Dhoni-Sehwag rift: Trust BCCI to divide and rule

It’s rather strange to be sitting in India, watching press conferences in Australia… press conferences that have taken away the attention from cricket and thrust it right back on the infighting in the dressing room; on Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The entire scenario reminds one of ‘Fight Club.’ For those who came in late, the movie starts off as a story about an insomniac, who is an automobile company employee, and a soap salesman, Tyler Durden, who look to channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. After a few fights, the insomniac finds that it has become a ritual; a ritual that attracts not just watchers but people who want to join in as well. Underground “fight clubs” form in every town, and then one day it spirals out of control towards oblivion and total disaster. There is one line in the movie, uttered by Durden, that probably describes the whole, wierd situation best: Fight Club was the beginning, now it’s moved out of the basement, it’s called Project Mayhem. Indian cricket is heading towards mayhem too – the fight is out of the dressing room now – and all the BCCI can do is say that things are 'greatly exaggerated' by the media. [caption id=“attachment_223394” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“In happier times: File picture of India’s Sehwag and captain Dhoni. Reuters”]  [/caption] We find that hard to believe simply because the BCCI has never given us reason to believe them. Remember the Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell fight in Zimbabwe when Chappell asked the skipper to quit… Ganguly was quoted as saying: “Yes, it was suggested. I was under a lot of pressure” – (On being asked if he was asked to step down as captain)." Chappell, on his part, had responded in a frank manner too: “It was a frank discussion about Indian cricket’s present and future, and much of what I said was aimed at motivating Sourav for the Bulawayo Test match.” The BCCI’s response to this was a little more than pathetic. BCCI’s then-president Ranbir Singh Mahendra, speaking to the media after a meeting to review the team’s performance, said the Board asked the coach and captain to work mutually and maintain a working relationship. He added that both agreed to do for the betterment of the game in India. “For that performance will be the criteria. This applies to the captain as well as the coach,” he added. Mahendra said, henceforth, no player, the captain or coach will have any interaction with the media. “Any player going to the media will face disciplinary action.” He said Chappell’s accusation that Ganguly was faking injury was also borne out of “miscommunication.” Well, we all know how that went. Forget then, the flame of that fight are still burning bright. Then again, this is the same BCCI that once offered former Indian team captain Kris Srikkanth, who is chief of the selection committee, a divide-and-rule deal when he captained the India team to Pakistan in 1989. However, in return for its backing, he would have to dump senior players demanding a system of graded payments. Now, Srikkanth, as chief selector, should be better placed to recognise what is happening. Is this the BCCI just playing the same game again? Srikkanth’s column in the Hindustan Times was then written in response to suggestion that Rahul Dravid, the then captain, was being offered the same divide-and-rule deal. Can’t Srikkanth really see whats happening now? Can’t he step in? Or has he been offered a deal that’s too good to refuse? Then, of course, there are more exaggerated reports doing the round. There is talk that the BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale has been asked to speak to the players. There are also reports that coach Duncan Fletcher has been asked to slip into the school masters role and drill some sense into the two players. But the BCCI is saying there is no rift, so do they want all these guys to meet up and discuss dinner plans? Honestly, there is an easy way out too. Ask the players to put on the boxing gloves and fight it out in the ring. Whoever wins, rules. As simple as that. The fact that the BCCI cares about the players is greatly exaggerated too. The Board cares about making money. Nothing else. Period. Which is why the onus lies on the players – not the Board. If they need some wacky ways to get back on the same page, there are plenty. They could run a 100m race, they could be locked in a room until they sort out their differences, they could be asked to climb Mount Everest for all I care. And if nothing else works, we could ask Greg Chappell to act as mediator. The Australian somehow manages to unite the team, even if it’s just against him. That should do the trick.