Rediff Logo
Line
Channels: Astrology | Broadband | Chat | Contests | E-cards | Money | Movies | Romance | Weather | Wedding | Women
Partner Channels: Auctions | Auto | Bill Pay | Education | Jobs | Lifestyle | TechJobs | Technology | Travel
Line
Home > Cricket > Columns > Harsha Bhogle
October 9, 2000
Feedback  
  sections

 -  News
 -  Betting Scandal
 -  Schedule
 -  Database
 -  Statistics
 -  Interview
 -  Conversations
 -  Columns
 -  Gallery
 -  Broadband
 -  Match Reports
 -  Archives
 -  Search Rediff


 
 Search the Internet
          Tips

E-Mail this report to a friend

On a good wicket

Harsha Bhogle

In the last four months, I have filmed features in a cycle rickshaw on a busy and crowded street in Dhaka; in a ferry on a freezing night on the Yarra river in Melbourne while in search of penguins; and before dawn in a beautiful game reserve outside Nairobi when no more than a few metres away from wild animals. Cricket has taken me to these and to many other places in the last few years. It has taken me to different climates and different cultures. It has shown me, not just how cricket is played in different lands, but how people live in these fascinating countries as well.

Over the last few weeks, scores of people have asked me how I can retain my enthusiasm for the game in the midst of all that has happened. The answer is really very simple. When cricket has given all of us so much, and it has given people more than it has given me, the current problems are like a mere injury that is suffered and which heals with time and medication. You don't shun a friend who has opened his heart to you because somewhere along the line you developed a scratch; you don't shun your faith because a pundit was dishonest. And remember, it is not the game that is stained, only some of those that sought to take more than was due to them.

Cricket is a great way to live life, certainly the best way I can think of. And over the last two or three weeks I have heard from, and met, so many bright, young and qualified people asking how they can be part of the game that I am convinced it is in robust health. I am writing this in a hotel room in Nairobi on the day before the first game of the ICC Trophy and if in the next two weeks we can see three or four tough, well-contested games, I am sure that more people in India will return to the game that flows in their veins.

So how do more people get into the cricketing fraternity? If you can score a century or take five wickets or hold some brilliant catches at first class level, it becomes a bit easier. But for all those of us who cannot do it, or do not want to take a professional risk in attempting it, the media is a fantastic option. I am only a bit concerned though that everybody wants to turn into a television commentator for international cricket overnight. That cannot, and will not, happen but there are a couple of other very exciting ways of getting involved.

Newspapers and magazines are the best place to start if you love the game, have a flair for words and pictures and are willing to start at the bottom and learn. Too many young people are convinced they know everything about the game already and that is a major deterrent in this profession. I don't know about other cities but almost everybody in Mumbai and Delhi is looking out for people to work on their sports desks; not just newspapers and magazines but internet sites as well. This explosion in technology has brought amazing opportunities with it and if I was a young man out of college today, I would be charged up and ready to go. Never in India has the private sector been so vibrant, never have the opportunities been greater.

The only black spot in India is radio and that is a huge tragedy because it is the most lovable medium in the world. In most parts of the world, radio stations are a great place to work in because they are live, interactive, chatty and reward talent fairly well. It is a lot easier to make a mark in radio than in television and all over the world there is some fantastic talent in radio. But technology is poised to overcome the barriers of obsolete thought in India and even more than private FM stations, I am excited by the arrival of net radio. Already the ABC and BBC put their ball-by-ball commentary on the net and Cricinfo has just started exclusive commentary on the net. India, the great innovator in internet technology will, I am sure, be on the ball very soon.

There are two ways of looking at technology. You either look upon it as a monster that is going to gobble up the old, comfortable way of living; or you regard it as a wonderful new friend that will take you to new frontiers. Remember technology can never kill talent, it can only annihilate decay, so the earlier we embrace it, the further we will go. Certainly in sport, the countries that have accepted technology have gone way ahead, others that haven't are stagnating. India and Indian cricket is a great example of that.

Most cricket playing countries use video and computer assistance to great effect. India have been reluctant and I sometimes wonder if our cricket community has an inferiority complex deep within; I wonder if some of our coaches fear that they will get exposed. But the computer and the video camera are merely diagnostic tools. Just as the x-ray machine didn't replace the doctor but helped him, these devices can only help a coach for they only provide the facts. It is up to the coach to interpret them and use them for learning.

Just to give you an example, on ESPN Star Sports we have just announced the use of an analytical system called the Namadgi. It is a brilliant little tool and while all it does is to organise facts, in doing so it throws us some great insights. It can, for example, tell you where a bowler is bowling; what his preferred line, length and bounce are and whether he is using a different strategy for different players. It can, for example, tell you whether McGrath is bowling shorter to Ganguly than to Tendulkar. It can tell you whether a batsman is scoring more runs against a particular kind of bowler, even against a particular length or direction. So you might find that when the ball is pitched just outside the off-stump a particular batsman may be unable to score freely but the moment a ball is pitched around middle or leg, he scores many more runs. It can show you if a bowler is more effective bowling a certain line and less happy if he is forced to alter it.

These, and many more, are no more than organised facts. Like the scientist or the doctor, the coach has to use them for the benefit of his team. Each player, for example, can be presented a printout of his performance for the day and he can either self-assess or join the coach in correcting what he might have done wrong.

Indian cricket has been pitifully slow in keeping pace with these modern aids and the results are showing. Thankfully the media has its ear to the ground, technology is well and truly in and it is a fabulous place for a young man or woman to begin life. I have seen the fruits of it too many times in the last few years not to be convinced of it.

Harsha Bhogle

Mail Harsha Bhogle