The bias against Chandu Borde

Indian cricket players, with the help of the electronic media, called the 72-year-old manager of the Ireland-bound team ‘an old man out of sync with modern cricket’. The players need a reality check: Borde is capable of better cricket than the best of them.

By Norris Pritam

Indian sport is a strange world, a complex syndicate of vague people and vaguer ideas where mediocrity prevails and genuine sportspersons are left behind. But more than often than not, especially in cricket, it is the players themselves who are to be blamed for this state of things.

For instance, when Chandu Borde was named cricket manager of the Ireland-bound Indian team, the first salvo was fired by the players. With the help of the electronic media, ever-hungry for bytes, players projected Borde as “an old man out of sync with modern cricket”.

Borde, on his part, played with a straight bat, like he always did in his brilliant playing days. “They don’t know I am still regularly visiting National Cricket Academy,” he said. “Technique never changes, so where is the question of being out of touch with cricket?” he asked.

A large section of the electronic media referred to Borde as a “72 year-old coach”, as if age was ever an issue. Did the players ever take a peep into their own selves? Did the media ever scientifically measure the “youth” of the Indian cricket players? The so-called modern Indian cricketers failed to bloom under the tutelage of hi-tech laptop-carrying John Wright or Greg Chappell. Before the foreign duo, our own desi Kapil Dev, Ajit Wadekar, Bishen Singh Bedi, Anshuman Gaekwad and some others tried, in vain, to leash the players. Does it mean they were all outdated and unfit?

If they failed to deliver, the fault surely lies elsewhere—not with the coaches and the managers. Then why call Borde names? How about a reality check on the players themselves? The same players remained mum when Rajiv Shukla was named administrative manager of the team on the Ireland tour.

Is this Congress politician in sync with cricket—modern, or for that matter, of any vintage? Shukla’s exploits in some other fields are left better unmentioned. If we go by the state of the Indian players, modern cricket would be reduced to designer playing kits, expensive goggles, lots of anti-sun lotion on their faces, and still more commercial endorsements. Is this what modern cricket all about? If it is, then yes, Borde is outdated. Modern cricket is not just trendy appearances but a judicious and scientific approach towards the game. Sadly, Indian players are far distant from this crucial aspect of the modern version of the game. Physical fitness, which is the hallmark of any modern sport, is the standard nemesis of the Indian players.

Fifty years ago, without modern gadgets at their disposal, players were far fitter than the current lot. Imagine, they had a camp for three days before embarking on a tour— three days in which to shoehorn in their personal lives, friends, commercial obligations and media interviews. Knowing how Borde

and his peers functioned, do the players today have a right to call Borde unfit and out of sync with modern cricket? Pushed to the wall, Borde would still dare to play a spinner with total ease. It’s all a matter of technique, as he rightly pointed out. You hardly forget technique; what age tends to diminish is execution of the technique. Many of our ‘modern’ cricketers lack that execution even in the prime of their careers. So why pick on Chandu Borde? Following in the steps of our cricketers, national players in another sport have also begun demanding coaches of their choice. National hockey coaches have been sacked in the recent past in quick succession. While the sackings were undoubtedly autocratic retributions by K P S Gill, president of the Indian Hockey Federation, the players also contributed to the attrition in a major way: a split in the team regarding the appointment of a coach helped Gill in taking unilateral action.

Popularity, not professionalism, is the new yardstick, and Rajender Singh and V Baskaran, both fine coaches, paid the penalty for not being popular with the players. Before them, Fredrick D’Souza had met with the same fate, even though he always carried a laptop as his signature of being a ‘modern’ coach. Now, Joaquim Carvalho is the man in charge of the hockey boys. Watch this space—we’ll keep you informed wen the Indian stick players begin demanding an even more ‘modern’ coach. You never know.