The dressing room power struggle in the Indian team is grabbing eyeballs and raising eyebrows. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni fires one salvo only to see Virender Sehwag come back with a fitting riposte.
This battle is far from over but should this even be a battle?
“There is some kind of confusion reigning in the dressing room. Let’s not deny that. Why are people speaking in such disparaging voices and so randomly?” asks senior cricket writer Ayaz Memon.
There are a lot of versions of what was said in the Dhoni and Sehwag’s press conferences. Some say that Dhoni wanted Rohit and Sehwag didn’t. Some say the seniors weren’t too happy with Dhoni’s comments. Some say the rotation policy is causing the rift. But everyone seems to be missing the real point.
There are a lot of versions of what was said in the Dhoni and Sehwag’s press conferences. Reuters
“If I was there at the press conference,” said Ayaz. “I would have asked Sehwag just one question: Why are you talking so much and not scoring runs?”
“India is culturally deferential to seniors. Seniors think they should get respect because they are seniors. Not because they are performing. But because they are older and therefore by that yardstick… also wiser,” he added.
Sometimes the problem may also be that fact that English is not their first language.
“Is it a matter of the language? Sometimes I think these guys are not thinking in the same language that they speak in,” said Ayaz. “And that can sometimes be the problem as well.”
But the one thing is clear: a clean-up is in order and the faster that gets done, the better.
