Dancing with the stars

The recent T20 World Cup has exposed Indian cricketers likening for whiskey with soda and room full of girls. The IPL hangover is yet to vanish 
Akash Bisht and Sandeep Kumar

An early exit from the T-20 World Cup in its third edition has exposed the chinks in Dhoni's captaincy. The team and the captain have been under fierce criticism from the fans and media for their dismal performance and 'late night partying' that 'captain cool' offered as a excuse after their loss to Sri Lanka at St Lucia. The partying excuse didn't go well with the BCCI bosses who hate captains for speaking their minds especially when on a loosing streak. With Lalit Modi breathing down the board's neck, the timing of the comment couldn't have been any worse. 

Tides have turned against the poster boy of the board and reports of Dhoni being possibly sacked from captaincy are gaining momentum. It seems that MSD's date with lady luck is over. Many captains in the past have faced similar situations wherein a few lost matches have bought downfall to their otherwise successful careers. How can Dhoni's case be any different?  It is just a matter of time.

However, he alone can't be blamed for his team's dismal performance, but that is how the board functions and that is how new captains are made and old one's forgotten. Numerous captains in the past despite their illustrious careers had to resign or were booted out owing to their team's performance. Sachin Tendulkar who for most part of his career was called 'a one man army' had to resign after his team's poor performance. Though not much changed after he resigned, he was still the only one doing the scoring bit, but fortunately not at the helm of affairs. 

Cricket fans are in no mood to forgive 'Men in blue' who were also let off after their embarrassing defeat in the 2009 T20 World Cup which was followed by their exit in ICC mini-world cup played in the later half of the year. "National pride has been left to other sports while cricketers are here to entertain us and make money. They are dancing, drinking, kissing, walking on the ramp, flirting and romancing with filmstars and still we make gods out of them. So the question is who is to be blamed for these failures? Is it these greedy cricketers or we as a nation," says Rohit Dixit, an avid cricket fan who has vowed not to watch IPL ever again. 

Who should we blame for the loss? Is it MSD or his young brigade of over-hyped, obese and hung-over players? Commentators mentioned that the killer instinct was a miss. The pictures splashed across all national dailies of IPL late night parties are a testimony to what is exactly wrong with the team and its new found love--IPL. The likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Praveen Kumar killer instincts were at display while they were hugging and dancing with Bollywood celebrities. A report in one of the papers even said that after the party the boys would head back to the room with one and sometimes two female fans. Who these fans were remains a matter that needs to be probed.

It seems that honeymoon of the coolest captain is about to end. He was out of sorts during the entire tournament except for matches against Afghanistan and South Africa. The changes on the field did not work and neither did his answers with that trademark smile playing on his face. He has lost his charm and also the golden touch that made him the poster boy of a cricket crazy nation.