Not too long ago, India, England, and Australia had placed on their shoulders the task of “re-organising” the world of cricket. Pompously, they declared themselves the leaders of international cricket -- its Brahmins.
They believed that teams such as Bangladesh couldn’t be allowed to play cricket with them and a few others. This trio would decide who would be fit and unfit to play cricket with their kind. They wanted to divide international cricket into blue blood and the rest.
Some power greater than this insufferable trio must have taken offense, and rightly so, at their pompous and arrogant attitude. One by one, India, Australia, and England have been humiliated to such an extent recently that, if the performance that they had wanted to make as the determining criterion to play international cricket at the highest level were applied to them, then they would be the teams that must now be shown the door to the lower tiers.
India was humiliated by Bangladesh in limited overs cricket soon after an umpiring decision had allowed them to beat Bangladesh in the World Cup quarter-finals in Australia. In Dhaka, Bangladesh did not just beat them 2-1, the manner in which India were beaten was incredible.
The Indian team played like a bunch of novices, reflected in the on-field attitudes of the players. For example, the Bangladesh team ruffled the Indians so much that Indian captain MS Dhoni, known as “Mr Cool,” was anything but and found himself involved in a body contact incident with the Bangladeshi bowling sensation Mustafizur Rahman. For this, 75% of his match earnings were taken away from him.
The Indians, who were in the winning position, have just been beaten by Sri Lanka, where an innings defeat was staring Sri Lanka right in the face after the first session of the third day. Then, a century from Dinesh Chandimal took Sri Lanka out of the gutter to a 175-run lead, setting the plot for a seven-wicket haul by Rangana Herath to bundle India out for 112 and a 63-run defeat.
The Indians, who not too long ago were basking in self-glory for what they considered their great cricketing abilities, looked like minnows themselves.
England of the infamous trio had been given the lesson by Bangladesh in the World Cup. Its performance in the Cup was anything but that of a team that was trying to impose its will on international cricket with its self-proclaimed greatness.
They played the World Cup like a team of minnows themselves. Bangladesh showed it the exit in the group stages, along with the other so-called minnows of international cricket, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. The English team found itself in such a humiliating situation so soon after arrogantly claiming to be “royal” blood that it was almost poetic justice, making many in the cricketing world, including millions in Bangladesh, smile.
Australia, the third country of the infamous trio, succeeded in winning the World Cup. But then its cricketing fate also took a nose-dive. Its humiliation has come at the hands of its colleague in arrogance, England. In the Ashes series, now being played in England, the Australian team is down 3-1, with one more game to go.
Its defeats in the third and fourth Tests have been, suffice it to say, the most humiliating, including an innings defeat in the fourth Test. In that Test, they were all out for 60 in the first innings and lasted only 18.3 overs! Even Nepal would have done better.
Thus, the picture is none too rosy for these three teams. They should now look at their recent performance and then consider what they were conspiring to do to international cricket. Their performances have rendered them, on cricket-playing abilities as well as on moral grounds, totally bereft of assuming they have any right to set directions for international cricket.
It is also time for the other cricket-playing nations to get together and look at reform in international cricket by challenging the formal and informal powers of these three countries in determining the directions in which international cricket should go.
In doing so, they should look at why Indians are playing a role so disproportionate to their cricket playing abilities. The reasons for this are two-fold. First, they have a sort of strangle-hold on the ICC through its chairmanship, in the hands of a very controversial Indian, N Srinivasan, since 2014.
Second, the Indians, through the IPL, have changed international cricket to make it sing and dance to their tunes through the lures of money -- and a great deal of it. And, although the IPL has brought money to the cricketers, its distribution has been unfair. The bulk of money has gone to Indian, Australian, and English cricketers with the South Africans, New Zealanders, and West Indians getting some benefits. And, of course, IPL has been windfall for Indian businesses and gamblers.
It is time for the other cricket-playing countries to get together and take a look at where international cricket is at the moment. The moral authority of the world of cricket now rests with them to set records straight; take it out of the hands of those that tried to impose their own interests ahead of those of cricket itself and the other cricket playing countries.
To do that, the seven other Test-playing countries must first deal with the Indian influence on the ICC. Second, seek re-organisation of IPL so that it serves the interests of all cricket playing countries and cricketers worldwide and not just of those that the Indian cricket bosses and their business partners decide.
It is a pity to watch Indian cricketers of club standard being paid humongous sums while cricketers with far greater ability from other countries are not even considered. If IPL had been an all-Indian affair, it would have been all right for the franchise to do whatever it wanted.
But IPL interferes in international cricket in many ways, and its organisers should not be allowed to manipulate it to suit Indian cricket and business interests and those of teams that the Indians favour.
As a starter, the IPL should not be allowed the best two months to hold the tournament. And Indian influence and manipulation of the ICC, which the former ICC president Mustafa Kamal has recently revealed, must be dismantled without further delay.
Cricket is a great leveler. The current predicament of India, Australia, and England is a reminder of this truth about the great game. Whether the trio acknowledges the truth or not, reality is catching up with them. Australia, that will play a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in October, is worried what their fate will be; something inconceivable even a few months ago.
This is where we are since the infamous move of India, England, and Australia to introduce a two-tier international cricket system with themselves as the natural leaders, and countries such as Bangladesh as dispensable to their wishes and whims. The boot of international cricket is now on the other foot!
M Serajul Islam is a retired career ambassador.
SF: India, Australia, and England shouldn’t be allowed to wield all the power in international cricket
Pull: Cricket is a great leveler. The current predicament of India, Australia, and England is a reminder of this truth about the great game. Whether the trio acknowledges the truth or not, reality is catching up with them