The Cabinet Mission sent in March 1946 by the government of Clement Attlee cleared the path towards freedom, but that process would prove tumultuous, with large-scale communal riots in Calcutta that August giving a taste of what was to come a year later when the country was partitioned. That was still a time when the Nation was nearing pangs of birth, but Cricket was still important for the British;undeterred by war and despite the continuing domestic unrest, an Indian team sailed for England ~ it turned out to be the last team from undivided India to tour Britain.Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, who had made his debut for England during the infamous Bodyline Series of 1932-33, was now leading the nation of his birth. The Indian cricket board had voted to give him captaincy over Vijay Merchant by ten votes to eight !!~ a Captain selection by votes !- part of that team was the famous all rounder. Have seen Ashok Mankad play at Marina; hewas touted to be thegreat cricketing brain in India, especially leading Mafatlals in Buchi Babu Trophy.His fatherMulvantraiHimmatlal Mankadknown as Vinoo Mankad, the more illustrious taking 162 wickets and scoring 2109 runs in Tests is the man in news.Ashok Mankad did not succeed in a big way, though immensely talented.His brothers Rahul Mankad and Atul Mankad were also first class cricketers.He was married to Nirupama Mankad who was a former Asian Tennis champion. Their son Harsh was a member of Indian Davis Cup team.Though people may not know this long history, Mankad is a name trending now ~ because of Ashwin action – and is there a particular bias to such criticism – all England players & critics have jumped bandwagon, joined by the likes of Shane Warne. Paddy Upton, the coach of Rajasthan Royals also is vehemently voicing – and after the match, when players crossed shaking hands, he exchanged something palatable to Ravichandran Ashwin – is that in the spirit of the game ?.. ..and after the match he said that they were leaving it for the Cricket World to judge Ashwin’s action calling it controversial and also went to say that the actions of Ashwin, speaks for him and represents him.‘ When I looked in the eyes of his teammates, I’m not sure it represented his teammates. We’ll leave it up to the IPL fans to decide if that’s the kind of thing they want to see, and we’ll leave it up to the cricket world to judge R Ashwin’s actions tonight’. ~ who asked him to read the mind voice of the Punjab team, let him coach the team he is assigned to .
Paddy is a learned man – in Big
Bash League when he became the coach for Sydney Thunder, hegave
his freshly-assembled squad an unusual task.They were sent far away from a
cricket field and asked to hold their breaths underwater. Remember that when
Gary Kirsten was appointed as Head Coach in 2008, Upton was recommended to the
dual role of Mental Conditioning coach and Strategic Leadership Coach.
It
could lead back to the role of Coaches, mental conditioning and more – remember
that when Kapil Devil’s won the World Cup in 1983, the only non-playing member
was Manager Man Singh who for sure did not mentor Kapil on how to bowl or bat,
nor did he tamper with the unconventional approach of KrishSrikkanth.Chris Gayle has no footwork, neither did
VirenderSehwag excel in that area. Chris Gayle clobbers bowlers – standing at
the same place – and a similar ball sails once over mid wicket, then straight
and then over extra-cover – nothing in the Cricket manual.With Bumrah’s action, one cannot dream to
bowl a single ball straight – generally, when the bowling arm goes up, the
other comes down !
In
Sports, Coaches have made big money by their theories and they have taken over
the business World too.There are
Fortune 50 companies that have coaches – but whether the change is real and
whether all brought about by these high flying coaches only is debatable.
South
African born Patrick Anthony Howard 'Paddy' Upton is a Coach who does mental
conditioning also. He holds Masters
degree in Sport Science at University of Cape Town.After working with SA Cricket and Rugby
teams, he had a Second Masters degree in Business Coaching from Middlesex
University (2003).Between 2012-2018
Upton has been Head Coach in 12 professional T20 cricket seasons, for five
different teams across three tournaments, including the Indian Premier League,
Australian Big Bash League and the Pakistan Super League. Upton has degrees
from four different Universities, including two Masters degrees. In 2015 he was
awarded the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Achiever Award, awarded to
Alumni who made significant contributions to their specialist fields and
contributed to the development and well-being of society at local, provincial,
national or international levels. In 2017 he was appointed Professor of
Practice at Deakin University.
He
is vociferous against Ashwin, perhaps trying to justify his role for the team
that has him at the mantle.There was
one infamous incident, in Sept 2009 when the man who recommended him Gary
Kirsten too sought to distance himself from the controversial dossier that
encouraged his players to have sex during the Champions Trophy to increase
their competitive edge, claiming it was entirely the handiwork of his
conditioning coach, Paddy Upton. Aseffigies of Kirsten were set alight in Indore upon news – there were suggestions that the
man whom he had brought along had issued a detailed document to players before
a major tournament and Upton was not
available for comment.
Gary
Kirsten claimed that he would never indulge in such a thinking and that the leaked article was written by Paddy Upton and
provided information for the players on the relationship between sexual
activity and sports performance. The dossier, first leaked to the Hindustan
Times, was the talk of the Champions Trophy. The section on sex asked:
"Does sex increase performance?" And the answer began: "Yes, it
does, so go ahead and indulge." India's players were told: "From a
physiological [body] perspective having sex increases testosterone levels, which
causes an increase in strength, energy, aggression and competitiveness."
Kirsten's own hormone levels were also rising yesterday, although that was more
to do with the urgent need to protect his job.
At
that time, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, then India's captain, was asked whether the
advice had been taken on board. "No comment," he said, smiling.
"You knew when you asked that I wouldn't be able to say anything about
that."
~ what is the controversy all about – when you are the
non-striker, stay within the crease, till the ball leaves the hand of thebowler ! ~ and when there is rule, what
non-sense of prior-warning ! – would anyone drop a catch, miss a stumping or a
run-out, simply because the batsman is on threshold of a milestone ?Spirit is in keeping with the rules and not
cheating .. .. and those who claimed fake catches, teams that indulged in
Vaseline and ball tampering .. .. and more are now
talking..
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
27th
Mar 2019.
