Dhoni's Revenge

By Girish Menon

As the brickbats from aficionados of Test cricket kept piling on the abject Indian cricket team at the Oval yesterday, I was pleasantly amused by Dhoni's comment at the press conference following the Indian surrender. He stated, as quoted on Cricinfo, "Don't be so jealous of IPL". It made me ponder if Dhoni and his teammates have affected their revenge in such a cold blooded and undetectable manner.

Australia and England along with purists and other conservatives in cricket have for the past so many years been shouting that India did not care for Test cricket. The ICC however predicted that the new power structure in the ICC would restore Test cricket to its halcyon days. And this five Test series with India would showcase the new superpower's commitment to the 'soporific' game. Yet, by ending the Oval and Old Trafford Tests in three days Dhoni's men have put paid to such plans.

Given India's quick and abject defeats in two consecutive series in England, which county chief will have the gumption to bid   to host India's next Test match. The ECB have been running an auction and handing out Tests to the highest bidder. County grounds like the Oval hoped to attract the 'brown pound' in order to make a profit. With India's capitulation I doubt if future visits by the Indian team will attract the demand that we have seen recently.

The counties may hope to attract the 'white pound' to compensate for the Indian diaspora's absence. But cricket as a sport is dwindling in popularity as the coffers of most counties will reveal.

Indian advertisers might also be mad at the team's performances as the 'brown eyeballs' would be switching channels to avoid the shambles put up by Dhoni's men. They may henceforth demand the negation of 'home advantage' and creation of pitches that suit Dhoni's men. Thus match fixing, frowned upon by the ICC, may make a re-entry in the form of scripted matches all in the name of entertainment.

In the process, Dhoni's men would have wreaked sweet revenge not only on the lovers of Test cricket and the ICC but also on Andersen. For after all, what will his record as England's highest wicket taker be worth, if Test cricket is dead and the only records worth mentioning are set in the IPL?