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THE HINDU CHENNAI FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019 OPED 13 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

YES, NO, IT’S COMPLICATED Has India earned the number one spot in Test cricket? The victory in Australia suggests the sport’s Mike Hesson, had an the new ball on Boxing taincy, and he is among the most lieving the hype. YES epiphany in South Afri­ Day in Melbourne was powerful leaders of any sports team The coup in Australia suggests momentum could stay with India ca 12 months earlier. “as big as anyone getting worldwide. I witnessed the energy the sport’s momentum could stay Coach Ravi Shastri al­ a 100”. This came he can generate during the New with India for the foreseeable fu­ The answer to this can be con­ the team’s relatively new holistic luded to it in the post­ straight from the Wil­ Zealand­India Test at Eden Gardens ture, given the talent on show firmed by simply checking the rank­ approach. They play with soul and match press conference liamson playbook. If Koh­ in 2016. Kohli stood in the slip cor­ anywhere from the Ranji Trophy to ings, but where’s the fun in that? In­ a sense of respect, seen in how they in Sydney. At one point li comes anywhere near don and raised his palms skyward. the Indian Premier League. The IPL stead of surrendering the joy of the walked around the boundary to they decided “there’s a maintaining those senti­ The higher they went the louder investment has matured over 11 edi­ game to an avalanche of data, so­ thank fans after defeating Australia certain brand of cricket we’re going ments long term, his tenure will be the crowd roared. He was a human tions into a jewel, albeit a gaudy metimes relying on instinct is wel­ by 137 runs at the Melbourne Crick­ to play... we’re going to find out revered. amplifier. one, on the cricketing landscape. come. et Ground. what suits the team best and take it If Kohli embraces Indian fans’ For local players to get an annual Andrew Alderson Let’s apply a comparative hy­ forward from there”. Captain Virat The Kohli factor love of the game and defends audience with the world’s best is of is a cricket pothesis: Which international team Playing the team card Kohli also struck a chord with New The Indian team is formidable and against slipping into a cult of perso­ priceless development value. correspondent with the would fans, donning their impartial Yes, the incumbent Australians Zealand fans now acclimatised to watchable. Their capabilities have nality, he will become a captain If the qualities of empathy, pas­ New Zealand Herald hats, want to watch? The answer for were vulnerable and India seized Kane Williamson’s selfless ap­ been obvious in Australia. Chetesh­ loved at home and respected sion and independence are replen­ me? India. The current team brings the opportunity to punish them, proach. war Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah abroad. At 30, he’s a poster child ished in the Indian dressing room enviable qualities to the Test arena. but the Indian team also lost the When asked to single out the were especially unstoppable. Ho­ for a savvy generation of Indian mil­ to feed the team culture, and the This verdict is based less on the pio­ Test series in South Africa and En­ best contribution in the India­Aus­ wever, the most important human lennials. They know the power they combative approach of the players neering and comprehensive 2­1 gland last year. This side, like New tralia series, the skipper played the component to any sustained suc­ wield, and they defer to no one. He simmers but never boils over into away series win over Australia, Zealand in January 2013 under cap­ team card. He said the 66 balls cess will be Kohli. His playing abili­ only has to avoid getting lured into poisonous aggression, a dynasty their first in 71 years, and more on tain Brendon McCullum and coach faced by Hanuma Vihari to see off ty has been enhanced with the cap­ a narcissistic echo chamber and be­ could be propagated.

India has to be at the top for a certain period excelled consistently in can’t set aside the defeats captaincy, India has emerged as against a strong Australian team. NO all formats of the game. in South Africa and En­ both highly competitive and com­ The win at Adelaide in 2003 was to be accorded the tag of best We will not compare gland. The process of petent to make history. I remember memorable. And how can one for­ him with the others but rankings that the Interna­ the 1977­78 team under Bishan get the victory at Perth in 2008? It History has been made. I followed lia, but it took the current team to hail him as one of the tional Cricket Council fol­ Singh Bedi taking on a depleted remains one of India’s finest against the Test series closely and was achieve the much­awaited result. greats of the current era. lows is one thing, but my Australian but failing to win the se­ Australia. All those wins came hardly surprised by the reactions in Does the feat make this team the I am sure connoisseurs simple understanding is ries. A key factor then was some against highly competitive oppo­ the media. Indian cricket was on a best ever or the number one team of the game would agree that India has to win a se­ poor umpiring. It must be accepted nents. India’s win against New Zea­ high after winning its first ever Test in the world? I don’t think so. that you have to be at the top for a ries in South Africa and again in En­ that this was not the best Australian land in 1967­68 under Mansur Ali series in Australia. True, this has ta­ certain period of time to be accord­ gland (the last time it did was in team to play a home series. True, it Khan Pataudi was its first Test se­ ken a long time, but I must give cre­ Need for consistency ed the tag of best or greatness. 2007) to be truly acknowledged as was not India’s fault that it was play­ ries triumph overseas, just as the Narottam Puri dit to Virat Kohli’s team for having To become the best team you have One swallow does not make a the best team in the world. ing a weak opposition, but you latest one under Kohli was the first is a cricket expert and set new a benchmark. India first to achieve longevity in the field. summer. This applies to the current can’t discount a fact which even Test series win in Australia. Both, to commentator went to Australia in 1947­48 to play Cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sa­ team. It beat Australia in Australia, Defeating a depleted side former Australian greats have not­ my mind, are equally laudable as against Don Bradman’s invincible chin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and a much laudable effort, but it lost There is no need to get carried ed: This was a very weak batting indeed were India’s first series wins team and did not cause any embar­ Anil Kumble are considered greats the Test series in South Africa (1­2) away. It is well­known that Australia line­up. in West Indies and England in 1971. rassment to its supporters. After because they performed over a pe­ and England (1­4) last year. Let me was a depleted side and India, go­ I had commentated on the Mel­ Let’s applaud this team’s victory that there were some fascinating riod of time. Virat Kohli certainly add that India played some out­ ing by the pre­tour expectations, bourne Test in 1981 when India but never forget that earlier victo­ contests between India and Austra­ falls in that category because he has standing cricket in 2018 but you was strong on paper. Under Kohli’s pulled off a magnificent victory ries were no less significant.

IT'S Ratings are more about numbers and do not on the basis of statistics in Australia is a welcome swept aside. There were moments Waugh was the modern Alexander COMPLICATED alone. change for Indian crick­ of dominance for India. Virat Koh­ in cricket until he ran into the Sou­ present the full picture In terms of statistics, et, a change that has ta­ li’s team had learnt to fight. The rav Ganguly­led team in India in India is the best, but ken a long time. toss played a significant role in de­ 2001. India today looks the best­ba­ India won a Test series Down Under the relative strengths of various mostly at home. In con­ The major reason for ciding the course of the match in lanced team in the world after the for the first time. This historic feat teams and the different playing temporary cricket, most India’s failure overseas England, where the conditions, success in Australia. No team in to­ has expectedly created euphoria. conditions the world over, the rat­ teams are unbeatable at has been the weakness of other than the pitch, play a crucial day’s cricket has beaten all its oppo­ Everybody is rating the team as the ings are more about numbers and home and we saw that the batsmen in dealing part. The batsmen could not give nents in away series, which puts all best in the world. Is India the cham­ do not present a perfect picture. when India played in South Africa with swing and seam; the batsmen the bowlers a shield of 300 runs the teams on the same pedestal. In­ pion of Test cricket? Is it the best Cricket is a game that has its own and England last year and the home were ill­equipped in terms of tech­ and it impacted the contest. dia can claim to have the best bow­ team in the world? The answer is a vagaries beginning with the toss teams won convincingly. The issue nique to tackle bounce. The team ling attack for all conditions. It can Dwarkanath little complicated. and the different type of pitches is not winning at home but failing also lacked the bowling ammuni­ Conquering teams overseas also claim to have the world’s best Sanzgiri and atmospheric conditions. In overseas. India has a history of fail­ tion to retaliate, because spin was A champion team must conquer batsman (Virat Kohli) and fast bow­ is a journalist and has The limits of statistics fact, the intrigue that every session ing overseas. The team has been re­ not going to take the team forward the opponents in their backyards. ler ( Jasprit Bumrah). The journey authored books on The International Cricket Council of Test cricket presents to the fans ferred to by critics as tigers at home when playing away. All that India has not done that, unlike to become the best has begun but #21659 cricket ranking system has already put In­ is the most attractive feature of the but rabbits outside the subconti­ changed in Australia. teams led by Clive Lloyd and Richie we need to wait before pronounc­ dia at the top of the table. Though format. That’s why I am not con­ nent. Of course, one can argue that Losing to South Africa and En­ Benaud. Don Bradman’s ‘Invinci­ ing India to be the best in the world this system takes into consideration vinced that you can evaluate a team times are changing. The series win gland did not really mean India was bles’ was the ultimate team. Steve in comprehensive terms.

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FIFTY YEARS AGO JANUARY 11, 1969 Caught in the babble India’s proposal on dispute settlement Unless the political project of Hindutva A joint machinery to resolve Indo­Pakistan problems had been suggested by India to Pakistan. A proposal to this effect was is tackled head­on, pseudo­scientific conveyed to the Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Sajjad Hyd­ claims will continue to be made er, by Mr. Kewal Singh, Secretary, External Affairs Minist ry, here [New Delhi] to­day [Jan. 10]. Mr. Hyder was given the text Srinivasan Ramani of the statement made by the Prime Minister and her Pres s Conference on January 1. In particular Mr. Hyder’s atten tion Much has been written about the was drawn to the Prime Minister’s offer to set up a j oint ma­ nonsense that finds its way into the chinery for the resolution of Indo­Pakistan differenc es along Indian Science Congress. There is a with the conclusion of a no­war pact. The Prime Minis ter’s reason why pseudo­scientific be­ proposal is a follow­up of her earlier offer of a no­war pact. liefs are uttered at such prestigious events. They are shared by politi­ cians in power and this inspires A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JANUARY 11, 1919.

GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK their repetition despite the wides­ pread criticism they receive every Presidency Cricket Match. time they are aired in public. Unscientific belief systems and grand political narratives have a symbiotic relationship. So this great game of the seasons is after all coming off to­mor­ The most infamous examples of this relationship in the row [January 12] at Chepauk and all S Madras will be there for near past are the eugenics project that had Nazi Germany in certain. The weather too so far has been all that could be de­ its thrall and Lysenkoism in Stalin’s Soviet Union. As the sired, so that it looks as though a fast and true cricket is await­ CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC author Siddhartha Mukherjee eloquently explains in his ing the batsman. Thus he will indeed be a lucky skip per who book, The Gene: An Intimate History, these two projects po­ DATA POINT wins the toss and secures for his side the first tena ncy of the sitioned themselves as paradigmatic opposites apropo s the wickets. Both sides have made their final choice of players and science of genetics. The former emphasised “selective the lists too have already been published in these colum ns. breeding” of human beings to achieve “desired characteris­ Looking at the Indian side, one is at first struck with its tre­ tics” by working on genetic engineering, while the latter re­ mendous batting strength. In fact it would be hard to improve jected Mendelian inheritance and the concept of the gene it­ it in this line. Coming now to individuals, Dr. V. Ra manjulu self. Both these belief systems served their ideological state stands a clan by himself. He is as sound as he is brilliant, a rare apparatuses well — eugenics fit well with the glorification of combination indeed. In short he is the most finished batsman the “perfect Aryan race” and Nazi ideology, while Lysen­ of the side. Then comes Ramaswami, his own brother. He is koism and its belief in what Mukherjee calls the “co mplete even more dangerous than his great brother, for playing left pliability” of identity served the totalitarian collectivisation handed, he takes most bowlers at a disadvantage. As for Yoga­ project launched by Stalin. nathan, he is unquestionably a batsman of an high order In India’s case, the belief systems are less consequential though he has not been particularly successful in th e past in but equally problematic. Repeatedly, there is talk o f a “glo­ these games. rious past” described in Hindu mythology, which is uncriti­

cally taken as fact. These “facts” can only be understood if it CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC is assumed that the technological advancements of today were already achieved in the past. It is also the same episte­ CONCEPTUAL mology that drives these belief systems to attribute miracu­ lous powers to cow urine and to promote research on how Joint supply dung and urine can cure cancer. Economics The political project that these belief systems are bound This refers to a situation where the supply of two or more with is, of course, Hindutva, that bases itself on a monistic goods is inextricably linked. The increase or decrea se in the version of Brahminical Hinduism, whose apogee was sup­ supply of one of the goods will cause the supply of the other posedly in ancient India. The warriors of Hindutva in t he good to also increase or decrease at the same time. Th e in­ Sangh Parivar therefore seek to revive the “glorious ancient crease in the supply of cows, for instance, simultaneously in­ Hindu past” in a modern, technological world. This project creases the supply of both milk as well as meat in the market. seeks to identify with the instrumentalism of the technolog­ So the prices of both milk and meat will be affected by the ical progress achieved today without having to engage with rearing of more cows by farmers. The demand for jointly sup­ the phenomena that brought about modernity. Western En­ plied goods, however, may not be commensurate with the lightenment that emphasised reason, pluralism and a available supply of each of the goods. The demand fo r milk, grounding in philosophies that go beyond abstract meta­ for instance, may be greater than the demand for meat in cer­ physics is therefore anathema. Also unacceptable is the idea tain markets. that profound achievements in areas such as astronomy and mathematics in ancient India were a product of contested CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC ideologies and philosophies that included materialist a nd non­Vedic thought. Unless the political project of H indutva MORE ON THE WEB 3 is tackled head­on ideologically, we will continue to receive more pearls of unscientific wisdom. Watch: The world's most beautiful bookstore

Srinivasan Ramani is Associate Editor at The Hindu http://bit.ly/NatBookStore

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