BHOPAL, 24 May 2005 — Septuagenarian A. W. Kanmadikar, the doyen of Madhya Pradesh cricket who brought the 1987 World Cup event in India, has lamented the apparent lack of commitment in the young cricketers.
He said that the inconsistent performance by the Indian team clearly envisaged the lack of required commitment. He was in Bhopal as an observer to conduct the fair elections of Bhopal Divisional Cricket Association (BDCA).
Kanmadikar, who was honorary secretary of BCCI from 1980 to 81 and 1984 to 85, felt that players like Sachin and Sehwag were born once in a century. Indian cricket has achieved number of milestones because of their fabulous performance. When asked regarding the poor form of Sachin the last few series, he said that it happens in every player’s career, so one should not be critical of him. ‘He will definitely regain his form in forthcoming series’, Kanmadikar said confidently.
Regarding the appointment of a new coach for the Indian team, he said a coach only provides direction to the players but it is the player who has to learn the basics thoroughly and perform on the ground, therefore it hardly matters who is the coach. He added that there was no dearth of coaches in India.
Regarding the indifferent performance by the Indian team, he said that cricket is a game of uncertainty and the team should not be criticized every time it did not fare too well. However, he added that there is still a dire need of a genuine all-rounder in the team to provide required balance in the team.
A keen observer of every important activity in cricket, he said that though cricket has so consumed the country, the lack of serious and proper cricket is still missing. ‘Playing cricket from morning to evening would not help you. The need is to play with the right approach and proper guidance’, opined Kanmadikar.
He asked why small countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh have managed to develop world-class cricket players whereas India, with a population of over one billion, could not in that proportion. According to him, the sole reason for this is the lack of proper cricket.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister Suresh Pachauri and Dr Shafquat Mohammad Khan were unanimously elected as the new president and honorary secretary respectively of Bhopal Divisional Cricket Association (BDCA) at a meeting of the association held in here in Bhopal. The Bhopal Development Authority chairman Dhruvnarain Singh was elected as the chairman of the managing committee. As expected, elections for the new office-bearers were organized peacefully. Some 90 voting members of the association were present at the meeting. The former BDCA secretary Dr Shafquat Mohammed Khan proposed the name of Pachauri for the president’s post. Dhruvnarain Singh supported it. Since no other name was proposed, Pachauri was unanimously elected president.
At the meeting, Kamal Shrivastava, AW Kanmadikar, Sanjay Jagdale and Dilip Chudgar were present as the observers from the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. “I am quite happy that finally the democratic body of BDCA was elected,” quipped Jagdale.
In all, six vice-presidents, two honorary joint secretaries and 11 members for the managing committee were elected in the body.
