High time BCCI came out of its cocoon

Have you ever seen a caterpillar in its cocoon? It's warm and safe inside. Only when it is ready for the next stage, ready to spread its wings and fly, does it come out. It's time the Indian Cricket Board came out of its comfort zone or shall we say its cocoon to prepare the Indian cricket for its next stage.

Indian team's below average show in England drew flak from every corner. But slowly people are realising that the onus does not lie with the players alone. It's the cricket board which should take the blame. Just because the Board isn't playing in the middle does not make it unaccountable.

Even the most efficient worker of a company needs rest to recuperate and be ready to give his best shot. The Indian players are nothing but the most efficient bunch of cricketers in the country who work for the BCCI (at least this is what the board says). So isn't it the Board's duty to look after them? And just filling cricketers' pockets with millions does not make a considerate and generous board.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni has made it clear, though in a restrained manner, that the players are overworked. According to a report, Dhoni has been the busiest cricketer, having played 38 Tests, 90 ODIs and 95 T20 matches. Can we afford to lose him for a big series? Despite his recent form, one will have to accept it that India does not have an answer for him - either as a captain or a keeper/batsman. But what does he do when he is tired? He can opt out of a series but against which team(s)? The Big Guns of the BCCI find it useless to play against teams like Bangladesh or Zimbabwe or any smaller team. Series against them is not good for BCCI bank accounts. And can Dhoni afford to sit out of Test series' against any of the bigger teams?

India hardly has able replacements for core players. The list of injured players is simply growing - Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar. This is certainly not a good sign for Indian cricket. You want your players to give more than 100 % on the field but you don't expect them to exhaust themselves so much so that they are unavailable for the next challenge. And when they do run out of steam (which is bound to happen having played so much cricket continuously), what do we do? Bring in players who are out of action, just to complete the number?

India is a country of over a billion but there are not too many high-quality international cricketers. There is a bunch of players who have done well for India and they have to be better taken care of. And that's just talking about the players who are overworked. 

A few hundred years back, a bird called 'Dodo' became extinct, because it could not fly and hence never tried to escape when hunters approached them. It instead chose to close its eyes. Later, the word was used as a synonym for stupid. And the reason is obvious. Unfortunately the BCCI too seems to have taken a 'Dodo's stance'. How?

India's batting failure left every one fuming and quite understandably. Rahul Dravid chipped in heavily but will he last forever? Or Sachin Tendulkar or VVS Laxman or any cricketer? Where are the players who have the promise of becoming the next Dravid or Tendulkar or Laxman or even Gambhir? And who should take the responsibility of finding and grooming such cricketers who can carry the rich legacy with elan and dignity? The Board of Control for Cricket In India. Yes, it's their responsibility. Just because you are an autonomous body does not make you unanswerable because you are ultimately filling your pockets with public's hard-earned money and they do have a right to raise questions. This is where one sometimes feels that the government should have some say in the functioning of the BCCI.