To many, the title of this post may seem nonsensical. After all, what does Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), one of the best known addiction treatment groups have to do with a game involving pieces of wood, gentlemen in whites and a leather ball.
The first and most important tenant of AA is to admit the illness. Before any treatment, before recovery, before an alcoholic can turn his/her life around, the first and often hardest step is for someone to stand facing his peers and state for the record - I'm Joe Blo and I have a problem". This first step calls for courage and an inner realization that all is not well.
India cricket today stands at such a crossroad.
Cast your mind back over the Indian team’s performances over the past 6 months and the bile rises in one's throat. The statistics are practically engraved in every Indian cricket lovers brain by now - 8 defeats (nay, whippings) in 8 away tests, 99 centuries that refuse to get converted into a 100, bowlers who can't buy wickets to save their lives and on and on.
And yet in this maelstrom of pathetic performances, no one in the corridors of power of Indian cricket (and I mean the team leadership as well as the administration) has the cojones to stand up and admit that something stinks. The fans are treated to statements by the high priests that there is "No need for inquiry on performance" (N. Srinivasan on 2/13). And so this charade plays out - the Indian team and/or its elected high priests sticks steadfast to their past fantasies and beliefs while its rankings and the morale of both its players as well as its fans spirals relentlessly down the drain.
Tonight’s game against SL should mercifully deliver the coup-de-grace and allow the team to be delivered from the horrors of the tour. The panacea to Indian cricket's problems, also known as the IPL will start soon enough and most of the fans will be sated again by Dhoni's twirl of the bat, Laxman's flick through mid-wicket and Sachin’s straight drive. But the loyal fan and lover of Indian cricket should ask, nay demand that Indian cricket stands up and admits to its problems.
Help is available. From courageous selectors, from fans who are ready to tolerate mediocre performances for a while to let the youngsters mature, from the team members themselves who have in the recent past locked eyes with the best across the world and not backed down.
But for help to arrive, Indian cricket has to first stand up, admit that there is a problem and start taking hard decisions to fix the problems. Without this all important first step, Indian cricket seems destined for a long dark winter.
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