Cricket can't afford meaningless games:Harsha Bhogle

[vamos_rafa]

A topsy-turvy, irrelevant and largely unnecessary tournament lurches towards a final. It has been characterised not by outstanding cricket but by wildly fluctuating performances. If a team vanquishes its opponent by 200 runs one day and loses by 105 a week later, which is the better team? One-sided games are not good contests and there hasn't been a good contest so far in Sri Lanka. It makes you wonder if teams might have played differently if this were a World Cup, where every match counted towards something, where a defeat strengthened resolve for it meant a greater peak had been installed in the way. I have long argued that increasingly audiences are only concerned with whether or not the home team is playing. It now seems that we are progressing towards a stage where audiences ask whether or not a game is relevant. Sri Lanka could not produce crowds for a home game against India. It is an alarming, and peculiarly welcome, sign. Cricket cannot afford to throw up meaningless games before its benefactors, which is what spectators and television audiences are. If you want their money you must offer them a spectacle, and while sometimes the promise may not be fulfilled (even the football World Cup threw up many duds, including the final), the intent has to come shining through. Players cannot afford to treat a contest as just another game. They are living a dream that few see realised. And the opposition is quick to spot laziness and arrogance anyway. Like an author, a cricketer signs his name on every innings he bats or bowls in; indeed for every cricket ball that challenges him on the field. It is a mandate he must feel privileged to uphold. Over the last couple of weeks I am not sure I got that impression every time. India must also be concerned by the inconsistency of the younger players. Across professions, consistency is a direct product of work ethic. The greats were defined by their consistency because they were wedded to work ethic. No oddball gambler ever achieved greatness. Some, like Shane Warne, suggest occasionally that they might be mavericks, but when Warne's legbreak didn't obey his command, he worked harder than anybody else on it. Sometimes I feel the lessons from the legends are misplaced in satiated youthfulness. And so, in the four games played at Dambulla, India's batting seemed to revert to the old movie formula: one hero, one supporting actor, and no one else of any consequence really. This was the opportunity for challengers to Tendulkar, Gambhir, Harbhajan and Zaheer to make a statement. They haven't yet. If anything has been gained it is that Sehwag is doing his one-day career some justice. With every innings he seems to rise above his generation and earn for himself a more exalted place. Meanwhile the IPL and the BCCI lurch from one controversy to another. Clearly no organisation is run by monks, and who knows there might be political undercurrents in monasteries as well, but the quality of governance must remain non-negotiable. With disciplinary issues smothering cricketing ones, the IPL must wake up to the blow its image is taking. Whether or not media allegations are true, the damage in the eyes of the public has to be addressed. An outstanding brand cannot lapse into somnolence; cannot be defined by committees and a bureaucracy. Outside of India's private sector, which has many islands of excellence amidst other less agreeable ones, Brand India has rarely been characterised by outstanding governance. For every success story in software, telecom and manufacturing, we have the Commonwealth Games to portray us as pathetic, bumbling organisers. The IPL promised to be different, to be a genuine global sports brand born and nurtured in India. It can still be but its mind seems to be elsewhere, caught up in committees and personal conflict. Like India's young middle order, it needs some refurbishing.

[ravishingravi]

I actually stopped taking Bhogle and othe Indian mojo commentators seriously after they were on BCCI payrolls. This guy talks about IPL which is the lowest for of pyjama chap cricket being a game changer for world cricket.

[hitman1980]

Harsha, Manjrekar and shivrama krishna.. these guys I hate from the bottom of my heart .. I hope they get humiliated by an MMS showing them doing 3some.. :D

[ravishingravi]

Harsha, Manjrekar and shivrama krishna.. these guys I hate from the bottom of my heart .. I hope they get humiliated by an MMS showing them doing 3some.. :D

Yup, Manjrekar should be hated. He speaks too honest for the mild hearted Indian fans.

[Sachinism]

There shouldn't be meaningless ODIs. Fans aren't usually too bothered, players get burnt out and when we play important matches, we have players sitting out due to injury. Playing SL is as meaningless as it gets. Overkill. Look at the matches this series, one-sided contests, who wants to see that?

[Hindustani]

I actually stopped taking Bhogle and othe Indian mojo commentators seriously after they were on BCCI payrolls. This guy talks about IPL which is the lowest for of pyjama chap cricket being a game changer for world cricket.

Don't hate the Players, Hate the Game.. Well Said harsha, this whole tour is meaningless for both India and SL

[TheWall]

Ban India-Sl series for few years.

[vamos_rafa]

Ban India-Sl series for few years.

I completely agree. Its frustating to see them playing against each other. Infact even the SL peple are fed up of this. Read this : http://www.slcricket.com/content/137-need-play-against-top-teams-other-than-india-bayliss.html Just logged in this site today to see the filth they write against us but instead found this article.

[DomainK]

The question is, what is a meaningful match in contrast to a meaningless one?

[msb1991]

The question is' date=' what is a meaningful match in contrast to a meaningless one?[/quote'] One which either provides a spectacle for the spectators or one which, heaven forbid, attempts to discern which is the better team. With India and Sri Lanka, the fans are turning away, with the absence of numerous big names, and it has been pretty evident that these teams are reasonably evenly matched in ODIs and that match day conditions and how full strength the teams are, is the difference.

[putrevus]

For Bhogle Champions league are meaningful games because he will get paid, other than four or five regulars who are over worked, how will you gauge guys like Virat, Rohit and co how will they fare in international cricket. they are not playing test cricket so they should be fresh so why are they meaningless matches

[Gunner_Mania]

I don't think he is saying Champions League are meaningful games. He is talking about two completely different topics, but because it is put under one ehading it is confusing. On one hand he is talking about the Tri series being meaningless and then the other one a separate issues about the controversies surrounding the IPL and BCCI>

[King]

No game is meaningless when you don national colours.Tell the likes of Kohli,Kane Williamson, Thissera and the other young ones these are meaningless. They will wonder what struck Harsha Bhogle. NZ hasn't had a game for quite some time and this in fact will help them figure a team for the up coming series' As for India, tell Sehwag these games are meaningless. He's been head and shoulders above the rest of the players. This sets him up for the rest of the year. Why would he reckon these games are meaningless? World cup is still some distance away. Going by Harsha these guys are not to play any cricket unless it is world cup is it?

[DomainK]

One which either provides a spectacle for the spectators or one which' date=' heaven forbid, attempts to discern which is the better team. With India and Sri Lanka, the fans are turning away, with the absence of numerous big names, and it has been pretty evident that these teams are reasonably evenly matched in ODIs and that match day conditions and how full strength the teams are, is the difference.[/quote'] Doesnt that make it all the more interesting? Two evenly matched teams taking on each other where you just cant guess who might win? Or is it a match where a giant takes on a minnow where everyone knows who would win that is considered more meaningful? As far as the absence of big players are concerned, it's quite common these days. No team takes on the field full-force these days. Injury is a common problem these days. And if some of the biggies are missing from the Ashes (which is quite possible), will Mr.Bhogle call it meaningless? The only problem I see with this series is that India and Lanka have played each other quite a lot recently. But I still fail to see how that makes it meaningless.

[putrevus]

Why is everyone so down on Sehwag ODI stats,They want him to have tendulkar stats but Sehwag is not tendulkar who is head and shoulders above anybody in odis. yet no one seems to mention anything about Mr.whiny and Lady Jaya, both have less odis hundreds than Sehwag with Similar Avgs and lot less strike rates.Yet they are awesome odi players and Sehwag is under achiever.

[Gunner_Mania]

The reason I personally think its meaningless is because, the tournamenet has meant feck all for us. The Sehwags the Dhonis could have used this time to take a break and rest. We can moan all we want but Dhoni is goin to play the cLT20, so he could have done with some time off from the game, so could have Sehwag just to keep him fresh for the long year ahead. This is the 3rd MicroMouse Cup we are playing with Srilanka in it (including the Asia Cup) in a span of what is it 3-4 months.?

[achilles]

We should play quality cricket and play better, more competitive opponents, rather than playing the same team thrice in 3 months. I think everyone would pick IPL and CLT20 over the meaningless games we play.