Dear ECB,
Kevin Pietersen axed – not exactly my choice of words to sleep on. No sooner did this sentence flashed on my phone (at midnight India time), the first words that came out of my mouth were ‘WTF’.
Frankly, at the risk of being called rude and uncouth, I so desperately want to shower you guys with some of the choicest cuss words I have learnt over the years. Although I think I am being too gracious, surely you are not blind to the gravity of this mistake situation. My twitter is already in a state of meltdown!
I am trying to word this letter delicately, of course. I remember writing about KP a couple of years back. I have always believed people to be cloaked in shades of grey. There are no extremes of black or white; people cannot be entirely good or entirely bad. We all are mortal, we all make mistakes, we all lie. Yet, I do not know, how people around us find within themselves the will to love us back.
The world is changing, no longer do we chase illusions of perfection. Our icons are flawed. We learn to love their faults as much as their genius, their fears as well as their courage. No longer do we measure a person’s worth with a moral compass. We see glimpses of ourselves in their being and take inspiration from the fact that these people are as ordinary as us. That they have risen from an equally mediocre background like us and then went on to achieve extra-ordinary heights.
I know KP is brash and he says exactly what is on his mind. No, he isn’t the sensitive bloke and he isn’t going to sugar-coat his words for you. Yeah, he isn’t a team player, he is audacious, a bit of cock, so what? I don’t see any of you guys resonating any feeling of good-will among the ‘small 7’, those who you ditched to be a part of the ‘elite big 3’.
It is a kind of contradiction, a hypocrisy when you yourself are one of BCCI’s chamchas‘, err….their paid lackeys. And now you so diligently want to ‘change’ English cricket. Do you know, ‘Change’ can be defined in many ways? Change does not necessarily mean letting your best player go. Change does not mean crippling your team and throwing them into chaos. And change definitely does not mean persisting with that stone-age attitude of yours.
I do not know what you will to achieve by letting KP go that was otherwise impossible with him remaining back. It is more appropriate to look at England’s loss in the recently concluded Ashes as a collective failure rather than a one-man weakness.
For most part of the winter, I pitied you guys; leaving aside the fact that you are arrogant and basically a bunch a fools. The world sympathized when Trott left mid-way. Even the ones not so fond of him were sorry to see his mental breakdown. The world then got divided over Swann’s retirement. Although, most that I know expressed a good deal of undisguised disgust over his abrupt departure. As if the on-field drama during your overseas stay was not enough, tempers flared in the dressing room. So, the first thing that you guys did when everyone was back home was to sack ask Andy Flower to step down.
The much-publicised disharmony between Flower and KP would have deluded one into believing that it was a ploy to make sure KP remains. But his disintegration has now given fodder for what could be made into an Oscar/BAFTA classic if only you are willing to give Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino the low down on the ugliness that breeds within.
I can begin to tell you how much people hate you, your own a majority of them. But my complaints, like that of several others, are going to fall on deaf ears. As an Indian, I already belong to a country with the most hated cricket board and a genuinely respected captain. As much as my own board president disgusts me, you licking the BCCI’s boots along with your pal CA, almost makes me pray over your…err…gullibility? priggishness?
‘Team philosophy and work ethics’ are just big words to be thrown around if you do not understand what they actual mean. How can you blame your shambolic performance on one man, your most successful player in years actually. He is brash and dynamic, so much so, that such an extensive team as yours is unable to handle one player? Do you even know how childish that sounds?
We spend our entire lives trying to live upto the expectations of others. Directly or indirectly seeking approval for our actions from people, who in reality, are caught in the vortex of their own insecurities. We label those who make an attempt to rise above this solemn circle. We crush them, grind them, and over the years render them utterly helpless to fight back. We have the power, we misuse it – as simple as that.
Is accepting mistakes that hard? Is pride a better asset than a player? KP’s story is that of a rockstar – of fame, of controversies, of mistrust. Rockstars who ultimately wither away in loneliness of utter depression due to their obnoxiousness. Of reaching so high, that a fall is eminent.
KP has fallen too. However, he has fallen to rise in our eyes. He has fallen to stand tall. As much as we have loved to hate him and regarded him with such fierce intensity that we were forced to love him back, we stand by him now. Yeah he is a egoistic prick but we (still) stand by him.
Sadly, you, on the other hand, have chosen to fall like a tantrum-throwing kid. Go on, grace us with some fancy words to justify your decision. Oh, you will get your team alright! There is no dearth of talent in your country. Heck, you even know how to import players from other nations. So you will get there…may be not immediately but eventually. What then?
How fickle are the ones who hold the reins of this game’s future…how fleeting are the moments of sanity in its’ management. From Arrogant –> Over-Confident –> Scared shitless —> Defiant —> Stupid….Congratulations ECB, your transformation has been complete.
~ A disgruntled fan
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