This entire controversy created by the exclusion of Rahul Dravid from the Indian One-day team to play Pakistan has been totally blown out of proportion, with allegations and accusations flying thick and fast between ex-cricketers and the selectors, and every TV channel lining up long forgotten has-been cricketers on their “expert” panel to comment on this.

I for one, am not surprised, given the unhealthy level of obsession for cricket in the country. To add to it, our selection committee often makes decisions that seem baffling. Then, to top it all, we have the Chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, shooting off his mouth every now and then, which only worsens the situation.

Vengsarkar was a fine player in his heyday, and was called “The Colonel” for his elegance while batting. However, this very elegance is clearly missing when he launches tirades against players, sometimes even when a tour is going on, severely demotivating them. His recent comments against Dravid are truly unworthy, and he would surely do well to keep his personal opinions to himself.

It has also been insinuated by some ex-players that Dravid shot himself in the foot after his totally unexpected decision to step down from the captaincy after the England tour, and the selectors are paying him back in the same coin. If this is so, then Indian cricket is still living in the Dark Ages, where internal bickering and settling personal scores is the main item on the agenda, rather than doing the job they are supposed to do.

Sometimes, we should take a leaf out of the way other countries select their players, the “horses for courses” policy, which more often than not, works. In countries like Australia or England, you will never find front page newspaper headlines or a national debate on TV over why player X was dropped / “rested” or why another player was picked in his place.

This, I guess, happens only in India, to the overall detriment of the game as we know it…