Speaking out hasn’t always been the norm in the sports world, even amongst the men.
The male players are all worried that if they take a tough stand, they may lose out on future chances — of being a coach or team manager or even cricket commentator. So not a word from them that questions those in power
Speaking out hasn’t always been the norm in the sports world, even amongst the men.
There was a time when Sunil Gavaskar was dropped from the one-day side, that too soon after India had won the World Cup and he had played a role in the victory, both on field and helping with team strategy. He kept mum even as rumours flew that Kapil Dev had extracted his revenge. The administration worked overtime to bring Gavaskar back into the one-day squad. That was 35 years ago.
No Indian cricketer playing now, including Virat Kohli, can claim he has never been dropped. Even Sachin was left out of ODIs for a couple of years before making his reappearance in the 1992 World Cup.
But players like Rayudu, Vihari, Pragyan Ohja and many others, despite the talent, have been treated shabbily.
We have not yet heard the last of the Sourav Ganguly versus Greg Chappell row in which the former captain lost his ODI place before the 2007 World Cup. Ganguly was mum then, now, after many years, after Mithali Raji hit out, Ganguly said he too suffered the same.
The male players are all worried that if they take a tough stand, they may lose out on future chances — of being a coach or team manager or even cricket commentator.