An omission & a selection

An Omission

First test of series between India and England started today. As happened so many times in last few months Sourav Ganguly is once again not in the Indian team. He has been dropped few times from the team but this might be the last time we heard a news on selection or non selection of most successful Indian skipper ever. Ganguly’s dropping raise some disturbing questions. He was not selected despite absence of Yuvraj Singh, the man who replaced him. This indicates that outside pressure was the real reason for his selection on Pakistani tour. I guess it’s time then to be happy that selection committee could do its job independently?

There is nothing new in what I said above but there is another question we should be asking with the board. Only recently when contracts were handed out for 2005-06 season, Mr. Ganguly was awarded a ‘Group A’ (top category) contract with a retainer fee expected to be in the range of Rs. 8 millions (approx US $180,000) to Rs. 10 millions (approx US $220,000). If selectors had made up their mind about Ganguly why he was given this contract? Personally I don’t have any problems with a cricketer like Ganguly making money as his contribution to Indian cricket will always be highly regarded. But if it’s time for him to move on, the money must also move on to those who are present and future of Indian cricket or for those who are in need.

A Selection

Don’t be surprised seeing a Sikh bowling to Indian batsmen in Nagpur. Monty Panesar is first Sikh ever to play test cricket for England. This is a selection worth writing a few words about. No doubt it’s a great ask for Panesar to do well against best batting line up in the world on their home soil in first asking. He might impress but there is even greater chance that he’ll get hammered around the park by the Indians. Hopefully this tour will not set him back by few years. Irrespective of what happens he has already secured his places in Cricket history. I am sure his name will be answer to some trivia questions down the years.

Somehow his selection reminds me Nassir Hussain’s asking of Asians living in UK to support English cricket team instead of subcontinent's teams. One thing is sure no one will have to ask Panesar to give his best for English team and support them when he is not playing. Being an asian (though not living in UK) Nassir’s call made me think at that time. I asked a cousin of mine living in England whom does he support? And he told me, first India and next England whenever they are not playing India. I thought it was a fair sense of loyalty. In some ways Nassir's call was akin to asking a Yorkshireman now living in Durham but still rooting for Yorkshire sitting in the stands of Sophia Gardens. Thankfully nobody questions loyalties within national boundaries.

For past five plus years living in USA I think of having a better understanding of how it feels to be away from home and how loyalties switches or held intact. Someone like me who spent a major part of my life in India it’s never going to be possible to not support India. At the same time I do feel for USA too since if India is my motherland, presently USA is the land that feeding me and shaping my life. But even for those who grow up outside their motherland it may not always be possible to shift loyalties especially if their parents were migrants and rooted in their culture.

Probably what makes it difficult for immigrants to completely feel at home is inability to celebrate life in the way they could at home. Just to give an example, they might not be able to have a national holiday on important religious occasions like Christmas in UK. So naturally it takes couple of generations before immigrants start to feel completely belonging to the land they were born and raised on.

I do have suspicion that British Sikh community might actually be praying for young Panesar rather than say Harbhajan Singh. And hopefully Mr Nassir will never have to make his call again.