Now that the dust has settled, the final curtain called and fat lady sung, Sachin Tendulkar no longer plays cricket for India anymore. Tendulkar bowed out at his home ground in Mumbai amidst tears, tributes and nostalgia that will never be seen again, playing his 200th and final Test match. Cricket is a complex game, misunderstood, often maligned by those without a taste for the finer things. It is a game obsessed with statistic (which fascinate and sometimes dictate the outcomes of matches or players’ own careers) and define their legacies once they have hung up their boots.
The problem with this whole scenario surrounding the 200th Test, is its validity in the first place. Sport isn’t always about fairy-tale endings, milestones or what players want. It is unfortunate that Tendulkar had to have his last series stage managed just so he could bow out of cricket at home. It also questions his true motives for deciding to retire with the knowledge that an overseas tour to South Africa would be his final curtain call. The BCCI understood the situation and with money on their mind, they orchestrated this circus act. With power and money anything is possible: move out the way world, India’s gravy train is coming through!
Since when does a governing body exert this kind of influence, one might ask? Well, when the game of cricket is being run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and not the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the player being a demi-god, things become clearer and foggier at the same time. Add the BCCI’s conflict with Cricket South Africa (CSA) over CEO, Haroon Lorgat and his role in the statements issued by the ICC’s former legal head, David Becker, about the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the BCCI’s alleged flouting of the FTP agreement, you have recipe for disaster. Although Tendulkar is not responsible, a dangerous precedent has been set. What happens the next time a great India player retires or reaches a milestone? Cancel a future series so the game can be played in India at the player’s home ground? Indeed.
Fearing the threat of losing out on the incoming tour by India this summer, CSA caved in to cricket’s mafia, suspended Lorgat and made do with a shortened tour (now rendered meaningless) and stand to lose approx US$20 million. The cynic might put two and two together and get: hastily arranged series between India and the West Indies, with the little master’s swan-song in, guess? Mumbai. How fortuitous.
This stirs memories of 2001 and the unedifying international incident involving India and South Africa, again. This time, match referee, Mike Denness, fell foul of the cabal (BCCI). Denness charged six Indian players for various offences, ranging from excessive appealing to ball tampering, during the second Test in Port Elizabeth. When news leaked to the press of the guilty verdicts and the suspensions that would occur for all the players, including Tendulkar, a maelstrom of anger and outrage from the Indian public set about in motion the sequence of events which began conflict between the various cricket boards.
India threatened to boycott the third Test in Pretoria unless Denness stood down from the game. Members of the BCCI and the Indian media, bandied racial and colonial rhetoric about and the predictable burning of effigies in the streets in India took place. After days of negotiations, it was agreed that the final Test be classed unofficial and deemed a first class match. This incident, whilst dealt with and buried under the carpet, should not be forgotten. Denness wasn’t even allowed to enter the ground. This unsavoury incident is just one of the many problems encountered with the BCCI when they are upset or something doesn’t please them.
The third Test in 2001 was played with full strength lineups from both teams. Tendulkar scored 27 and 40 which, if official, leaves his Test record at 201 matches and 15988 runs. Had this incident been dealt with properly and not dictated by India behaving like spoilt brats, this recent fiasco might not have occurred. The BCCI could never justify a one off Test match and the tour might have gone ahead. The wider implications of both unedifying events are felt by all the cricketers who took part in that ‘lost Test’. Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock scored centuries, took wickets and catches. Mark Boucher took two catches and would not be left stranded on 999 international dismissals.
The Indian team lost all their runs and wickets too; the point is, every player that played in that ghost Test, will never receive the honours and accolades because a nation and its governing body behaved so pathetically and so disgracefully. All this must not be forgotten. The hope is that in the future, when (hopefully) the BCCI has lost its iron grip on the game, that phantom Test, will be reclassified official. However, until the other nations’ cricket boards start to stand up to the playground bully, they will continue to be stepped on and treated with disdain.
Kaylan Geekie
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