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Letter to the Indian
Team.
The
fate of the team would stay the same until:
a) The Indian Cricket Team learns to play like mercenaries,
b) Its mastermind thinks outside the box,
c) They have the courage to challenge conventional cricketing pratices
d) They play within their limitations
e) The selection is fair
Indian cricket is now a captive of Indian Marketers. Indian Marketers need icons to sell their wares.So they create icons out of cricketers whether succeeding or not.Just as man created God to explain things he could not understand.Indian Marketers meet their needs.Indian Cricketers meet their needs.
So who loses? ...Indian Cricket.
When one is certain of the fruit irrespective of the labor, the hunger deserts the labor. The hunger has deserted the Indian cricketers game because most have an idea that no matter whether he shines or rusts he will get so much match fee & so much in endorsements. Threats obtain only when he rusts for too long. So shining once in a while is adequate to carry on his worldly pursuits. How do we set this right ?
By bringing the hunger back into Indian cricketers game.
How ?
By matching the fruits with the labour.
How do we match the fruits with the labour ?
Here are some ideas :
1) Endorsement fees to be pro-rated with performance.
Advertisers should pay cricketers based on performance( the onus will be on advertisers to implement this for the sake of Indian Cricket)
For example a batsman's endorsement fee should be based on the number of runs he scores multiplied by his scoring rate.Say on icon value an advertiser is willing to pay a player Rs.1 crore over a year. Then
by calculating the number of matches scheduled over the next 12 months and the batsman's current batting average
each run could be valued. If 10 matches are scheduled and the batsmans average is 50 then Rs.1 crore would be spread over 500 runs, so each run would be worth Rs.20000/-. So the advertiser could tell the batsman "we will pay you Rs.20000 per run scored multiplied by your scoring rate subject to a minimum of say Rs.20 lakhs and a maximum of Rs.1 crore 20 lakhs (the additional 20 lakhs to serve as an incentive to increase your batting average)."
2) Corporates to set up awards not for the man of the match but for each little contribution in each aspect of performance. Say Rs.2000 for each run scored multiplied by the scoring rate, Rs.20,000 for each wicket taken divided by the strike rate. Similarly for catches taken, run outs. And light penalties should be instituted for misfields etc.
3) Rotation of players depending on performance. The worst 3 performers in a match should be made to sit out the next match
The worst 3 performers in a series/championship should be made to sit out
the series/championship
(no matter if he is the captain or the best batsman or best bowler in the world)
Other views:
India should never opt to bat first; no matter the weather or pitch
predictions (the pressure of chasing is harder to overcome than any other danger-except as a fluke or on account of match fixing)
India should spread out its batting prowess:
The top three batsmen should bat at No 1, 4 & 7 positions in rotation (so we do never face the early collapse syndrome)
The other better batsmen should be batted at the beginning or the end in rotation; The worst batsmen (say specialist bowlers) should be batted in the middle just to rotate the strike (i.e. taking singles) - they cannot be expected to perform in the crucial end overs
The bowling should be rotated constantly to keep the opponent batsmen
guessing.
All these are some of
the things that might help the Indian team look up a bit. Rest is in
their own hands.
From a disappointed fan
Sourav
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