Bad patch

The omission of Virender Sehwag in the first one-day international has left many Indian fans heartbroken. If Mahendra Singh Dhoni has his way, Sehwag may find getting back into the Indian team tough, given the former’s grudge against older players. In the backdrop of India losing eight tests in a row, it is forgotten that Sehwag scored 219, the highest one-day score ever, in the last one-day match that he played. Cricket is going the political way rather than providing entertainment — a sheer reason for its huge success with the Indian audience.
Cricket is turning out to be a nightmare for Indian fans with India continuing its losing streak and a 100th ton continuing to evade Sachin Tendulkar. India is a different team altogether with two of the most prized batsmen in Sehwag and Tendulkar opening the innings for the country with Gautam Gambhir coming in as a left-hander to steady the ship at third position. Mind you, a blistering Sehwag has been the difference for the Indian side in many a match.
Now, without Sehwag, Tendulkar gets the added responsibility of getting India off to a blazing start. But whether Tendulkar will live up to that is entirely up to him because he seems to be in his own world. Gambhir too is clearly more comfortable playing with his Delhi dasher Sehwag.
Even Yuvraj Singh is not playing, so who does the hitting? Even Yusuf Pathan is not in the team. There is no big hitter in the team because Dhoni plays under pressure always surrounded by tail-enders. A clear rift in the Indian team between the Delhi dasher and Dhoni, who himself has developed gray hair, is denying Indian fans full enjoyment from the game and reducing its special nature as a religion in India. Moreover, with IPL drawing so much flak, Indian fans may turn out to move to other sports from cricket. Don’t be surprised if Indian people go back to their old practice of burning effigies.