It is time for the seniors to hang up their boots

Maninder Singh

India’s crushing defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the first Test has again raised several questions. While the entire team put up a spineless performance, the onus was more on the senior pros who were expected to live up to the peoples’ expectations and reverse the fortunes of Team India on the Lankan soil.

I think it is time that the senior players submit to the inevitable and hang-up their boots. After Sourav Ganguly won the best Asian player award recently, it would have been the best time for him to bid adieu. A number of other senior members of Team India also will have to think seriously about their future in the team after this humiliating defeat.

The kind of reflexes displayed by the players during the first Test, especially the seniors has re-emphasised the fact that they are no longer the force they used to be a few years ago.

Every player knows when his time to retire comes, but it seems that our big players are reluctant to go. I personally feel that it is time Mahendra Singh Dhoni should be made the captain of the Test team, which would also lend the side with rejuvenated energy.

Coming to Muttiah Muralitharan’s brilliant performance in the match, I do not think there was any major difference in Murali’s bowling than what the Indian’s have faced earlier. But it is the sheer class of the man that led to the tourists’ meek surrender.

When Murali first came on the scene he was a bit concerned about his action but once his name was cleared by the game’s governing body then there was no stopping him. No words of praise are enough for the way he has performed over the years. His consistency proves that he is an extraordinary talent. However, it is not that he was made in a day. He has worked hard on his bowling and the result is there for everyone to see.