Cricket and Powar

The first innings of the fourth one day international cricket match of NATWEST series between England and India has just got over and a couple of things that caught my eye in the game have forced me to ditch television for a while and get down to writing this piece. Without much ado, I have to mention the most entertaining part of the match so far. It is none other than Ramesh Powar. For the ones out of sync with the game (you are the blessed ones!), Powar claims to be a right hand batsman and a right arm spinner and he represents the controversially great Indian cricket team on the international front.
Well, full points to that man for squeezing his way into the Indian cricket team. If you are wondering why I am applauding him for this great feat, all you need to do is look at the man once. You will instantly know how difficult a process like squeezing can be for him. And this despite the constant hue and cry in cricket and media circles and some fatal debates about how much talent in India is going waste due to the biased selection committee. Well, I am wondering what kind of waste or bias are they talking about. Because, if he is any example of the talent pool that is going waste (for he entered the team only recently), we have realllllly redefined talent.
He is into a game which he should have probably never ever given the first thought to. For the wondering minds, he is somebody who has been diligently working to get the portion of his body, neck under, into a perfect circle. Last I saw him on television; he was somewhat oval; by the most lenient description. His hard work has finally begun to show and our man is in perfect shape now. Come on, it doesn’t get more perfect a shape than a circle! Get it??!!!
Seeing him run between the wickets it felt that the moment he was into his third stride he was wondering why running as a concept ever existed. Why weren’t humans just naturally and biologically impaired to run? This inner profound thought of his was so evident that not only me but even the commentators read his mind. While Gavaskar tried to be euphemistic about it, the other gentleman was brutal. He remarked, “Powar needs power breaks”.
But one place where the man scores the highest is his entertainment value. He is so much fun to watch and make of. To add to his no-room-for-any-weight body, he has also decided to don tresses oblivious how even that much weight will weigh on his total perceived weight.
But the next thought that struck me was the absence of the concept of athleticism in Indian sports. It is very unfortunate that our sportspersons, especially cricketers give such little importance to being athletic. Barring a couple, who can be called more than just fit and may be also border on being athletic, the rest simply qualify as fit; whatever it means in India!
Shades of the same can be seen throughout the sub-continent, especially in Pakistan. For defense sake it can also be traced back to history and proved how we are a less athletic race on a comparative scale. But what is disheartening is the lack of initiative at the sportsperson’s end. Look at the Sri Lankan cricket team. They have reformed themselves beautifully to be one of the more competitive fielding outfits in the world and look at Powar who is a clear example of someone who is waiting for some Jeanie to help him lose weight. No one cares a hoot about your obesity as long as you don’t represent the nation on a global platform in Sports! But if you do, the least you can do is realize that fact.
I think the BCCI, and now the ICL too, should have some rules, and stricter ones please, to filter cricketers on the salient feature of any sport - Physical Fitness (by international standards, and not the local akhaada standards).