India riven by inner turmoil and staring at the abyss

[DesiChap]

This article was written before the IND SL tie. If India lose to Sri Lanka today the potential consequences are huge, both in cricketing and financial terms. David HoppsMarch 23, 2007 12:53 AM Pakistan are already out of the World Cup, with tragic consequences, and today India may follow. If they lose to Sri Lanka in Port of Spain, their failure will not only affect national pride but the entire financing of the game. The fallout will be considerable. India is cricket's cash cow, and regarded by some as just as sacred. It amounts to 60% of the game's earnings, and although cricket can be grateful for that, its parading of its financial muscle has long become a vainglorious exercise. There will be many who, far from fearing the loss of revenue that may arise from India's failure to reach the Super Eights, will welcome it as an overdue reality check. Greg Chappell, India's coach, is disturbingly aware of the parallels between him and Bob Woolmer. Both were foreign coaches under intolerable pressure, their offices already cleared in preparation for departure after the World Cup. The difference is that Chappell, thankfully, remains in good health. India's elite National Security Guards flew in last week to carry out anti-sabotage checks at all cup venues. They will remain throughout the tournament and, although the International Cricket Council would not confirm it yesterday, security issues surrounding today's match - including the safety of the Australian Chappell - have now become paramount. Chappell has kept a low profile since Woolmer's death but, with a police investigation in progress, he has been careful to underline that, unlike Woolmer, he has no autobiography in the pipeline, that he has no plans to tell all about the seedier side of Indian cricket. At the start of the World Cup the game feared a terrorist attack. Now the talk - however justified - has returned to gambling syndicates. Today, in Port of Spain, cricket is again a commodity. World Cup stakeholders - primarily the TV companies and major sponsors - will lose huge sums if India go out of the World Cup. Financially India are No1; in rankings terms they are No6. That is normally enough for them to be seen as contenders, but this time an ageing team that Chappell believes are sick to the core may not be able to respond. The Sony entertainment channel, SetMax, holds the TV rights until the end of the tournament. It was fortunate India reached the final in South Africa four years ago; if they lose today, SetMax's advertising revenue will collapse because advertisers now willing to pay ?4,000 for a 10-second slot will offer a third as much. The ICC has already sold TV rights until 2015 to ESPN - jointly owned by NewsCorp and Disney - but many sponsors have yet to be finalised. If India lose today, expect many to reduce their offer or to demand deals based on India's success in major tournaments over the next eight years. Chappell is heading back to Australia as soon as the World Cup ends. His assistant coach, Ian Fraser, has already cleared their office in Bangalore. Chappell has no wish to stick around to see whether he will be exalted or pilloried. He has no wish to listen to politicians spouting arrant nonsense, or to see his effigy being burned in the streets of every major Indian city. The former Indian batsman, and film star, Sandeep Patel, is among the favourites to replace him. If India manage to beat Sri Lanka, they will do so despite a dressing room riven by conflict. Chappell attempted to rebuild India by ending the career of the former captain, Sourav Ganguly, only to face rebellion from those Ganguly had mentored - the likes of Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh - who were not displeased when their own board officials successfully lobbied for Ganguly's reinstatement. Ganguly's major political champion - Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former board chairman - has departed. The triumvirate that replaced him - Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president and agriculture minister, the businessman Lalit Modi, and the combative president of the Punjab Cricket Association, Inderjit Bindra - promised to tap India's huge commercial resources with huge improvements in stadiums. Two years later, so many financial issues have been fought in the courts that not one stone has been laid. The latest issue arose from the Indian government's ruling that Indian cricket must be made available on public-owned TV, and has just been amicably settled. Rahul Dravid, India's captain, knows his own sacking is inevitable if India lose today. He refused to contemplate such an outcome yesterday, saying: "We are allowing no negative thoughts. We have the equipment, ability and qualifications to perform well. We have put ourselves under pressure by losing to Bangladesh, but we can handle this pressure." Dravid talked of India's excellent record against Sri Lanka, eight wins in their last 10 matches, enough to suggest that they retain a psychological hold over their opponents, but all those matches were played in India. It is Sri Lanka, with two games behind them on this Queen's Park Oval pitch, who have been the form team of the tournament, but the magnitude of today's game rivals that of a World Cup final. It would take remarkable resilience for Sri Lanka to hold their nerve.