When Whiny West Indians Went Wayward

All through the test and one day series, I heard nothing
but continuous whining and complaining from Sanjay
Manjraker and the West Indian commentators about the
pitch. I haven’t heard so much grousing about the pitch
in any other series. And it didn’t seem to matter if it were
the bouncy pitch of Multan, or the flat track of Karachi.

The consistently poor performance of the WI team was
blamed on the... ’mysterious, unresponsive, bouncy, in-
consistent, clayey, moist, dusty and flat’ pitch. If the WI
bowlers were being thrashed, "the pitch has nothing in it
for the bowlers". If the WI batsmen were falling like nine pins,
"moisture (or the crumbling pitch) is aiding the bowlers".
The visiting commentators managed to link just about every
fumble, slip and drop by the WI players to the pitch.


The clear implication behind the continuous whining was
simple: defeat, was pre-determined for the visiting team
by preparing sub-standard wickets. "We would’ve won if
only you hadn’t c-h-e-a-t-e-d".

When you go to England or South Africa, you expect to
play on bouncy tracks. When you visit the Sub-Continent,
we historically have had flat pitches. Rameez Raja recalled
on air how they used to practice on cement pitches to get
used to the bounce, before heading off to bouncy tracks
abroad. The state of the pitch is not some great secret that
the host countries suddenly spring on the visitors. All visiting
teams should come prepared, with their eyes wide open.

And it’s not like Pakistanis played on one pitch and then
offered the WI team another during this series. Both teams
fought-it-out on the same pitch. The better team won. So
accept it and move on. When you get home WI, get your
act together and learn to take some catches. Honestly, I
did not know the West Indians were such whiny, unsports-
man babies like the Boo-Hoo! Brits, etc.

One can understand people commenting on the pitch after
a match, on how it may have affected the result, but for the
running commentators to link everything to it during the match
is unsavory and unprofessional. You can be sure that if the
Pak team fails in South Africa, no pakistani commentator
or fan will proffer, or be prepared to accept the excuse of the
’bouncy pitches’.

Desis in general (except Sanjay Manjrekar) and Pakistanis
in particular, can be a lot of things, but one thing we are not,
and have never been, is a rooNDu in sports. Thank God.