Good Bad Ugly ft. Umar Akmal ban, end of an era in Indian sports and Ligue 1 fiasco
Good, Bad, Ugly Edition May 3
|SportsCafe
No sporting action in close sight but this surely was a week of many stories coming out from the world of ultimate fantasy. From Umar Akmal being banned to the controversial decision taken by Ligue de Football Professionnel(LFP), we have so many things to discuss. Presenting you, Good, Bad and Ugly.
Good
BCCI transfers money to differently-abled playersâ accounts
It is a kind of situation where every penny counts. And especially for the differently-abled players, most of them who are without a regular job, BCCI sending their promised cheque for winning the World Series Title in England last year, definitely means a lot. As a matter of fact, the body has sent Rs 3 lakh to each of the 17 players, Rs 3 lakh to coach Sulakshan Kulkarni, and Rs 11 Lakhs to the remaining support staff to ensure there is a corpus during this difficult time. The money is not a scholarship of sorts but the pending amount that the Committee of Administrators had promised last year. However, the readiness with which BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal and CEO Rahul Johri acted after getting a message from the secretary-general of the âUmbrella Associationâ of the All India Cricket Association for Physically Challenged (AICAPC), Ravi Chauhan, should be applauded.Â
PCB setting standard with Umar Akmal ban
The contemplation of relativity is one of the charms in sporting critiques and thus the Umar Akmal case is one of the relative case studies. Especially in the face of cases like Mohammad Irfan sitting out for six months and Mohammad Nawaz being given a two-month ban, Akmal being banned for three years might sound blasphemous. But from the pragmatic standpoint, it is not. Why it is actually good is because of the fact that Pakistan Cricket has had a sordid history of seeing Akmal getting away with a lot of disciplinary actions but his attitude has rarely changed. So much so that, recently, he confronted a team trainer in bare body, only to be slapped with a fine by the PCB. For a country like Pakistan, which rarely has been on the right side of such activities, this is a much-required move to take the problems out of the system. Scotfreen light action is not going to help anymore.
Bad
An era ends in Indian sports
Every death brings a sense of nostalgia and if that happens to be one famous individual, who has impacted our lives in a certain way, it feels personal. After the death of Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, two of the greatest names in Indian show business, on two back-to-back days, the news of Chunni Goswami passing away has brought a sense of numbness to it. That this happened just a month after the death of PK Bannerjee, his long-time comrade and one of Indiaâs finest-ever footballers, made it devastating news for the followers of Indian sports. Goswami, alongside Bannerjee and Tulsidas Balram, made one of the devastating trios on the football field and helped India to the Asian Games in 1962. The golden man of Indian football was more than a successful cricketer too, leading Bengal to the Ranji Trophy final in 1976, before losing out to Bombay. As his Bengal teammate and former Indian spinner Dilip Doshi pointed out, Goswami was the man behind bringing the footballing fitness to the cricket field. With his passing away, a great era of Indian sports has come to an end.Â
Removal of Usman Khawaja from the central contract list
Leverage on the silver screen is more than that of a sporting field, or is it vice-versa? Just a year ago, Usman Khawaja had one of the greatest series by an overseas batsman in India. Less than a year ago, he was one of the central figures in Australiaâs bid to retain the World Cup but ever since he was dropped from the side to accommodate Marnus Labuschagne in the Ashes series, this has been a completely different story. However, nothing justifies his removal from the contract list on the basis of one bad summer. He is still one of the best batsmen in Australian conditions and his game against spin bowling has risen drastically. Remember that fighting knock in Dubai? As Khawaja himself stated, he is among the best in the country and that is every bit right. At least some sort of solid explanation might have sufficed.Â
Ugly
Gayle, Sarwan playing verbal foul gameÂ
Two of the greatest servants of West Indies cricketâs modern-day history, it was plain sad that Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan played the kind of verbal foul on the internet that surely put a black mark on their reputations. After all, the duo have played in 249 international matches together with their association going back to Under-19 days. Gayle alleged that Sarwan was the reason behind his removal from Jamaica Tallawahs, something Sarwan duly refuted. Even the allegation regarding the appointment of Gayleâs close friend Donovan Miller as the Head coach of the franchise had a row created with Sarwan - something that could have easily been solved behind the scenes. But the way it did play out in public, surely it didnât put both of them in a good light.
The premature end to Ligue 1Â
Surely, we are in between a once-in-a-generation kind of pandemic, surely, a distant thought of having a sporting event in France, one of the worst affected countries due to the virus spread, seems to be an afterthought, but the decision of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) seems to be wrong on many levels. After Paris Saint-Germain were crowned as champions, French football's problematic decision was exposed badly when Lyon, Amiens and Toulouse threatened legal action. Despite the fact that there are ten games left and PSG had a 12-point lead, there was an outside chance for Lyon to break through either a Champions League or Europa League spot, but now they have been robbed from the opportunity. Similarly, Amiens and Toulouse have all the rights to feel aggrieved about the decision especially after not having any opportunity to be in the Ligue 1 for the next season. A clear discussion with all stakeholders might have averted an ugly situation like this. And in distant England, the Premier League will keep a close eye on this, and especially the Liverpool fans.
