As the tenure of Anil Kumble as India's coach comes to an end, it also perhaps brings to the fore the contest between India's old guard nee legends and the current team. 3 of them are in the CAC, Sachin, Saurav and Laxman, which decides the Indian coach and perhaps it was Saurav who helped make the call in favour of Kumble versus Ravi Shastri. Will they now bring in Sehwag to replace him?
However, one of the ex-pillars of Indian batting, Rahul Dravid has raised a pertinent question. Does India persist with Dhoni and Yuvraj till the next world cup? and should a wrist spinner replace Jadeja or Ashwin? A few years back, Dhoni made the call to phase the seniors out ( aka Dravid, Sehwag etc. excluding the God of cricket Sachin, who laboured on) and now the wheel has turned full cycle, with Dravid questioning the seniors. It's actually asking the selectors the right question, which they have to answer in the next few months. And even better, he has groomed 3 players who could step up: Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and the lesser known but equally talented Ishaan Kishan from Jharkhand, all 3 wicket-keeper batsmen to boot.
Manish Pandey is the perpetual bridesmaid and clearly should get a nod ahead of Dinesh Kartik in the future and perhaps even replace Kedar Jadhav. Kedar plays for RCB, so is likely to get a longer rope. Manoj Tiwari is another talented cricket who is out of contention.
The change of guard at the political level and the Lodha committee has also affected cricket administrators and that should see another cycle of change. Perhaps ICC with Shashank Manohar as its head will also have significant influence.
However cricket's popularity is now likely to be on a downward cycle due to sports such as badminton, hockey, kabaddi etc. coming to the fore thanks to the sports broadcasters and viewership is likely to get fragmented. Bollywood also seems to have gotten over its fear of IPL and will likely challenge its hegemony in the coming years. Olympic sports are also gaining traction thanks to wrestling and boxing and the attendant rewards. NBA and the Football Leagues are also grabbing eyeballs.
All in all an interesting cycle for sports growth in India and perhaps make us better athletes ;-) Now what should we do about politics?
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