Indian cricket starts and stops at Sachin Tendulkar and money

India were scheduled to tour South Africa in December 2013, for 3 Tests, 7 ODIS and 2 T20s. The BCCI in fact, sent an India ‘A’ team to play the South Africa ‘A’ team a few weeks back, in South Africa so that the youngsters could get a vital and first-hand experience of the conditions. This certainly gives India a fair chance to compete there.

However, it is an irony that India, despite being the in the top 3 in all formats of the game at the moment, has the attitude of the 90s under the presidency of N Srinivasan and captaincy of MS Dhoni, who believe that winning at home is more important than losing away from home. Plus, the BCCI feared a loss of 300 crore rupees if they do not host a single, full-fledged series at home this year. Incredible, considering that they must be earning more than 10 times the amount of this money annually!

They then decided to find a team which could help India win at home and is jobless in the month of November. Who better than the West Indies? The boys from the Caribbean will come over to play 3 ODIs and 2 Tests.

This is not an ideal preparation for the South African tour, like it was not for the 2011 Australian tour. Yet it is cramming in the Tests just to assure that Sachin Tendulkar gets a grand farewell probably in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the 2nd Test of the series. Or at least at an Indian venue, so that the public could get to bid him goodbye over here itself rather than somewhere else.
Undoubtedly, Tendulkar is the greatest India has ever produced. But why should the game suffer just for the sake of one individual? I would rather love to see the Little Master call it a day after plundering a South African attack consisting of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel which is the best in the world in Test cricket in their own backyard, than a meek West Indian attack at home.

India vs. South Africa is a marquee contest, but sadly it is the administrators who are killing the fun of the game by letting supporters down with their preferential, money minded and selfish attitude. A player is a human being, not a machine who has to retire under any circumstances as ages catches up at one point and money comes when there is quality and excellence in the cricket played.

There is no point of BCCI being the richest and India will never be on top of the cricketing world for long if the top brass does not radically change.