Fasting, feasting

Sir — It seemed pointless to put the report, “Feast flourishes around fast” (Dec 23), in great detail on the front page. Mamata Banerjee, not her followers, was on hunger strike. The fact that Trinamool Congress leaders, Sonali Guha and Arup Biswas, were feasting on fruits near the dharna manch was therefore of little consequence to the issue of Banerjee’s fast. Banerjee may have decided to go without food as a mark of protest. But her action did not in any way make it binding on the members of her party to follow in her footsteps.

Yours faithfully,
S.B. Gupta, Calcutta

Back for good

Sir — The decision to send Irfan Pathan back to India is a correct one (“Pathan shock before speed Test,” Dec 26). It is better for this promising youngster to get some valuable match practice in domestic cricket than run errands on field abroad. But why does the team management discriminate between non-performing cricketers? Virender Sehwag has not been in the best of forms either. Yet he continues to find a place in the side. Does the captain and the coach still believe that Sehwag will deliver after his two sorry knocks in Durban?

Yours faithfully,
B.K. Chatterjee,Faridabad

Sir — Irfan Pathan was sent back from South Africa ostensibly to regain his form by playing Ranji matches. But the person who should have been sent packing is not Pathan, but Greg Chappell, the coach of the Indian cricket team. The damage that Chappell has done to Indian cricket in the recent past is irreversible. No other coach has managed to do so much harm ever since India started playing international cricket.

Chappell is to blame for Pathan’s lack of form. The coach had wanted to turn Pathan into an all-rounder. That is why he asked him to concentrate on his batting — this, at a time when he had not even perfected his skills as a bowler. Those who thought that Pathan will become another Kapil Dev would now hopefully end their chatter. More worryingly, this sudden send-off is unlikely to do wonders to Pathan’s confidence.

Yours faithfully,
S. Kamat, Bardez, Goa

Sir — The Board for Control of Cricket in India has done the right thing by sending back Irfan Pathan. The former captain, Sourav Ganguly, had been dropped from the side, which helped him regain his form with the bat. One hopes that the same will hold true for Pathan, who now finds himself out of reckoning.

Yours faithfully,
Vandana, Dhenkanal

Sir — Keeping Irfan Pathan out of the team at this moment is certainly a positive move. There is no doubt that Pathan is immensely talented and that he would be a key player in the World Cup for India. But this does not mean that he can take his presence in the squad for granted. It is important that he gets back in form as soon as possible and starts getting wickets again.

However, the BCCI’s policies are never perfect. If Pathan were dropped because of poor form, how is it that Virender Sehwag continues to don national colours despite his chain of low scores? Was not Ganguly dropped from the team due to under-performance? Sehwag has been playing badly for a long time now. It is a pity that the loss of vice-captaincy has not made Sehwag work hard at his batting.

Yours faithfully,
Mrinal Sinha, Dhanbad

Sir — By sending back Irfan Pathan, the BCCI has acted judiciously. Players who perform miserably would be better off brushing up their skills playing domestic cricket. That way, they will manage to get back into some sort of form.

Yours faithfully,
K. Ghosh, Calcutta