The Surfer

T Suman, Manpreet Gony, Siddharth Trivedi, Kamran Khan, Paul Valthaty and others have found the going outside the hyped confines of the IPL quite difficult to handle. And that is why Rahane should use the IPL and not let the IPL use him. He must use this tournament to generate hype, to garner the attention of the selectors and then make the most of the chances he gets for India. The IPL is but a step in the ladder that will get him to a regular spot in the Indian team.

Surely, the proposals for international teams and players to tour Pakistan should come when we have reached a semblance of normalcy and peace. Instead we have decided to assume our existing state as normalcy. What do we have to gain from a tour? An improvement in the image of the country? For the sake of what? A probable attack and the loss of lives for guests of this country? We are told that they’ll be provided maximum security: this, a country which couldn’t protect its most popular leader and the governor of the largest province (in addition to many other parliamentarians and mere plebs whose lives apparently count for less) in the past five years alone. The reluctance of many to visit Pakistan may have something to do with how much they value their lives – rather than a vast conspiracy by the BCCI.

The solution is to start low — invite smaller teams like Lashings who seem to be eager to come here provided there is good money and security involved. It’s not that the Pakistan team is being isolated from world cricket like the South Africans were. We’re still playing. And we need to continue playing. If the series goes ahead without any glitches, the proposed Pakistan Premier League can then be the next step in restoring teams’ tour of the country.

We love cricket and cricketers, and wish the West Indian legacy of excellence restored and respected. In 1995 the intellectually brilliant Michael Manley, then too ill to write another classic work, summoned me to Jamaica to discuss the future of West Indies cricket. He saw the tsunami coming! He insisted that I write about the trends discussed. I had no choice. He was insistent. And I did. Out came a book in 1998: “The Development of West Indies Cricket: The Age of Globalisation”. At the time there was no 20-20; no IPL; no Big Bash; no rejection of country for cash! But we saw it coming! We ran with words into the street to warn the nation. No one listened! It was a classic Noah moment. Then the rain came.

The IPL is the place to be. It has become an irresistible magnet and an incentive for any young batsman to learn to play a few shots. For the modern cricketer it is the equivalent of Laurence Olivier appearing in Friends: the audience is massive, so too the remuneration even if this is not the ideal stage on which to display a true maestro's talents.

I find it amazing how people nit-pick when it comes to SRT’s apparent slow-scoring that affects the team. First, nobody ever cares to see how long he took from 40 to 50 or 70 to 80. They will always zero in on his strike-rate from 90 to 100.

Even still, say many of their long-suffering admirers abroad, the West Indies had at least competed for three days. And they had been sporadically impressive during the two recent Test series against India. In last month’s one-day internationals against Australia, the West Indies drew, and even drew a big crowd to one match, as well as sharing the two Twenty20s.

It is often said that world cricket needs the West Indies. But when even West Indian cricketers do not need the West Indies, like the Indian Premier League’s Bravos, Gayles and Pollards, it is no surprise that a battling (or, at least, skirmishing) defeat is considered no disgrace for Darren Sammy’s men.