Before the first test against South Africa at Cape Town, Virat Kohli led team India was nothing short of a World Champion team. They had won nine outright test series wins and was almost unbeatable at home particularly in test cricket. Shikhar Dhawan was playing test cricket like T20s, Cheteshwar Pujara established himself as the ‘New Wall’ of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli was making double centuries for fun and even player like Rohit Sharma prospered big time in familiar conditions.
However, there were familiar conditions after all!
To be precise, Cape Town test ended within three days, as an entire day washed out due to rain. More worryingly, the famed Indian batting line up surrendered meekly! All those players, who were making runs for fun on home soil, looked club level stars, including World’s best batsman Virat Kohli.
But, is it the fault of players?
Certainly not. It is indeed the fault of BCCI. the most powerful and richest cricket board, BCCI thinks only about money. In the process, they forgets other aspects of the game disgracefully.
When, the team has been forced to play 90 percent of matches in a year on flat and batting friendly pitches, it’s unfair to expect from the players to produce match winning knocks on the pitches like Cape Town.
The recently concluded home Series against Sri Lanka was a classic example of how BCCI thinks. They prepared Eden Gardens pitch in order to be ready for South Africa challenge. But, as soon as result didn’t go their way, they surrendered. After all, no one in India wants to go to the stadium and see the collapse of their heroes in front of them.
Obviously, it affects on the bank balance of BCCI on a big way. Also, for BCCI, the pressure of sponsor’s and broadcasters is almost undeniable.
That’s why, no need to jump and put all the blame on players after seeing them hopeless on fast and bouncy pitches. It’s the fault of BCCI, not the players!
