is spreading its tentacles on the African continent. Yes, Uganda cricketers have earlier been part of the ICC ODI World Cup in 1975 as members of the East Africa team, but this qualification is a feather in their cap as well as the ICC.
The shortest and most electric format of the game does level the playing field considerably, and so unfancied teams can surprise their star-studded opponents on a given day if they get a few good overs while batting as well as when they are bowling. While it is heartening to see Uganda qualify, it will be interesting to see how they perform in the World Cup. The ICC media release about Uganda’s qualification called it a historic occasion for Uganda, who qualified for the Senior World Cup for the first time.
The word senior is significant because it tells you that even though there are plenty of T20 matches being played between Associate Member countries, it is only when they are playing in a competition where there are teams from Full Member countries that their performances have value as they are considered to be playing with the seniors in the world game.
This is not to take anything away from the efforts when associate members play against each other, but the vast gulf in standards often makes the games one-sided. You read that such and such a batting record has been broken, a bowler has taken six wickets or more, and a team has been dismissed for totals like 30. That’s when one realises that some of these records are meaningless as they have come against opponents who have little experience of playing. Therefore, to call them T20 international records is to lower the importance of the record made between full member teams. Like the ICC itself has used the word Senior World Cup, these records between teams of the Associate Member countries have to be put in a separate category and not equated with the records of the full member teams.
Hopefully, the ICC will do that and call it List A games or some such, but not give it international status.
Speaking of seniors and juniors, some recent pictures of the Indian Under-19 team players show that they are wearing the same jersey as the senior Indian team players. Their jerseys, helmets, blazers, etc., should have the words ‘Under-19’ below the BCCI logo to distinguish them from the senior team. Similarly, for the support staff, their designations should be under the BCCI logo to distinguish them from the players’ clothing. The phrase ‘earning the colours’ is because a player has worked hard to play for India, and therefore his clothing, be it match clothing or training clothing, must have that marking on it. The Australian team have under the logo the name of the series they are playing with the number and initials of the players on the sleeve, so it clearly shows it as a player’s shirt or trousers. It simply can’t be the same as everybody else who gets it off the streets. That’s what makes the cap and clothing valuable and cherished for the player. The BCCI has a general manager for cricket, and he should be in touch with the clothing and cap makers to coordinate this aspect of the clothing. Yes, there could be some players who have just broken into the squad but may not have played for the country, so they can be given the clothing without a number indicating their place in the list of players to have featured in international cricket.
Speaking of numbers, while it has become easier now, there was confusion when the numbering started as nobody knew how to go about it. The numbers are given according to the first letter of the player’s surname. Nothing could be done about the earlier time before numbering became common, but shouldn’t the captain of the first team always be given the number 1 ahead of the other 10 players in the eleven? That’s simply because he is the first one to take the field for the country as he goes out for the toss. After that, it is the batters or bowlers, depending on whether the team is batting or bowling.
So for ODI numbers for India, Ajit Wadekar should be cap number 1, and then the others, whether batting first or bowling first. Sadly, however, because the letter W in Wadekar comes even after V for Viswanath and Venkataraghavan, India’s first-ever ODI captain got cap number 11.
That’s in the past but can still be corrected by the BCCI, if it wishes, by pushing everybody else in that playing eleven down by a number. All are retired, and some are not with us anymore, so it won’t affect anybody.
Just food for thought as we near the end of what’s been a super year for Indian cricket and Indian sports.
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