Hmm..Its difficult to write a review like this without displeasing at least five individuals.
I mean what makes a cricketer really bad - batsmen who forget to bring their bat to the pitch -
bowlers, who are praised for their consistency, of course the praise coming from the opposition -
fielders, who try their hardest to avoid the ball - maybe, a combination of these - a complete cricketer who is a thorough embarrassment to the selectors, his team, family, country and game.
That being said, let me reiterate that under different time and circumstance each of these five individuals could have been matchwinners (yeah, right).
So, how does one decide that a cricketer is not the brightest individual in his profession? I, for one followed the following self-imposed guidelines:
These guys should have played at least one match for India.
I should have seen them play.
They should have failed in at least 70% of their games.
Watching these guys should have, at some point of time, made me question their existence as cricketers.
So here we go. Please note that the order below does not indicate who is better among these guys - all are equally miserable.
Humpty-dumpty had a great fall - Bharathi Arun - This guy fell down delivering his first over in International cricket...and never got up. He played 2 tests and 4 one-dayers, and incidently his best performance was in his first test (probably an effect of the fall).He ran out of steam at the first station and captured just one wicket in his one-day career.
Shakespeares worst nightmare - Dodda Ganesh - Shakespeare said: ’’..a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet..’’.. this guy failed to live up to his name - he faced troubles at every point in his career, which consisted of 4 tests and 1 one-day.I think he would have had better luck and fortune as Rajnikant’s stunt double.
And he huffed and he puffed.. - Debashish Mohanty - To be honest, I firmly believe this guy could
have made it big, but for his luck. His was the story of an average bowler and a non-existent batsman. Pity he did not
play against Bangladesh or Kenya.
The doctor who gave a headache - Prashant Vaidya - Old wine, new bottle - played only 4 one-days and succeeded in impressing nobody. I remember him trying his gentle bowling against Australia alongside Kumble, and I was not able to decide who was faster.
Forgetfulness is bliss - Yograj Singh - Does anyone remember this guy - he played against New Zealand in the World Series in 1980 (or was it 1981?) and promptly got out the first ball he faced. He did get Hadlee’s wicket though, but never made the same mistake.
Note added on July 11th : I found out today that Yograj Singh is the father of Yuvraj Singh. Its certainly a small world.
Thats it - a few guys who came close to making my list are Ashish Kapoor, Vijay Singh and Jacob Martin.
One curious thing that I realized after compiling this list is that all are bowlers. I hope others rectify this
oversight.
In all seriousness, the selectors of the Indian team were a lot to blame for the lack of chances to upcoming players.
I am sure many of these guys would have done better if they had been given more chances.
Awaiting your comments and feedback :-).
Prodi.