Essays on cricket by lovers of the game, not just the experts, and an account by Nasseruddin Shah, a self confessed cricket fanatic, talking about his scrapbook collection of cricketers are some of the highlights of this year’s Wisden India Almanack.
The 2016 edition of the Almanack, written and edited by prominent Indian journalist Suresh Menon, was launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Suresh has also written and books such as Champions! How the World Cup was Won and Bishan: Portrait of a Cricketer. Talking about the latest edition of the Almanack, Suresh says, “This year we have included a non cricketing person as a person of the year, beyond the boundary – Mukul Mudgal – who has in his own way changed the way cricket administration in the country works..We have an account by Nasseruddin Shah, a self confessed cricket fanatic, talk about his scrapbook collection of cricketers, when he was growing up. We felt that such stories will help bring a human element to the fore.”
Talking about the BCCI, Suresh says, “The BCCI has always been a very feudal organisation with no accountability or any actual responsibility. I hope that the Lodha report will change all that. If everything that has been set out in the report is put into practice, cricket administration in this country will see a fundamental change. More accountability will be a welcome step. Even people within the system could not raise their voice. That has changed now.”
Suresh feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a mixed bag of sorts. “It has a fair share of positives, but has many negatives as well. It makes young players have unrealistic expectations. There should be some restrictions to ensure that players with bad techniques do not piggyback on the success of the league. The board, with all its focus on the IPL, instead of regular domestic tournaments is also responsible for this situation.”
ODI cricket, Suresh argues, has always been a batsman’s game. “As you make the format shorter, the batsman will dominate proceedings. Some tweaks may help. I do not feel that standardizing pitches is a solution. Different sizes of the grounds and the diverse conditions are the charm of the game.”
Suresh has been impressed with Virat Kohli’s captaincy and sees nothing wrong in having different captains for various formats of the game. “We were one of the first international teams to experiment with this. I do not see anything out of the ordinary there. Virat is a different captain from Dhoni. As far as the Indian team is concerned, I think we have the potential to perform well in foreign conditions. Whether that potential translates into performance remains to be seen.”
