The Harsha Bhogle column

Aniruddha Bhide: bhideaditi@hotmail.com: Thanks for the article. It was a pleasure to read the emotionally charged article on the state of Indian Cricket. I hope Mr. Harsha Bhogale sticks to writing, as he does it so well; unlike the TV commentary where he talks on and on, on everything and anything under the Sun.
Mr. Harsha Bhogale is trying to find Indianness in the Cricket team. But his India seems to be far different than the India which the world knows. His India is a middle-class, whereas the real India is poor, very poor. I think Mr. Harsha Bhogale should once in a while, get out of his cosy flat in Bombay and go out in the country side. He probably will find the real India there. He will find people who are land-less peasants; people who have difficulties in making the both the ends meet; people who are not sure of their next meal.
Mr. Harsha Bhogale’s India is a hard working India. Come on now, Mr. Harsha Bhogale!! You know better. If we Indians would have been hard working, our country would have per capita income comparable to any developed nation. We are a nation blessed with abundant natural resources. If we would have been as hard working as you make out, we would have been one of the super powers today. We seem to be working hard in producing children only.
If Mr. Harsha Bhogale were to look for the real Indianness in the cricket team he does not have to dig much. That Indianness is very apparent. Ours is a divided country. From the time our country has taken a form, we have been cursed by infighting. This infighting has allowed outsiders to rule over us and rule effectively. We are never the Indian first, we are Maharashtrians or Punjabis or Bengali first and then Indian. ( A mahatma, like Gandhiji is needed to unite our diverse country. ) . Our cricket team never plays as one team, as it is very much an Indian team. That Indianness is evident.
We Indians are very tolerant. We tolerate a quality of life which is sub-standard. Today there is no electricity in the house,"Chalata Hai"; tomorrow there is no water, "Chalata Hai"; a government clerk does not clear my file, "Chalata Hai"; my regular public transport bus did not come yesterday, "Chalata Hai"; my bank is closed due to strike, "Chalata Hai"!! So what if my cricket team does not play properly today. "Chalata Hai"!! And my cricket does not fail to show that Indianness.
Veer Savarkar had given a famous speech, " Mala Kay Tyache". In that he had said that we Indians tend to ignore the lack of application, lack of integrity, lack of all the correct things by a fellow Indian. We do not protest. We are inert. Our cricket team exhibits that Indianness. If Shoaib Akhtar falters, his other teammates understand, respond and sometimes his captain scolds him. In our case, who cares!! " Mala Kay Tyache", each player plays his own game!! A truly Indian way indeed.
Mr. Harsha Bhogale has to come on terms with reality. Ours is a corrupt nation. We have corruption at every step. It is a part of our lives now. We get morally corrupt leaders and politicians, because we deserve them. There is no point in expecting the young (and the not so young) fifteen players to be totally non-corrupt, morally or otherwise, and deliver a cheer. They are Indians and they will continue to show the Indianness, evenif Mr. Harsha Bhogale is unable to find it. Take it or leave it.
I don’t think Mr. Harsha Bhogale can expect everybody to get carried away by his emotionally charged article. Mr. Harsha Bhogale should accept the cricket team as it is and not to let them spoil his day. In a way become a true Indian and say " Chalata Hai" . If the cricket team does not deliver the required cheer, Mr. Harsha Bhogale has to find the cheer in something else, may be in game of Leander Paes or in some tasty chutney!!
archana ravi: aravi@wipsys.soft.net: profound thoughts put forth in a very light manner......thats what i liked most about this column.Very true passion and pride are the only things that will carry us a long way and place us on that pedestal where we want to be. I think this is inspiration enough not only to the indian cricket team but to every other person to add that extra touch thats so much required while delivering thier goods.

Vivek Syania: syania@lw1.vsnl.net.in: As usual Harsha Bhogle has written a fabulous article. I am great fan of Harsha Bhogle. I can miss live matches but I don't miss his commentry. I have almost all of his artices.

Mohit Batra: batra@icici.com: echoes my sentiments exactly.

ravi: ravi.jambagi@kvaerner.com: It seems that I have heard these lamentations many many times, from within and without. Gifted and motivated individuals team up and mediocrity results. Why are you surprised? Did'nt some one say "United we fall!". Look at the political scene, the defence scen, the olympic scene you name it. We, common people like me, seem to ooze Indianness and pride but those who have the opportunity to shine this Indianness seem oblivious to the chance to make a mark. Narrow and self centred, too cynical to care. WE, the common people, have only two choices. Either to muster-up our pride and raise our voices against the "system" or bear the cross and live out our years in shame.
When we have a set of good ingredients, what makes a good recipe is a good cook. Do we have a good cook, who takes pride in his work, in our selectors and our captain? Less said abou selectors the better. But Azhar should have had the honesty to accept his poor captaincy, lack of leadership and make way for someone else long time ago. It is his cliche that the players are grown up men and know their business. So, pray tell me Azhar, what is the business of a captain?

Keshav: kinamdar@usa.net: Hello I think this is an excellent article. My Observation is that , We are lackin leadership everywhere. Just as elections have produced ministers but not leaders, similarly teams have captain , but not leaders. With Jadeja , the captain there is glimmer hope, but with Azhar, I think its a dark tunnel. How ever can a person inspire a team, whom blame his new comer team mate, for his own fallacy? Able leaders and prompt support from colleagues does lead to successs venkat: venbel@hotmail.com: Well written,Mr Harsha, They definitly need some emotional,passiona tonic I liked you article very much.Every one knows this but only some would implement it.They definitely need some body who would remember this kind of sentiments.I think even best management gurus believe this. If the Indian Team takes it as very positive comment and mend themselves,they would reach the overcome any challenge at their hands.(Not only Indian Team ,for that matter any individual too.)

venkat: venbel@hotmail.com: Well written,Mr Harsha, They definitly need some emotional,passiona tonic I liked you article very much.Every one knows this but only some would implement it.They definitely need some body who would remember this kind of sentiments.I think even best management gurus believe this. If the Indian Team takes it as very positive comment and mend themselves,they would reach the pinnacle of success and overcome any challenge at their hands.(Not only Indian Team ,for that matter any individual too.)

N S Kannan: nsk@icici.com: Dear Mr. Bhogle, I am Kannan, based in Mumbai and working for ICICI. You may not remember me; we met at the Delhi Airport briefly and discussed about the Sena threat to boycott Pakistan Test series, non-inclusion of Sidhu in the test team etc.It was great talking to you then.
I completely agree with your views in the aforesaid article. Apart from being an extremely well written passionate article, it echos the views of people like me. If only our crickets could take a leaf out of Leander's life !!! Yes, I don't want MY CRICKET TEAM to win all the matches, BUT SURELY I want them to be 'IN THE MATCH' till the last ball is bowled.
Can you please give your views on Azhar continuing as captain for world cup. Should he not stand down ? I am an ardent fan of Azharuddin. But based on his recent performance, Jadeja's current performance and the new-found cohesiveness in under Jadeja's captaincy, I have come to believe that Azhar should stand down and Jadeja should be made the captain. Can you please take some time off your busy schedule and reply me. Thanks and regards. Saurabh: sab_kanaujia@hotmail.com: Harsha captured the root of our cricket team's chronic inconsistencies. Analogy with Paes' passion was fitting.

Vidya Srinivasan: Srini1@prodigy.net: Being more of a tennis player and having watched Leander with enormous pride over the years, I can only agree wholeheartedly with Harsha Bhogle. Unfortunately, the Indian cricket team will probably never get to read this article, and that is their loss. Even if some of them could find the time in their incomprehensible schedule to get on the Net, I do wonder if this piece of writing would pierce their thick, if tired, hides.

Venkat Kondala: vkondala@alliance.csc.com: This is the most interesting and very true representation of the state of our players who represent our country. They are playing as if it was a regular day at a 20 hours a day office. They do not have any pride in representing our country. Given a change I would give my heart out while on the field. I would see that from a few players, but cricket is a team sport. It requires that from every member of the team. This should be more than enough for not only the guys on the INDIAN cricket team but also to the rest of the country. Especially to the people who govern us. They as the people who have the least pride of being an INDIAN. They are the one's who have looked at there own interests rather than the interests of our country.

Thirumalaivelu: tvelu@hotmail.com: Hats off to you. It's just Wonderful. Send a copy of this to our cricketers.

anand bapat: anand_bapat@ip.eth.net: It is a wonderful article.Aptly points out the missing thing in our team ,i.e. SPIRIT.Hopefully our team gathers its gear tight and rises to the occasion to win back the 1st position.It should not matter who the eleven are. thanks again for the beautiful article. ANAND

Senthil Govindan: jondil@hotmail.com: The points system seems fair on the whole. Having the points from the qulaifying phase carry over to the Super Six undermines the very unpredictability that makes ODIs so enticing. One wonders, for example how far Pakistan would have gone two World Cups back if this system had been in play.

Vinod Somanchi: brij_vinod@hotmail.com: This is one of the best articles I've ever read in my whole life inspiring us to what we do with a lot of pride and dignity. This article not only talks about the game of cricket or tennis. This talks more about the game of life. Life can be won only by taking pride to it and living for it. It should be lived with a lot of enthusiasm and passion. Like what Harsha says, life without passion and pride is of no use. Likewise every aspect of life we take part in should be given all we've got. That's what's makes us the leaders in any aspect of life. We are the leaders in every aspect of cricket. We need the conviction and conviction comes with belief which comes from taking pride in what we do. Thanks Harsh for such a heartening article. Hope this word reaches our players and hope this inspires them to take pride in playing for India and to make them giving all they've got.

prasen: jamming8@hotmail.com: i simply cannot understand why people are going ga-ga over a very ordinary article which is not common sensical and is bereft of sound logic....i specially liked the comments by one jeet, puneet and nandu, although i would say nandu was a bit harsh on harsha!!!!firstly the comparison to leander is baseless as the games are entirely different (a 3-hr individual effort versus a 7-hr 11-member team effort)concept of sports....and if u come to think of it where is leander when it comes to the TRUE test , the ATP ranking, absoleutely nowhere....davis cup is as different to ATP circuit events as a Ranji game is to a Test...(it is a slight exaggeration but i do not think i am very much out of mark there!!!!!!!)secondly we have no right to cast aspersions sitting from our cozy living rooms (and commentary boxes)on the deication of our cricketers....i think everyone at that level is dedicated because their whole career is at stake, and it will really require a very stupid person to be less dedicated with the fear of losing a place in the team...i think a very big fool is required for that, believe me guys, they do a lot to get into the team, and no one would want to lose that by not being dedicated!!!!we have to realize one-day cricket is a lot of skill, strategy planning, changing tactics,communicating, consistence and many other things like as someone pointed out performance on the day...i beg the readers to be careful with the media and to treat the players just like one of us and not to sway to their praise when they are good and despise them when they are not performing...my request to mr. bhogle is please do not incite a feeling like this in the public for our players who play non-stop cricket, sacrifice their family life and many other enjoyments, face up to all kind of unfriendly cricketing environment and all this only to be humiliated by us when they lose. should we desert them when they need our support the most??????

prasen: jamming8@hotmail.com: i simply cannot understand why people are going ga-ga over a very ordinary article which is not common sensical and is bereft of sound logic....i specially liked the comments by one jeet, puneet and nandu, although i would say nandu was a bit harsh on harsha!!!!firstly the comparison to leander is baseless as the games are entirely different (a 3-hr individual effort versus a 7-hr 11-member team effort)concept of sports....and if u come to think of it where is leander when it comes to the TRUE test , the ATP ranking, absoleutely nowhere....davis cup is as different to ATP circuit events as a Ranji game is to a Test...(it is a slight exaggeration but i do not think i am very much out of mark there!!!!!!!)secondly we have no right to cast aspersions sitting from our cozy living rooms (and commentary boxes)on the deication of our cricketers....i think everyone at that level is dedicated because their whole career is at stake, and it will really require a very stupid person to be less dedicated with the fear of losing a place in the team...i think a very big fool is required for that, believe me guys, they do a lot to get into the team, and no one would want to lose that by not being dedicated!!!!we have to realize one-day cricket is a lot of skill, strategy planning, changing tactics,communicating, consistence and many other things like as someone pointed out performance on the day...i beg the readers to be careful with the media and to treat the players just like one of us and not to sway to their praise when they are good and despise them when they are not performing...my request to mr. bhogle is please do not incite a feeling like this in the public for our players who play non-stop cricket, sacrifice their family life and many other enjoyments, face up to all kind of unfriendly cricketing environment and all this only to be humiliated by us when they lose. should we desert them when they need our support the most??????

Yatin Acharya: yatina@hotmail.com: Very well said ! But is the Indian cricket team reading this ?

sridhar: sridharan_j@hotmail.com: It's good!!

Jango: : Too good buddy...mere muh ki baat...

Suminder: Suminder@hotmail.com: I liked the article. Truly said that indian team just lack that passion and involvement. I think that they should quit that take it easy policy for the world cup and just play for win as their arch rivals pakistan does all the time. The key is 100% involvement, no matter if you lose or win, but you should be able to say that we tried our best, which we cant say after lot of losses.

Kumar Virani: kumarv@tgarden.com: This is a very inspiring article and hats off to Harsha for writing this. Leander indeed is an individual who does exceptionally well when it comes to playing for the tricolor. This article should be e-mailed to every Indian and every Indian cricketer or for that matter, it is good enough an inspiration for anyone who believes in being a patriot. I am in US and I feel very strong about India, more so, because of being here.

UNMESH DESHMUKH: UNMESH.DESHMUKH@COMPAQ.COM: Kudos!! Harsha, you have put this brilliantly. Excellent stuff, we all face our share of difficulties and challenges and with each challenge, we grow stronger, emerge wiser...too bad it is not so with the Indian cricket team. To add to that many of don't even like what we are doing at times....it's all about committment...it's all about pride. Those broad shoulders droop to easily...it only takes a four or a six?? Amazing!!! Anyway, I wish them all the best and offer them some pride to take along...I have tons of it. Keep writing...you echo the views of the nation.

JAYAKUMAR JANAKIRAMAN: jaykumarj89@hotmail.com: Hello Harsha, I have an idea. Before our players go to the ground, They should the most memorable wins of the INDIANS in a jist which would put more charge in them.Something like each Individual getting a man of match award or anything which will put enormous mental strength. Even a PRAYER together would do.. Just mail back ur thoughts HARSHA.