Men in White; Men in Black

By John Cheeran
I enjoyed reading Mukul Kesavan’s Men in White, a book of essays. It took me almost a year to get hold of the book and then last month, I read through it.
Being an irregular reader of Kesavan’s columns’ at The Telegraph, Calcutta, these offering was far from satisfying. I did not understand the hype regarding a book which is essentially a compilation. In fact to sell his book, Kesavn wrote a blog with the same name at www.cricinfo.com and after the publication of the book he stopped it.
And unfortunately when I was in Delhi in April, an acquaintance’s blog watch column in a tabloid, bemoaned the end of the blog! It is indeed good to have such friends.
I, however, want to salute Kesavan for coming up with some bold statements regarding the nature of cricket journalism in India.
Kesavan rightly points out how cricket journalists in India, and that includes former cricketers-turned-writers, fail to look facts at their faces.
And this opinion too one has read before at Wisden Asia cricket magazine. Kesavan writes that even guys such as Sanjay Manjrekar puts Barry Richards, who played only FOUR Tests, much higher in order when they make a list of batting greats, and ignores someone like Sunil Gavaskar, who was the backbone of Indian batting close to two decades. And Manjrekar at least should have watched Gavaskar in action many times over, being a Mumbai-based cricketer.
Kesavan rightly attacks the servile attitude of Indians for blindly holding onto the indexes supplied by the white cricket establishment. And immediately he refers to Graeme Hick, and how the player was exposed in the international arena for what he is worth. He would have been another Barry but for playing for England and coming a cropper.

It is observations such as these that make Kesavan’s writing a pleasure to read. But as Kesavan accuses some of the leader writers of English newspapers, who had an uncharitable view on Sourav Ganguly, as being failed intellectuals, Kesavan himself can be classified as a failed novelist. And a failed novelist is any day better than an average Indian cricket journalist.

Kesavan quotes Christopher Isherwood of having said that he occupies the front of the second grade novelists, an admission of reality, I have a feeling that same can be said of our history teacher at Jamia Milia in Delhi.

How many average Indian cricket journalists have had the educational and family background that Kesavan has enjoyed? But that Kesavan is an elitist should not take away from the worth of his arguments.
And Kesavan comes across as someone who is irreverent when he berates AFS Talyarkhan, a highly rated sports journalist and commentator based in Mumbai, as an old windbag. I have read only a few columns Talyarkhan wrote for Sportsweek in the fag end of 80s. I haven’t listened to more than a couple of AFS T’s broadcasts. So I can’t make judgment on them. I’m sure Kesavan is correct in his criticism of AFST. But what’s the point of pointing finger at someone who is dead and buried in this case?
Can Kesavan criticize today’s windbags?
How does he rate Arun Lals, Harsha Bhogles?
Would he dare to criticize anyone of these jokers?

Bell tolls for Sachin Tendulkar

MUMBAI: India’s premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar may not escape the wrath of the cricket-crazy country’s fans following the team’s disastrous World Cup.
The 1983 winners crashed out in the first round of the event after losing two out of three group matches, to Bangladesh and former champions Sri Lanka.
Irate fans and a number of former players have called for the axe to fall on captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell, while senior players are also under fire.Local media yesterday highlighted a television news channel’s poll that showed 64 percent of those who responded wanted Tendulkar to retire.
The Asian Age newspaper quoted another television poll of 60 current and former first-class cricketers on Tendulkar’s future, which found that a third were in favour of Tendulkar retiring from both Test and one-day international cricket.More than half wanted him to retire just from one-day internationals while one in 10 wanted him to retire from all forms of cricket.
The 33-year-old Tendulkar became the darling of Indian households since making his debut as a curly-haired 16-year-old in 1989, but at this World Cup he flopped against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and managed only a half century against Bermuda.Former South African batsman Barry Richards said it would take a huge commitment for Tendulkar to regain his former dominance with the bat.
“He could slaughter the minnows, in other words he’s still capable of taking lesser attacks to task, but to truly earn the respect of his peers he has to score runs when it matters and against the best,” Richards wrote in a column yesterday.
“Does he have the dedication to do that or has all the pressure over nearly two decades taken a toll on body and mind? Only Sachin can answer that and his answer must be honest.” Tendulkar has been a shadow of his former self since shoulder surgery in March last year.Former England captain Mike Atherton suggested in his column in the Sunday Telegraph that commercial interests might be the only reason for Tendulkar to stay.
“The truth is that Tendulkar has been marketed as a brand for some time, advertising many of the biggest commercial names in India,” he wrote.“There are many interested parties who are keen to see Tendulkar wearing India’s colours for a while yet.”