A few questions... may be too many

Why did Laxman pull out of the one-day series? Didn't he earlier submit his fitness report signed by a doctor? So, what happened? Did he injure himself further after submitting the report to the BCCI? When? Didn't he say that he's withdrawing, as he hasn't fully recovered? Then why did he submit the earlier report? Was that a fake report? Should he be punished now? Should the BCCI take action against him for submitting a false medical report? Do we expect the BCCI to do anything of that sort?

And what about Sachin Tendulkar, Ashish Nehra, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble? Have all of them recovered completely? Can't there be a possibility that everyone may not have fully recovered yet? Why should the medical tests be conducted just two days before the team's departure? Can't it be done earlier? Or since we have named five standbys, why not have the test even in South Africa before the start of the first game? Shouldn't we give our 'star' players all the possible time to recover? And why Badani? Is he in excellent form? And Ramesh is not? Isn't Ramesh almost certain to play in the tests? So why not give him more time to get used to the conditions?

What's all the fuss over the selection of Deep Dasgupta? Why, someone from the media wrote that he was chosen because of his proximity to the captain? If that was the case, then does it mean that the captain is not close to any other players of his state team as no other player from Bengal has got the India cap in the recent time? How stupid can we get? And does this mean that since Ganguly is the captain, so no player from Bengal should be selected, even if he deserves it? Frankly, what's the choice we had? Wasn't it limited to just two - Ratra and Dasgupta? If one of them is selected, so what's the big deal? Is Ratra far better than Dasgupta? If not, then why not give Dasgupta a fair chance before criticizing his selection? Why talk about inexperience? Isn't Ratra inexperienced too? Other than the 30-plus Dighe and Mongia, who is experienced? Tell me. Should we go back to those old horses even after their repeated failures? Can you give me one good reason for it?

What does the Board secretary's comment that "an experienced keeper will be sent for the Test matches" mean? And who that experienced 'keeper is going to be? Dighe, who made quite a few costly mistakes in the last Test against Sri Lanka? Or Mongia, who walked against the Aussies at home without even touching his bat to the ball, unable to handle the heat out there in the middle? What will happen to him on the fast, bouncy pitches of South Africa? What happens then? A similar drama that took place in our last tour Down Under? Is it really necessary?

What about the selection of the manager for the South Africa tour? Is it really necessary to treat the team manager like a 'rotating' leg spinner and change him with almost every tour? Do we even treat this post seriously? Or the only credential for an appointment to this post is to be in the good books of the BCCI bigwigs? Why was Chauhan replaced? Don't you think he did a pretty good job, taking up additional responsibility like briefing the media? Do you remember the name of the manager on the last tour? Have you ever heard him in the media? Or am I the only one who has missed his name?

Do we know the dates and venues of all the matches for the upcoming England tour yet? Can you guarantee that it's not going to be changed again? What next? Bangladesh sending their officials to inspect the ground and its facilities before they approve it? Or Bangladesh playing the one-day series, then going back to their country for the Ramzan period, and coming back again for the Test series? No? Why? Only the Whites (and Christians) have the rights to celebrate the festivities with their families? Why not bring back the Indian team from South Africa during Diwali?

Has the BCCI found out whether the venues for the South African tour are satisfactory or not? What about the hotels? Are they safe enough? Remember how Saqlain and another Pakistan player were beaten up a few years back in South Africa? And what about food? Now that Kapil is not there, is that generous person, named Qasim, going to bring the homemade food for the Indians? Is it difficult to find another such person? Why assume that all of them will be linked to Hansie? Does BCCI know what kind of balls will be used in South Africa? Will they find out and let Harbhajan know at least so that the poor chap can get a grip on it?

Are you looking forward to the Boards's AGM meeting by this month-end? When it comes to Indian cricket, why it boils down to only Dalmiya, Dungarpur etc? Is there a retirement age for such officials? If not, then shouldn't we start one just for the sake of Mr. Dungarpuar? Since Dalmiya is heading the ACF, so how can he contest for the post of BCCI president? How can he manage multiple important posts? Since we all are aware of Dalmiya's comments regarding the cancellation of the India-Pakistan Asian Test Championship, what is he going to do when he holds both the post (if elected I mean)? Does he have much choice as a BCCI president regarding this when it is the government that takes the decision?

So the ACF president Dalmiya will demand cricket ties to be restored between India and Pakistan, and the BCCI president Dalmiya will convey the message of the Indian government to the ACF president? Doesn't it sound ridiculously funny? And, last but not the least, who will fill the void created by Jaywant Lele? I am going to miss him, will you?

Does anyone know the answers to these questions? Have you ever thought about these questions? Does even the BCCI know the answers? If you follow Indian cricket, then don't you know the answers already?

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