Strange are the ways of the media

To expect Greg Chappell to abstain from giving his inputs on the Indian team to the Aussies is extremely strange. As a professional, he is expected to execute his job, and execute he will without allowing his heart to rule his head.

The growth in the electronic media has had a positive influence as the awareness level of the people has increased, be it in sports or other walks of life. However, at times there have been instances when certain normal incidents have been sensationalised providing for unnecessary speculations.

The case in point is the latest controversy on the RCA providing practice facilities for the Australian team. In recent times, a series featuring India and Australia is viewed with great interest but to suggest that the Australians should not have been given good facilities is just not cricket.

It has been a common practice for the visiting teams to be given the best of facilities as we generally are keen to play good hosts. All the centres hosting matches have ensured that they rope in a lot of local bowlers to enable the visitors to prepare well enough prior to an international match. To quote an instance, the England team that toured India in 1984-85 asked one host association to try and call up some leg-spinners to bowl at them in the nets as they were struggling against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan.

The association very promptly went about the task of assembling all the leg spinners available in the vicinity and as a result the Englishmen gained proficiency in handling the leggies. This enabled the Englishmen to read Sivaramakrishnan better in the latter half of the series, thereby ending his dream run which started with three five-wicket hauls in the first two Tests.

The same is not reciprocated when the Indian team tours abroad but we have accepted that as a part of the prevailing culture in other countries.

Coming back to the recent RCA squabble, they have only continued with the tradition but certain sections of the media have portrayed that as a sacrilege. It has to be mentioned here that Cricket Australia goes into a lot of details before they accept the itinerary and it is no wonder that they have been on top of the ladder for a long time.

The other bone of contention was the involvement of Greg Chappell in the think tank of the Australian team and there were a lot of apprehensions about how much damage he can do to the Indians in terms of strategy.

It is rather strange that no one questioned when Chappell was roped in along with Ian Fraser by the RCA. We are very gracious and keen to bring in the foreigners at all levels despite the fact that we have enough people who can do as good a job as the foreigners possibly can if not better. I am not being petty but my point is about the fact that we have a habit of making a mountain out of a molehill just to gain attention.

In an era where cricket matches across the world are televised, there is hardly any effort required to assess teams and individuals. All the teams have their support systems in place whose job is to ensure that there is constant improvement. While strategising is important, implementation of the strategies is what makes the difference. That being the case, the inputs of Chappell will not make a huge difference as long as the Indians can implement their strategies well enough.

Greg Chappell must be wondering as to what he needs to do to stay away from the undue attention of the press since he had both good and bad times with them during his tenure as the coach of the Indian team. Interestingly enough, when the media was focusing on the RCA and Greg Chappell, the rule that allows foreigners to play in the Ranji Trophy was passed but it was reported in a routine manner.

That particular rule assumes greater significance as far as Indian cricket is concerned but the media was just not interested in analysing the pros and cons of that ruling.

The fact that 30-odd young cricketers might be denied opportunities as a result of the ruling does not matter to the investigative journos. We are more interested in the outcome of the discord between Andrew Symonds and Cricket Australia.

It is ironical that reporters who analyse each and every move of the top cricketers and the Indian team management fail to realise that domestic cricket is important as it is the breeding ground for the future stars. Who cares about the trials and tribulations of young cricketers who are trying to make a living when there are other options which can provide opportunities to produce juicy stories. Preparation, performance and results seem to be words that are meant only for the cricketers who toil hard but not for a few stringers who just want to be where the action is.