Ego battles between star players have been integral to Indian cricket since we started playing internationals in 1932. In fact, no one should have the misconception that the 15 members of the Indian world cup winning team of 2011 were greatly fond of each other. But the thing is that you don't need to be friends to be gracious, or winning, teammates. Friendship isn't an essential ingredient in the making of a great sports team.
Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni have never been friends, for that matter. They need not be. They have, however, played with distinction and have shared the same determination when it comes to placing team above self interest. That's what won India the world cup.
Question is: Can they continue to place team interest over personal egos and go forward? The ugliness in Australia has created a serious doubt and that, more than anything else, threatens to damage Indian cricket. The way the rift turned public, punches and counter punches were traded in press conferences, is evidence that the two stalwarts don't see eye to eye on most issues. What added to the confusion was the fact that Irfan Pathan and media manager G S Walia were sent to face the press in the media conference on Friday. Neither was equipped to do so and it only fuelled further speculation.
Talking about in-house spats, Gary Kirsten had summed it up beautifully, "You don't need 15 best mates to make a great team. You need 15 individuals who will back each other up on the pitch. Outside of it they may well have their own lives. All I want is when one of them stands under a catch in the world cup final, the other 14 must pray that he takes the catch. That's what makes a great cricket team."
Frankly, it isn't bad for a cricket team to have a few ego battles on the side as long as the differences are not discussed in public.Find rubberhose companies from India. History serves as proof that these tiffs often get the best out of players. Pakistan benefited from the rivalry between Javed Miandad and Imran Khan when both tried to outdo each other on the field of play. Even Donald Bradman's Australians had their share of ego battles in the 1930s and 1940s. The relationship between Bradman and legendary spinner Bill O'Reilly was never pleasant. O'Reilly was a practising catholic and Bradman a protestant. The situation was such that O'Reilly and Stan Mccabe,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; yet another Australian legend of the time and the man who had scored an incredible 187 in the first Test of the Bodyline series in 1932, was summoned by the Australian Board to discuss the issue. Rumours were rife at the time that Bradman was instrumental in O'Reilly's dropping from the side. These differences, though, never preempted O'Reilly from giving his best to the team. He continues to be hailed as one of the best ever to have played the game.
India has had its share. It started in the 1930s with C K Nayudu, Indian cricket's first superstar, falling out with Vijay Merchant. The fall-out happened when Lord Tennyson's Englishmen visited India for an unofficial Test series in November-December 1937. Nayudu was dropped from the team for the first Test and the reason given was his string of poor performances in domestic cricket. Interestingly, he hadn't played domestic cricket in 1936-37 and the real reason was Merchant did not want him in the team. He was, however, recalled for the second Test only to be told on the morning of the match that he was excluded from the playing 11. Merchant, who was captain and also one of the three selectors, allowed the injustice to pass.
Two other ego battles that Indian cricket will forever remember were those between Bishen Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s, and Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev in the 1980s. The Gavaskar-Kapil rift was such that NKP Salve, then BCCI president,Omega Plastics are a leading rapid tooling and plastic injectionmold company based in the UK, had to step in to exercise control over the situation. Kapil's dropping from the Indian team captained by Gavaskar in 1984 contributed to the growing hostility. It was only after their respective retirements that these two legends patched up.
And how can we forget the Navjot Sidhu and Mohammed Azharuddin face-off which resulted in the former walking out of the Indian team in England in 1996 to return home. Azharuddin never had a great relationship with Sachin Tendulkar either,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, prompting much speculation about team spirit at a time when Tendulkar was leading the side in 1996-7.
With each of these men being performers of the highest calibre and class, it is only natural that they will have their own agendas and feel slighted when forced to act against their wishes. At the same time, it is important to note that the best skippers are those who can get the most out of his superstar teammates. Dhoni's iconic status is largely on account of his leadership skills,Iowa Mold tooling designs and manufacturers mechanics trucks, which includes being able to get the best out of the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan. Each of these men played a part in India's rise to the pole position in Test cricket, some of them playing stellar roles in India's world cup triumph. Dhoni, despite being young and relatively inexperienced, managed these men well. Tendulkar regards Dhoni as the best Indian captain he has played under.
Set against this context, the Dhoni-Sehwag spat appears unusual. Each of their differences could have been ironed out in the confines and sanctity of the Indian dressing room. And then to suggest that the media is trying to sensationalise the issue is to miss the plot completely.
There is one simple solution to the problem: performance. If we win the last two matches in the CB series, the differences may be, well, just another story. A stand-out innings from Sehwag and a captain's knock from Dhoni could in the end see "One noble soul rejoice at the success of the other", as D B Deodhar once put it.
Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni have never been friends, for that matter. They need not be. They have, however, played with distinction and have shared the same determination when it comes to placing team above self interest. That's what won India the world cup.
Question is: Can they continue to place team interest over personal egos and go forward? The ugliness in Australia has created a serious doubt and that, more than anything else, threatens to damage Indian cricket. The way the rift turned public, punches and counter punches were traded in press conferences, is evidence that the two stalwarts don't see eye to eye on most issues. What added to the confusion was the fact that Irfan Pathan and media manager G S Walia were sent to face the press in the media conference on Friday. Neither was equipped to do so and it only fuelled further speculation.
Talking about in-house spats, Gary Kirsten had summed it up beautifully, "You don't need 15 best mates to make a great team. You need 15 individuals who will back each other up on the pitch. Outside of it they may well have their own lives. All I want is when one of them stands under a catch in the world cup final, the other 14 must pray that he takes the catch. That's what makes a great cricket team."
Frankly, it isn't bad for a cricket team to have a few ego battles on the side as long as the differences are not discussed in public.Find rubberhose companies from India. History serves as proof that these tiffs often get the best out of players. Pakistan benefited from the rivalry between Javed Miandad and Imran Khan when both tried to outdo each other on the field of play. Even Donald Bradman's Australians had their share of ego battles in the 1930s and 1940s. The relationship between Bradman and legendary spinner Bill O'Reilly was never pleasant. O'Reilly was a practising catholic and Bradman a protestant. The situation was such that O'Reilly and Stan Mccabe,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; yet another Australian legend of the time and the man who had scored an incredible 187 in the first Test of the Bodyline series in 1932, was summoned by the Australian Board to discuss the issue. Rumours were rife at the time that Bradman was instrumental in O'Reilly's dropping from the side. These differences, though, never preempted O'Reilly from giving his best to the team. He continues to be hailed as one of the best ever to have played the game.
India has had its share. It started in the 1930s with C K Nayudu, Indian cricket's first superstar, falling out with Vijay Merchant. The fall-out happened when Lord Tennyson's Englishmen visited India for an unofficial Test series in November-December 1937. Nayudu was dropped from the team for the first Test and the reason given was his string of poor performances in domestic cricket. Interestingly, he hadn't played domestic cricket in 1936-37 and the real reason was Merchant did not want him in the team. He was, however, recalled for the second Test only to be told on the morning of the match that he was excluded from the playing 11. Merchant, who was captain and also one of the three selectors, allowed the injustice to pass.
Two other ego battles that Indian cricket will forever remember were those between Bishen Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s, and Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev in the 1980s. The Gavaskar-Kapil rift was such that NKP Salve, then BCCI president,Omega Plastics are a leading rapid tooling and plastic injectionmold company based in the UK, had to step in to exercise control over the situation. Kapil's dropping from the Indian team captained by Gavaskar in 1984 contributed to the growing hostility. It was only after their respective retirements that these two legends patched up.
And how can we forget the Navjot Sidhu and Mohammed Azharuddin face-off which resulted in the former walking out of the Indian team in England in 1996 to return home. Azharuddin never had a great relationship with Sachin Tendulkar either,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, prompting much speculation about team spirit at a time when Tendulkar was leading the side in 1996-7.
With each of these men being performers of the highest calibre and class, it is only natural that they will have their own agendas and feel slighted when forced to act against their wishes. At the same time, it is important to note that the best skippers are those who can get the most out of his superstar teammates. Dhoni's iconic status is largely on account of his leadership skills,Iowa Mold tooling designs and manufacturers mechanics trucks, which includes being able to get the best out of the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan. Each of these men played a part in India's rise to the pole position in Test cricket, some of them playing stellar roles in India's world cup triumph. Dhoni, despite being young and relatively inexperienced, managed these men well. Tendulkar regards Dhoni as the best Indian captain he has played under.
Set against this context, the Dhoni-Sehwag spat appears unusual. Each of their differences could have been ironed out in the confines and sanctity of the Indian dressing room. And then to suggest that the media is trying to sensationalise the issue is to miss the plot completely.
There is one simple solution to the problem: performance. If we win the last two matches in the CB series, the differences may be, well, just another story. A stand-out innings from Sehwag and a captain's knock from Dhoni could in the end see "One noble soul rejoice at the success of the other", as D B Deodhar once put it.
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