DWS Extra

Some people seem to have a problem with dear Sreesanth. He is psycho (in the comments), boorish, hands over the moral high ground to the Aussies… You know what, I don’t care!

And why is all this? Because he eyeballs the opposition batsmen, appeals excessively, is childish, bowls beamers… All valid points indeed.

But he gives me one thing I want to see on TV. A guy who is half the size of Matthew Hayden taking panga with him, and upsetting the opposition. Gilchrist does not seem to approve, as do much of the Indian media.

The Indian media, but then, are wimps. As wimpy as most of our cricket team. Goody two shoes.

The Indian media knows a lot about what really went on in the dressing room during the Chappell days. They would not speak about it openly. Because that would cause them to lose their valuable contacts. Not a single journalist is willing to take an honest assessment of the Indian cricket team, or its members. The journos, they travel with the Indian team abroad, know exactly how they prepare for the matches, which are the camps within the team, who is trying to undercut who – and they would do nothing more than hint at it.

When a Yuvraj plays badly, they would have the guts to criticise him. When a Sachin does that, its all love and understanding the milk of human kindness all around. And gratitude. Ganguly – he is now fair game except in Bengal. Dravid, keep hinting at how such a decent guy is not entirely good for the team.

When the team wins a T20 World Cup, praise them to the heavens. Not a word about how unstable our team is. It is all Chak de! and Indian Tigers then.

This is where Sreesanth comes in. He is India’s Andre Nel, or Shoaib Akhtar. The same antics, sometimes worse. But they got wickets when they are in form, and so does Sreesanth.

Agreed, it is all a bit un-Indian. The things that Sreesanth says and does, the aggression and anger, this is all so unlike what we followers of Mahatma Gandhi are like. Isn’t it?

Tell you what. I have had a dozen years of watching Indian cricketers act like labs to the slaughter in the field. Saurav Ganguly’s hangdog expression when thigns are not going his way; Rahul Dravid who has the weight of the world on his shoulders from the first ball he faces; Sachin who has not looked as confident as a Ramesh Powar in a long time – even when he is in form! I have seen the Indian cricket team standing around the field like a bunch of beggars who got kicked in their teeth when they take a pounding from the Australian batsmen.

And I have had enough.

For me, Sreesanth is proof that Indians have balls. I was beginning to suspect we did not.

I would say the same about a Dhoni, Yuvraj, Uthappa, Gambhir.. even Pathan.

Noticed the way these guys were walking around on the field? They were laughing, smiling, occasionally looking tense but definitely not as beggarly as the seniors.

I would even say that the seniors are great players. They are. But in their own minds, they have lost. Even before the match has started. They look like they have lost any hope, and are just waiting to be whacked about by Brett Lee and Hayden.

Compared to them, give me a Sreesanth any day. As long as he is not removed from the grounds by the umpire, let him do what he wants. When he does not take wickets, remove him. When he does, bring him in.

This is not a gentleman’s game where good boys compete with other good boys. Sreesanth is one of the few guys who can upset the Australians. Yuvraj can, and so can RP Singh or Harbhajan on their days. But consistently, every time, to ruin their rhythm and get them all riled up, that is Sreesanth’s job. Let him do it.