Sunday, February 25, 2007

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

I am mad as hell and I am not going to take this anymore!

Er...It's Irfan Pathan not Mr. Smith and he is actually going to the West Indies not Washington. We never let these pesky little "facts" get in the way of a good title.

How do we know Pathan is going to the Windies? Because the chairman of the national selection committee, Dilip Vengsarkar (pictured above in his secret selector attire), said so. Based on Pathan's performance (8.4 overs for 48 runs and 2 wickets), we can be rest assured that it wasn't his bowling performance that re-affirmed his spot in the side. Lest one think it was his batting (2 runs), it wasn't his batting either.

Obviously, Vengsarkar just wanted to make sure that Pathan was match fit. Pathan showed his match fitness by bowling a whopping 8.4 overs and his fastest delivery was clocked at an eye blinding speed of 124 kph. On the other hand, Ramesh Powar had an excellent game.

The newspaper report here insinuates that all is not well between the team management and the selectors. Maybe, maybe not. We don't care. If this whole farce was a pissing contest at the expense of someone who might be hurt and needs time to recuperate, then shame on both the parties.

What is the truth here? Was Pathan's shoulder injury severe enough for him to sit out the 3rd and the 4th ODI? If that was the case, why was Dilip Vengsarkar in such a rush to check on his match fitness? As Harsha rightly pointed out, some fractures heal in three weeks and there was no logic in the selectors demand.

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