Click to play videoIndia and Pakistan are out of the World Cup race. But the two countries can’t stop creating news. Pakistani cricketers are tangled in the controversy of coach Bob Woolmer’s death. And India’s search for a new coach seems to be closer home this time.
On CNN-IBN's Face the Nation former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis and former India skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth discussed whether cricket fans have lost interest in the World Cup with the two fiery rivals - India and Pak shown door.
Have the viewers lost interest in the World Cup?
The journey for the Indian cricket team is well and truly over. But the wounds are still very raw. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Working Committee is likely to meet on April 6-7 to discuss the agenda.
One of the things emerging out is that coach Greg Chappell is almost certainly on his way out. Every indication seems to be pointing in that direction. Chappell is most likely to be replaced by former Indian cricketer Sandeep Patil, at least for the Bangladesh tour.
It is also being said that Anil Kumble would announce his retirement from One-Day cricket as soon as the team arrives.
As speculations surround Patil’s appointment as the interim coach for the Bangladesh series, question arises - why just for the interim? Is BCCI still reluctant appointing an Indian coach on a long-basis?
"I don’t think Patil would appreciate being appointed as an interim coach. He deserves to be appointed for a longer-term," said Srikkanth.
"Perhaps it’s time our cricket board starts looking towards talent in our own country," he added. "Its time we hire an Indian coach. If Patil is to be appointed for the Bangladesh series, he should be given a longer term. It’s really unfair to give him less time and then expect results."
Former Indian cricketer and a one-time colleague of Sandeep Patil, Srikkanth said that Indian coaches don’t face any communication gap whereas foreign coaches have a tough time establishing a rapport with the team.
"There is a huge difference between Greg Chappell saying something and Sandip Patil saying something to Munaf Patel," he said.
The Indian boys understand and open better with the Indian coaches. Waqar Younis - former Pak captain who also worked as a bowling coach seemed to agree.
"It’s important to have an experienced coach. It doesn’t matters whether he is a local or foreigner. What matters is that he must get ample time to groom the boys and prove his mettle," said Younis who has seen both sides of the fence having worked with Javed Miandad and later with Bob Woolmer.
Younis blamed his short stay for the dissatisfactory experience as a bowling coach. "I stayed on for eight-nine months. This was certainly not enough for me to prove my capabilities," he said.
Younis said that due to the "differences with the Pakistan cricket board" he ultimately had to quit. "A coach must be given atleast two-three years time. That’s the only way you can find talent and understand the boys," he added.
Do we need bigger pool of players?
BCCI Chairman Sharad Pawar is also feeling the heat. Pawar reportedly spoke about the possibility of bringing up a bigger pool of players. BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla told CNN-IBN that some suggestions have been made in this direction.
"One of the suggestions is that we should have two teams. One should be India Blue while other should be a regular Indian team. Earlier also there was India A. These are all but suggestions and nothing has been decided as yet. Everything will be decided on April 7," Shukla said.
The board is clearly desperate to have bigger pool pf players. One of the suggestions is to have two teams of India in wake of the enormous amount of cricket being played.
Younis disagreed with the idea of hiring more players. "People are panicking here. Just how many people are you possibly going to pick? Pick the best - that’s what’s important. You may have team A and team B and C and so on. But you need to ensure that you sign 25 or 30 good players who will serve the country for the next four-five years," he said.
Brutal nightmare for Team India
The World Cup dream that started so well ended in a nightmarish exit for India. Team India’s young group of boys celebrated Holi and almost gave a sense that this World Cup even if they didn’t win, they are going to push for long. Now they are going to take a flight back when the World Cup is kicking into Super 8 stage.
"It's very unfortunate. Don’t forget that on papers we have a very good side. There are three guys who have got more than 10,000 runs and all of us feel that India genuinely had a chance to be among one of the winners," said Srikkanth.
India is not a very good team when it travels abroad. That’s been a historical fact. At home India’s winning percentage is 57 per cent. But when they travel abroad, they won only 36 per cent of the matches. India won a tournament against Australia in 1995, since then, the One-Day team hasn’t been another tournament abroad.
This is very much true, said Younis pointing out that India’s record outside the country has always been "not its best." "I remember we used to play them in Sharjah at neutral venues. We would know it right from the morning that we are going to thrash them," said Younis.
"It’s a sad story and BCCI should look into it. Players who got more than 10,000 runs can't be bad players after all," he added.
Team tends to collapse while individual records are fantastic
Indian players know their job well and have been setting great records. However, in team situations, they tend to collapse. Thus teams tend to collapse while individual records of players are fantastic. How do we explain that?
"The blame goes on us for creating a wrong image. When they beat Bangladesh we hype it up. We don’t give equal credit to the opposition that we play. The image created is as though we are something deadly when actually we are not," said Srikkanth.
Ad sponsors: How badly does it hurt?
In money terms, it's the sponsors who stand to lose the most due to Team India's early exit from the World Cup. Sponsors like Nokia, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Videocon and Maruti Suzuki had invested about Rs 400 crore in TV advertising, Rs 100 crore worth of display advertising and Rs 3,000 crore in media, marketing and allied industry.
Sundar Raman, MD of Mindshare India said it is a complete disaster for the advertisers. "World Cup is the time when people who want to sell anything and everything under the sun come out into the market. What better opportunity would you get than a cricket World Cup with the Team India hoping to win? Unfortunately we did not enter the Super 8 stage. It’s a loss," said Raman.
On being asked about the amount of money riding on the team, Raman said, "From realistic estimates we expect about Rs 400 crore of advertising time on both the platforms, SetMax and Doordarshan going on. The market loss would be more than Rs 160 crore because if India exiting so early out of the World Cup," said Raman.
It's incredible how cricket is no longer just a game but rather a huge business. Does that have an impact on the players? "I don’t think advertising has any impact on the players. You make them heroes overnight here in India. Look at Dhoni. He has been playing for just six months and has already been made a god in the advertising world," said Younis.
Bob Woomer’s death, a blow to Pak cricket
The investigation in Bob Woolmer’s death is still on and the Pakistan team have gone back. However, there have been rumours that the Jamaican police didn’t want them to go. With so many things into play and the mystery behind Woolmer’s death still not solved, did the police really want the Pakistan team to stay back for a few more days?
Younis said that the Pakistani team has been fully cooperating with the Jaimacan police. The police took their fingerprints and had their DNA tests done. It is only "fair enough" for the team to come back because they have had a really tough time after Woolmer’s death. "They deserve to go back home," Younis said.
The former Pak cricketer pointed out that the Anti-Corruption Unit of the International Cricket Council should be more in focus than the Pakistan team right now. Despite being in work for seven years they did not display the kind of efficiency that was required to solve matters. "The ICC that spends million of dollars on it should be more alert on how it functions," said Younis.
Super 8 start the battle for the Cup?
While the so-called ‘minnows’ Bangladesh and Ireland confounded the critics by getting into the Super 8, debate is still on - whether they will stay in the World Cup for long?
"They have done well in two or three matches, but that is not enough. You have to perform consistently. If you don’t perform consistently then the World Cup gets slightly devalued," said Srikkanth.
So who is Younis’ favourite team taking part in the World Cup?
Australia wree his choice. "They are a far better team than any other team. They are professional. They have youngsters in their team. Their fielding is good. Maybe they need improvement where bowling is concerned. But they are the ‘top unit’," he said.
Srikkanth also recalled how Steve Waugh had performed brilliantly in the 1999 World Cup and Australia had won the Cup.
While Australia were the unanimous choice of the panelists, teams like New Zealand and West Indies are great run scorers. They have very good group stages and do not lack in any of the departments.
Younis praised South Africa’s performance in the match against Australia in the World Cup. However, he said, "West Indies and England stand out as the weaker ones."
So who can be envisioned to be in the finals?
Srikkanth said that Australia and Sri Lanka are strong contenders while Younis batted for Australia and New Zealand. "Sri Lanka have the perfect balance which others don’t have," says Srikkanth.
Final SMS poll results: Have the viewer lost interest in the world Cup?
Yes- 75 per cent
No – 25 per cent
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