We have all heard the expression: 'It's 90 per cent mental at the top level.'
Anyone who has played first-class cricket has talent, but what separates the chaff from the wheat is the mental strength a player possesses. At the highest level, it is the difference between a good player and a great player.
Considering the psychological scars the Aussies associate the Eden Gardens with, it was foolish not to have made them play in Kolkata during the recently-concluded series.
Kolkata can be attributed to the way Australia approaches its cricket in recent times. The Aussies are no longer brave enough to enforce the follow-on, are prepared to take a backward step if circumstances demand one and treat India with more respect.
Kolkata 2001 also changed the way the Indians approach their game. They are more confident -- at least they were till the tour of Pakistan -- and aggressive. That series saw the coming of age for VVS Laxman and of Harbhajan Singh. In short, the Indians love playing there.
So why did the BCCI not stage a Test at the Eden Gardens during the series against Australia? Was it because it wanted to schedule a meaningless One-Day International against Pakistan at the same venue so that it could earn more money?
Indeed, it is hard to understand the BCCI's rationale. The more one ponders upon the issue, the more baffling it gets.
Instead of making the Aussies play at some of the toughest venues, like Chennai, Kanpur, Delhi and Kolkata, the BCCI gave them the gentle climes of Bangalore and Nagpur to find their feet in India.
One of the main reasons Australia struggled in the second Test in Chennai was Virender Sehwag, who scored 155. The other big factor was the heat and humidity. Just standing on the ground waiting for wickets to fall can sap a player's energy. These are precisely the conditions under which the Aussies should have been made to play if we wanted to emerge triumphant.
They believe that the crowds in India don't give them any space; they (the crowds) are noisy; they encroach on your territory. So what better way to add to their problems than make them play in front of a 100,000-strong fiercely patriotic audience at the Eden Gardens?
This policy of rotating venues is fine but when you are playing against the Australians you need to give your team the best chance; in fact, you need to give your team every chance you can. It is time that allotment of venues for the sake of votes is forgotten.
Think back to the start of the just-concluded Test series. What were the issues that dominated the cricketing scene?
They weren't the strategies that the team would be using to counter the Aussies but the BCCI elections and the telecast rights wrangle. Besides, the five-man selection committee was only chosen on September 30, four days before the first Test could begin.
Aren't four days too little to select the national team, one that had been struggling with injuries, form and without its best batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar?
Amazingly, it did not strike the BCCI that a series against Australia has achieved cult status in recent times. One really wonders whether it ever bothers about what goes on in the cricket field as long as the bucks keep coming in.
