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Kapil
to he Rescue The BCCI has tackled the symptom. Now what about the disease?
The nub of the problem lies in the BCCI's attitude. All the planning is reserved for cricket the commercial enterprise; cricket the game is dismissed as an instinctive art. The only professionals the BCCI seems to hire are chartered accountants. Physiotherapists come and go without anybody in authority treating them as anything more than excess baggage. The team is injury-prone but the BCCI think tank asserts natural flair and talent will conquer all. Since Kapil is a supremely fit individual many hope he will whip the team into shape, ignoring he is a coach not a physical trainer. Indian cricket now has a captain and a coach who, brilliantly gifted as they are, both think on their feet. The BCCI doesn't think at all, which is why it tackles symptoms when it should be fighting the disease. River of Fire The new Cauvery dispute indicates the NDA is not quite a happy family
There are two aspects to the recurrence of trouble. The first relates to the non-release of water by Karnataka. In doing so, it has reneged on an agreement and left its neighbour parched. In Tamil Nadu, crops are withering away, farmers are getting restive and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is losing patience. His counterpart in Karnataka blames irregular monsoons for the scarcity. The second point is of greater import. While the present crisis will be sorted out sooner or later -- perhaps when the next spell of rains arrives, as is expected, in early October -- whatever happened to inter-state cooperation? In times of Congress domination, this was an irrelevant clich . With Central power today more a conglomeration of regional powers than an independent phenomenon, inter-state cooperation is imperative. That is why the alacrity with which politicians in Chennai and Bangalore have stoked passions is alarming. It could potentially scuttle the NDA. As meetings take place and solutions are discussed, so must this existential dilemma. |
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In appointing Kapil Dev the coach of
the Indian cricket team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has picked just
about the most enthusiastic man for the job. After a couple of dowdy and lacklustre
characters, Kapil's infectious spirit -- so apparent in his playing days -- will hopefully
affect the team as well. Following the drubbing -- euphemisms can't alter reality -- in
the World Cup Indian cricket could do with this tonic. Having said that, it is advisable
to ask the BCCI how it expects Kapil to produce results without a matching support system.
Kapil has a two-year term to mould his team. The problem is the team is jaded thanks to a
schedule so taxing that in another age the BCCI would have been charged under anti-slavery
laws. The second string -- as was made clear during the India A team's recent series
against Australia A in Los Angeles -- is pathetic. Domestic cricket and even international
cricket played in India prepare no player for the real world. Batsmen spoon-fed on
over-friendly pitches look silly the moment they step onto foreign tracks. Three years
ago, India discovered a couple of quality opening bowlers. Today, both have fatigue
written all over them. The list of calamities is endless. 
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
must be thanking his stars that the latest Cauvery crisis began only after the voting in
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Had the squabbling preceded the polling, the opponents of the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would have had substantial ammunition to damage the
BJP-led combine. Officially, the resolution of the Cauvery waters dispute took place a
year ago -- courtesy a peace treaty guaranteed by the Centre and involving the setting up
of the Cauvery River Authority. The end of this riparian dispute has been at the centre of
the NDA's election campaign. To the ruling coalition it represents many things --
Vajpayee's problem-solving abilities, the road to a consensual rather than conflict-ridden
polity, a new federal spirit of which the NDA is the repository. very has figured in BJP
leaders' speeches even in north India.