Very Very Special Timing, Don't Cry Dada

A Very Very Special cricketer has finally decided to call it quits. He could have easily gone on to play the two Tests against the Kiwis. But his decision is quite timely. Sourav Ganguly is unnecessary trying to give vent feelings to his own frustrations at this moment.

The last eight Tests - 4 each against England and Australia had been his worst streak. An average of less than 20 in 16 ininngs as India kept on losing Test after Test should have prompted him to retire may be soon after returning from Australia, just like Dravid. Dravid had scored back to back hundreds in England but struggled through the Aussie tour.

Criticism is what all players have to endure. Laxman and Dravid have had to live through that as they were dumped from the ODI team even though Dravid did have a great one-day career. Laxman was simply not cut out for that version of cricket.

In 2008, Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the Rest of India team for the Irani Trophy with the selectors clearly indicating they did not want him for the home series against the Aussies. But the fighter that he is, he negotiated a farewell, which perhaps Laxman was not adept at. The selectors had, by picking him for the two Tests versus the Kiwis given him the opportunity to call it quits before being dropped. So they cannot be blamed. Dada is simply venting out his frustration. Let us not forget he is still playing first-class cricket for Bengal so as to keep himself in the limelight vis-a-vis IPL.

During that same 2008 series Kumble, struggling through with injury, announced his retirement. Even when he found that RCB did not want him for IPL, he gracefully pulled himself out. After flopping year after year, Dada too should quit IPL.

In his very very special style Laxman has signed off. What if he had failed? Hence his decision is timely and right. Dada is unnecessarily trying to cast aspersions on the selectors. This is not to suggest that the selectors are always right. They have picked far too many batsmen for two Tests against the Kiwis. We all know that Raina and Rohit are Dhoni's favourites. Let us not forget that cash-rich IPL franchises will do anything to see their recruits in the Test team. Test cricket is anyway not the BCCI's priority. So one wouldn't be surprised to find Raina and Rohit being picked ahead of Pujara and Rahane in the Test team to fill in the vacancies created by the retirement of Dravid and Laxman.

The selectors should take this opportunity to push Sehwag down to the middle-order so as to lend more stability to it as we won't have Dravid and Laxman there. Sehwag may have created records as an opener but let us not forget he is too unpredictable. Rahane should open with Gambhir, followed by Pujara at no. 3, Sachin at no.4, Sehwag at no.5 and Kohli at no.6. The selectors should also back Irfan when he is in such great form. He is the all-rounder India badly needs, which it had lost for five straight years thanks to the Chappellian tragi-comedy.

Wishing Indian cricket all the best. And we respect you Dada for instilling in the team the killer instinct it lacked. But please don't take anything away from the solemnity of Laxman's moment.

Team ConQuest prepares Class-7 students for excellence

Team ConQuest –a team of 16 dedicated teachers from 10 schools of BSP’s Education department is all set to instil in young Class-7 students of all the English Medium Middle Schools (EMMSs) the spirit of excellence through a novel initiative.
Approximately 1050 students from eleven EMMSs have appeared in a Proficiency Test on 18th January 2012. This is the first step in their grooming for the future, as they gear up for the prestigious National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) in November this year. Through a series of tests, throughout the year, the Education department of BSP hopes to prepare a selected group of sincere, dedicated and enthusiastic learners, who will have imbibed the quest for excellence for their entire life.
The programme is an offshoot of the Education department’s Specialised NTSE Guidance Programme for Class-8 students. It began in October 2010 with a team of five subject experts, led by Dr. Hemant Pandey, Professor, Hislop College, Nagpur , conducting the first-ever session over two days at BSP Senior Secondary School, Sector-7 (SSS-7) for 100 students from the EMMSs, selected after a tough screening test. After the session, the students wanted more inputs. A team of teachers from some EMMSs and BSP Senior Secondary School, Sector-10 (SSS-10) conducted an 8-day programme during the Dussehra-Diwali break in October-November 2010 at SSS-10. As many as six students from EMMSs cleared the first stage of NTSE 2010-11. However none could clear the second stage, which was a huge setback for Team ConQuest.
Subequently two teachers were sponsored by BSP management as observers for two days to a 10-day camp held at Deepshikha Sainik School, Chikaldara, Amravati district, Maharashtra in April 2011. This camp is conducted every year by State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Maharashtra for students who have qualified for the second stage of NTSE. A similar model was adopted for BSP’s Education department by Team ConQuest.
Soon after the summer vacations, approximately 1200 Class-8 students of BSP EMMSs, appeared in a Screening Test on June 29, 2011. 200 students were short-listed based on this test. This list had four students from Bhilai Ispat Vikas Vidyalaya (BIVV), Sector-6 – an exclusive school for BPL children. The EMMSs continued their own efforts to prepare students as they had been doing in the past. Another test was conducted in September 2011, pruning the list down to 100. And once again one student from BIVV had made it. The success of BIVV students is testimony to Education department’s concerted efforts over the last decade to impart education to disadvantaged children of BPL families.
Specialised NTSE Guidance Programme was held for the 100 short-listed candidates at SSS-10 from 10th to 22nd October 2011. It was followed by a series of three tests in October-November 2011 that exposed the young minds to a host of problems besides subject content. They were given inputs on smart problem-solving tips.
Members of Team ConQuest are waiting with bated breath as time nears for the declaration of first stage results of NTSE 2011-12 by SCERT, Chhattisgarh which had conducted the NTSE exam in November 2011. Now is the time to start grooming NTSE aspirants for the next academic session for which the first step has been taken with the Proficiency Test for Class-7 students on 18th January 2012.

Planning is the key to revive the Indian Test Cricket Team

The seventh successive defeat abroad is the time to act. And this should not be limited to sacking the players in their late 30s. A more coordinated and sincere effort is the need of the hour.

Let us have a look at India's top cricketers' schedule since the World Cup win. It was followed by IPL-4. Then the team played the West Indies in the Carribeans. The Tests were followed by ODIs. Within 5 days of finishing the ODI series in the West Indies, India landed up in England. After a 3-day game they plunged into 4 Tests and kept on losing. Injury to key players who had not missed the lucrative IPL earlier was given as the reason.

The series in England ended with the ODIs, which England won 3-0 thanks to D/L. Immediately thereafter the English team travelled to India for a 5-match ODI series. Then we played 3 Tests against the Windies with Ashwin running them over. The Test series was followed by 5 ODIs. Instead the tour should have been so planned that India would have played ODIs first and Tests later. This would have helped players like Sehwag and Gambhir, and even Kohli to some extent to get into the groove in the ongoing Test series versus Australia.

The poor form of Laxman, first in England and now in Australia is a signal that the selectors need to record in their log-books. It is time to get Rohit Sharma for the Adelaide Test, followed by Pujara sooner than later. Dravid too, after a great tour of England has shown signs of weakness. Sehwag is a great one-day player and should remain in the team for the shorter versions of the game. He was never a Test player in the true sense of the world. He just bludgeoned his way through bowlers and gave India good starts. But his time too has come as far as Tests are concerned. The selectors should look to blood Rahane in the opener's slot with Gambhir, who too will need to work on his technique.

Unfortunately all this debate and discussion would be lost simply because India do not play a Test series, and that too at home, before November 2012. In the interregnum, Indians will play in the Asia Cup (ODIs) in March 2012 followed by IPL-5 (T20s) in April-May 2012 and the T20 World Cup in September 2012.

Instead of planning meaningless ODI tours in the free periods that the team is likely to get this year, the BCCI should plan professionally for the future. The top players and upcoming youngsters are playing each other in T20 matches only. For Indian Test Cricket Team to survive, we need such contests in the Duleep and Ranji Trophies. The Duleep Trophy should be given more importance. Right now it has been reduced to a knock-out tournament. Duleep Trophy should be played in the round-robin format as in the past with each of the five teams playing each other twice - home and away. As India do not have any international engagements in October 2012, Duleep Trophy should be played in that period. It should be made mandatory for all Test hopefuls to play in the tournament. Then only a Varun Aaron or a Umesh Yadav will get an opportunity to test himself against the skills of a Tendulkar or Dravid. Imagine a young batsman being tested by the guile of Zaheer!

But will all this wishful thinking come true?