What turned into a disastrous photo op for team India has now turned into a war of words. But the fact of the matter remains that the whole thing could have been avoided in the first place. So, who let it happen – the callous BCCI or the opportunity Cricket Australia?
What a soap opera has greeted team India in the New Year. Instead of being on a high after winning the second Test to level the series going into Sydney, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have had to firefight the media onslaughts down under for what has been termed as a breach of Covid protocols in Australia. While there is merit to the argument that there have been lapses, the question is whether it is playing into the hands of the Australian cricket team?
That alone should have made the BCCI on guard. To know that every inch off and on the field will become a weapon the Australian cricket team can use. Given how the defeat by the Indian cricket team to the hosts in the first Test in Adelaide set the cat amongst the pigeons, there would have been wiser behaviour to heed caution in the midst of what has been a stunning and terrific turnaround for the Indian cricket team under Ajinkya Rahane in the second Test.
Instead, the Indian cricket team is now under assault from the media and the public for not taking the tour seriously enough to adhere to the protocols that have allowed the tour in the first place. It is hard to see the players making the same mistake for their IPL franchises during the Indian Premier League in the UAE. This is not to label the BCCI but just a fact that perhaps the stakes of the game on a financial level under a more corporate guise are more rule beckoning for the cricketers than having the umbrella cover of the BCCI to cater to some of the superstars in the team.
What is quite incredible is that amongst the five cricketers photographed at the restaurant that blew the lid and opened up a can of worms is the presence of Rohit Sharma. No stranger to controversy this season or the last and joining the team at the late hour, one would have expected the aspiring team captain to show greater restraint before heading out for a meal or a haunt, irrespective of the rules. Having gone through the protocols in the UAE, it seems almost unforgivable on the part of the players.
If Cricket Australia have indeed used this opportunity and kept the Indian cricket team controversy in the headlines to the frustration of the board and the players, the latest salvo from the BCCI officials and the team that the players were confined while fans were allowed to enter the stadiums sounds flimsy at best. After all, it matters little what fans do because they are not committed to national duties. The Indian cricket team is. Whether the onus is on the team manager or on the local authorities remains to be seen. But with regard to taking precautions, much was expected of professional cricketers and this did not make for that image.
Worse still, while Australia are in a huddle, bracing to respond to India’s resurgent challenge, India are being distracted. That sounds, if anything, like a self-inflicted wound.