Thus wrote Sunil Gavaskar

When Sunil Manohar Gavaskar talks about double standards, one should listen.
Former Indian cricket captain, who thought it fit to keep quiet when Shiv Sena hoodlums ransacked the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s office in Mumbai in 1990s, preaches about double standards!
I reckon SMG as one of the finest batsman India has produced. I think SMG is a much better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar.
Gavaskar, though he hasn’t entered politics, remains an ace manipulator of men and media. He knows pretty well where is the epicenter of power in Indian cricket. He only wants a slice of it in the form of a few committees. A small man with a smaller agenda.
So I wasn’t surprised when he wrote in his syndicated column about National selection committee’s double standards. SMG is well qualified to talk about double standards, indeed.
His problem is Venugopala Rao.
Let me quote from SMG’s column that Hindustan Times’ New Delhi edition carried. “The start that the openers gave meant (in Mohali) the time was ripe for Venugopala Rao to be given a promotion, for there was no pressure and to be able to bat along with little champion would be a great learning experience. Instead, it was JP Yadav who was sacrificed, and at this rate it looks Rao will make it to the 2007 World Cup without batting for India, for he seems a protected specie.
“The form he showed in the Challenger means he (Rao) does not need the protection, but it may have been the worry that if he failed then there could be a case for a change in the team. The selectors have decided not to change a winning combination, but would they have done that if Kaif had been declared fit?”
Now we know. SMG’s problem is not Rao but Sourav Ganguly.
Had Rao failed at No.3 slot in the first two one-dayers, Gavaskar could have advocated Ganguly’s cause. Gavaskar, rightly or wrongly feels, Rao gets protection.
First, he says batting along with Tendulkar would have been a great learning experience for Rao at No.3. But if that is really the case, why does SMG write that JP Yadav was sacrificed at no. 3? What then about the learning experience? Should we leave JP Yadav uneducated?
SMG, with all his experience, should have known that national selectors don’t play dice with batting order. It is clear that captain and coach, in this instance, Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell, push the men up and down. That’s their prerogative.
Venugopala Rao is protected by Dravid and Chappell. Why doesn’t SMG say it so? Say it. Say it loud.
If you believe in the cause you want to espouse, you will have the guts to say it so.
It is safe to rail against National selectors who remain faceless to the large number of Indian cricket fans. There are five of them and SMG can always say I didn’t mean you. Not so if you train your guns at Dravid and Chappell. SMG jumps his gun in Mohammad Kaif’s case. He brings in the quite useful ‘if’ to buttress his point there. If Kaif had been declared fit. Let’s wait for him to regain the fitness.
Why the hurry? A man who waited throughout his cricket career for the suitable ball, can’t wait for Kaif to regain fitness?
Is there any crisis in the team?
It is SMG’s prerogative, if he thinks so, to bat for his friends. May be Sourav Ganguly is SMG’s friend.
I just wanted to add that when Rohan Gavaskar could not find a place in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad it was Cricket Association of Bengal who opened the doors for SMG’s son. Ganguly and Dalmiya even made room at the top for Gavaskar junior in the ODIs. Well, how can I blame Gavaskar, if he decides to bat for his friends in their hour of distress?
To their credit, Dravid and Chappell seem to have ignored SMG’s barbs. They apparently read SMG’s outpouring of grief and worsened it by protecting Rao at Jaipur too.
Gavaskar should advise Ganguly and Rohan to drink more milk.