Muscles and Tendulkar's 200th Test

Life is going to come a full 360-degree for the Master when he takes guard in the 2nd test against a surprise guest West Indies, at a surprise venue. Few people in the world cricket have the earned the right to go on their own terms; to choose the date and time and their opponent; but only Sachin is lucky to choose the location, to call it a day, that is if he wants to. Courtesy BCCI; partly with their rift with Haroon Lorgat and Cricket South Africa and partly on the revenue acquisition model, as BCCI has intercepted the Tour de South Africa by hosting West Indies.

Tendulkar, who currently has played 198 tests would likely play his 200th test on his home ground Wankhede, leaving BCCI a tough job to select a venue for the 1st Test. Little did a 16_Year kid from Sharada Ashram dreamt of becoming the first man on the planet to play 200th Tests, let alone playing it on his home ground, where he made his debut first century. This 200th test match is another century in the kitty for a man who deals every thing in centuries. This is a celebration moment for Sachin and his fans, 1000 days of test cricket is a cherry on the ice-cream; he would be the first person to actually play 1 ton of days for his country.

Reality

Amidst all the euphemism lay the autocratic nature of BCCI to bully its opposite number, not just in terms of the rules of the game read DRS, but also arm twisting in terms of the FTP; Future Tour Programs. Cricket is probably one of the few games that enjoy the bilateral tours and fixtures. Apart from the World Tournaments it is these small tours that are cherished, be it the Ashes or the Border Gavaskar trophy where each team host every 2 years. The whole idea of sweet revenge and defeating opposition in their back yard gives one goose bumps. The whole cricketing fraternity is now waiting for the ReturnTheURN series this Nov. to see if England can really dominate or can Australia bounce back.

Back to the bone of contention

Tour de South Africa is always draws excitement among the fans owing to their result-oriented nature. On bouncy, live and pacey conditions visitors aren’t treated well by the pace attack comprising of Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Kallis. South Africans have built a strong fortress, which teams have found tough to breach. Teams have attempted to invade but have failed like how Alexander failed against King Porus in 300 BC. SA has decimated the oppositions and has dented their confidence to an extent that teams have taken ages to regain. They have won 8 of their last 10 games at home since Nov 2011, and have recently white washed NZ and Pakistan. So it’s a matter of great pride for a visitor to defeat and plant their national flag.

The real issue

SA had visited India in 2011 and it was now India’s turn, but just when tickets were being booked, the BCCI-CSA relationship hit the 7-year itch, nucleus of the friction could be attributed to one man, Mr. Lorgat; who had locked horns with BCCI when he was the CEO of ICC. When he took over as the CEO of CSA, BCCI disapproved it and even had threatened to curtail the tour; little did one know that it wasn’t an empty threat. Today by plugging in a WI tour whose last game coincides with what would have been the 1st ODI, this clearly sends a message that SA tour would be curtailed, how much, it depends on how much N Srini is hurt.

‘Lorgat is a nice gentleman but it would be nice of him if he apologises," Dalmiya said in Kolkata. Lets see how much BCCI is hurt and how much is Lorgat pardoned.

Who is at Loss?

Definitely given the commercial interest, the lucrative television and sponsorship deals would come handy when WI tour India, you cannot tell people who are heavily invested that there will be no activity this year, curtailed tour means more time to play in India, which leads to revenue attribution. Financially CSA is at loss in case of a shortened tour, as most sponsors are Indian based. A Lot is stake for the CEO of CSA; a lot depends on how mellow he presents himself when he meets BCCI officials in Dubai.

What Fans Miss out

One of the panaceas India had post 8-0 debacle was that they didn’t have any away tour for months, the closest was the dreaded tour of SA. When VVS and Dravid hung their boots, India knew that they had enough games at home that would give them ample time to bridge the gap. Fans were happy that Sachin was still around and would play and give us that victory much needed one. Test team was built considering the SA tour in mind, Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara were nurtured for the big day, like how an Athlete trained for Olympics. India-A team that toured SA, was beefed with the National team players and was given the right exposure, they seemed ready.

Sachin would have gone past 200 tests and if he had hung his boots by the end of tour it would have been picture perfect for an illustrious career. But instead if Sachin decides to retire at home in the WI tour, then the fans would have missed out on the epic Steyn vs Tendulkar encounter. Or perhaps Kallis wouldn’t be there see off Tendulkar, it would have been even more fitting.

The silver lining amidst all this is that Sachin celebrates his 200th at home; Fans get to watch batsman plunder on flat tracks in India and O yea, less games in SA means less embarrassment for India.

On a lighter note one can only hope that BCCI doesn’t get involved in the rules of the game, who knows one day India has 22 yards and SA 20 yards while batting.