The Map of the World

Till late after the Carnival of 2003, the best in the business compared themselves to Australia and acknowledged India to be getting to a best ever 2nd position-more than anyone else, our beloved captain wanted everyone to think that way.

The true 'Test' of game was the homefield of the islanders who had great pride in displaying their evolution from a prison island to the centre of modern day industry, education, tourism and of course their biggest resource-Sports. The breeding grounds and the factories had worked well for them to produce generation after generation of naturalized talent-a regime so similar to yet so different from Hitler's.

Today, a year of ordinary performances not matching the revered potential of a star spangled team, a loss to the lowest placed team in the ODI table, stars (showmen) bigger than the team (in capturing newsprint for 'outside the field' performances) and most dangerously- a bench that knows it is not even half as good as the ageing and seemingly irreplaceable current lot they'll have to replace soon, are just some of the reasons why one would not want them to continue holding to the title of 'The Best'.

But only if a better replacement was in sight! Only if the forerunners to the crown had been worthy claimants and had taken the lead at this oppurtune moment-of weakness of the leader! Instead, our great team has chosen the path to mediocrity that is whirlpooling them to the depths of fan-hatred, backlash and historic annihilation. They have dared being wiped out of our memories and have excelled in showing alternate sources of earning being as important, if not more, than their primary source.

Leadership is such an ephemeral phenomenon-reaching there is easier than staying there. If these two teams have not yet got the message, the time is ripe for us to see a new sun rising- one that proclaimed some 200 years ago that it doesn't set at all on this empire! Do you hear them marching in? God save the cream.