Overreaction Monday ft. misunderstood BCCI, Family Man Virat and BBL’s funk obsession

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

11/16/2020

Digging through the happenings of one week and more just to lose temper over them is no fun way to start a Monday but we are SportsCafe, that is how we overcome the blues. November 16 edition of Overreaction Monday features some very big names, including Kohli, Ganguly and............Harbhajan.

No one understands poor BCCI :(

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly feels that people tend to ‘talk rubbish’ when it comes to BCCI’s injury management, and believes people do not know how the BCCI works.

SC take: First of all, BCCI President? Sourav Ganguly is more like the official - and only - mouthpiece of Indian cricket. Jeez, he simply cannot restrain himself from speaking on the behalf of every goddamn person about every single thing, can he?

"I think people don't know how the BCCI works. The BCCI trainers, physio, and Wriddhi himself know that he has two hamstring issues. People don't understand injuries, that is why they talk rubbish,” these were Ganguly’s exact words, to be precise.

Given the sheer horror of what’s going on behind the scenes right now, in BCCI, with respect to lack of transparency in both selection and injuries, this is a pretty deplorable statement. Look in the mirror, Dada. It’s not the people who are talking rubbish - it’s you. You say Rohit, who played 3 IPL games towards the end, is only 70% fit and send him back to India for rehab but fly Saha to Australia despite him having injured both his hamstrings and having played no games after his injury. Given both players are *only* part of red-ball squads, what’s the logic behind sending one back home and flying one - the severely hurt one - to Australia?

You say “Why don't you find out from Rohit himself?” when bombarded with questions about his fitness, yet it’s only you who is accusing him of nursing an injury; he admitted on air that he was completely fine. Perhaps no one knows how the BCCI works, and no one understands the board because it’s an absolute calamitous mess.

Woohoo - BBL is the new Hong Kong Sixes

The Big Bash League, earlier today, announced the introduction of 'Power Surge', 'X-factor Player', and 'Bash Boost' which, they believe, will triple the entertainment factor.

SC Take: You know, the official integration of these rules have been excruciatingly late - I gave my opinion on this five months ago. To summarize: power surge is nothing but a quirky batting powerplay, x-factor is a funky super-sub, and Bash Boost grants teams bonus points for out-scoring their opponents after 10 overs. Judging any rule before it’s actually implemented is a pretty dorky thing to do, but here’s my take on it: the Power Surge is cool, the Bash Boost is ‘decent’ and the X-factor Player is a catastrophe. The Power Surge is a funky powerplay (mind you, it’s still only 6 PP overs in total) so I’m all for it - it will keep the bowling side on their toes. With the Bash Boost, my only concern is what goes on in rain-affected games. That aside, giving sides incentive to stay aggressive is pretty smart; it will be fascinating to see how the rules play out. I, however, have a problem with the ‘X-Factor Player’ rule. Subbing any player off after 10 overs in the game is ridiculous; it kills the concept of redemption and it will only force teams’ hands into rushing into poorly-thought, adrenaline-propelled, rash decisions. Allowing teams to use subs mid-innings or at the 10-over mark of the second innings would have been much, much better. But again, chaotic entertainment is not equal to good cricket, you know.

Virat Kohli is putting family first? How dare he!

A section of the general public has been left disappointed and outraged that Virat Kohli, who has decided to prioritise family, will fly back to India post the conclusion of the first Test in Adelaide.

SC Take: You cannot win in this world. You simply cannot. In no scenario will you be a hero in the eyes of everyone. We are genuinely living in a society in which a good chunk of people are chastising a human being for giving precedence to family - think about it. And you know, funnily enough, every person of the aforementioned kind has the same argument and justification - it is either “so what, he earns xyz crores and he’s getting paid to represent his country” or “XYZ is the true national hero. He stayed back and played a match in a similar circumstance.” People love to encourage, gloat about and glorify unhealthy behaviour but kudos to Virat and the BCCI for doing what’s right. If anything, he should have contemplated ditching the entirety of the Test series. Cricket, at the end of the day, is just a sport: putting a country’s name next to it will not turn it into a war; no individual is obliged to represent their national side. Stuff like this wants me to see franchise cricket take the sport over.

Suryakumar de Villiers debuting for India when?

Harbhajan Singh feels that Mumbai’s Suryakumar Yadav, due to his 360 hitting ability, is India’s AB de Villiers.

SC Take: Before getting into Harbhajan’s comments, I really do want to clarify that yes, I’m a big Suryakumar Yadav fanboy. So nothing against you, SKY; you are still an amazing cricketer. Anyway, I’m really curious as to what made Bhaji state that SKY is the Indian ABD. I mean, come on, SKY aside, there are about a dozen cricketers in India who have the 360 game in their armoury. Can we check Bhaji’s Tweets to confirm if he’d tweeted the same about Sarfaraz Khan a few seasons ago? Firstly, SKY and ABD are radically different cricketers, at least in T20s: one loves to bat up the order, the other lower down; one thrives on hitting fours, the other loves to hit sixes; one has no supposed weakness, and the other hides in the dressing room when he sees leg-spin. Reducing ABD the batsman to just his scoops and ramps is also pretty disrespectful - the guy averages 50 in Test cricket, you know. Can we not label any of our up and coming cricketers and instead let them exist in peace? That would do a world of good to them, I suppose.