29 March, 2007: The postmortem is on. There are calls for drastic action from all corners. Amdist all the blame game, are skipper Rahul Dravid, coach Greg Chappel and many others who may be desperately trying to retain their jobs. But will they succeed remains the big Q.

Many questions remain, in fact. Why did India, which has a celebrated obatting line up, fail at the most important moment? Why did Rahul's boys, who collectively dismissed West Indies in a warm up match for less than 100, fall like nine pins before the Bangaldeshis? What happened to the rigourous training the team underwent in the run up to the Cricket World Cup 2007? Why were non perfomers like Sehwag, Agarkar, Sachin and Pathan picked for a crucial tournament like this? Why weren't players like Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthick permitted to play?

With Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa continuously failing to score, Karthik was made to watch them from the gallery. A gamble would have paid dividends, feel enthusiasts of the game. Major disappointments came in the form of celebrated one-day specialists like M S Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh. There are talks that Greg Chappell should have gone back to the glorious opening combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

To make matters worse, the bowling department put up a dismal show. With Ajit Agarkar disappointing again with his expensive bowling, the post-debacle analysis points out the exclusion of Romesh Powar as a big blunder. Considering the fact that Powar would have chipped in with the bat too, picking Agarkar has come in for major flak.

What next? The cup is gone, so has the reputation. Coach Greg Chappel might be on his way back. India had been rigourous in its efforts to regain lost glory. In the process, it lost the little glory that remained in bits and pieces. Is Chappel to blame? Is Rahul to blame? Are the selectors to blame?

A big Yes becomes the answer. A debacle like this can be created, obviously, by everyone who were part of the decision-making process. But there is no point crying over spilt milk. At least from now on, the powers that be should ensure that our players are not made to slog it out all through the season. There should be checks on product endorsements by cricketers, so that money-mindedness doesn't creep in.

A suggestion doing the rounds and gaining momentum is that players like Sachin Tendulkar who failed miserably at the most important stage of the game should consider retirement. Perennial failures like Sehwag, Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh should be axed. Take for example, former skipper Sourav Ganguly's case. He was side stepped and made to rest. The comeback saw a resurgent Sourav. Let Sehwag, Agarkar and others who failed to perform be rested for a couple of seasons. The results are bound to show, like in the case of Ganguly, or they will not earn their places back on merit. Both are acceptable options.

Signifcantly enough, BCCI chief Sharad Pawar has announced that India will now have two teams, namely India Seniors and India Blues. Just naming two teams won't be enough, though. It is important who all are picked. For this to happen, politics should be rooted out of the game. Enquiries, as the one mooted by Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy, are sure to turn a farce. So let the cricketing bosses keep all such initiaives away from the game and concentrate on just fair play. Most important, would be to force the players with some potential among the current bunch to refocus more on the game. Product endorsements can wait.

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