Speech is silver ... silence unacceptable

Strange things are rumoured to have happened on the cricket field in the recent past. It seems like some of those strange events are spilling out of the field as well. The Indian team arrived at Dhaka today. The team usually sports big grins and relaxed expressions at the beginning of the tour. The Indian team today however looked like they were at a funeral. Some people say that too is apt for cricket's funeral might just have begun. Manoj Prabhakar it seems is audio-visually ringing the death knell.

The team of long faces walked in to the lobby at the Dhaka Sheraton and disappeared to their various rooms in five minutes flat. Silence apparently was the overwhelming theme. Breaking what has become a tradition in cricket circles, the players refused to talk to the media before their first match. To refuse this courtesy to journalists at a time when the players could do with as many people on their side defies logic.

Samiran Chakravarty, the manager of the Indian team on this tour came down and spoke to journalists. After saying that The Management had decided before they left India to stay away from the press, Mr Chakravarty offered to answer questions. Talking about cricketing matters is often very specific and even specialised. Mr Chakravarty is in no way as qualified as either the captain or the coach to answer questions of that kind.

When asked about the mood of the team Mr Chakravarty said "The mood in the team is excellent. We are not bothered by these allegations. We have come here to play cricket." No one denied the fact that they had come to Dhaka to play cricket.

However there is no excuse for behaviour of this kind. At a time when there is talk about streamlining processes and introducing professionalism, the Indian cricket team has shown itself up in very bad light.

To top it all, Rahul Dravid was chatting away to glory on a special program with a recently launched dot com. How it was acceptable for him to be on air, live and answering questions from all and sundry when the team would not even spare five minutes for the press was something The Management will have to explain.

But how can anything be explained when the Indian camp refuses to talk?