Journalists are quite fond of finding new angles to old, beaten-to-death topics. These so-called slants come in handy when you’ve few important things to report, or to be very, very concise, your team is slipping off the pedestal.

Andrew Stevenson, Sydney Morning Herald correspondent, alleges, based on his research from secondary (as opposed to primary and authorized) sources, that Indian cricket team’s selection is caste-based.

By chance or fate, he chose to visit the baby twice in Dr Purandare hospital noticing, to the horror of all on the second trip, that it wasn’t the same boy.

The tiny hole in the boy’s left ear – still visible today – was gone. A panicked search confirmed his judgement: the boy had been swapped with the son of a fisherwoman.

Gavaskar, from a proud, wealthy Brahmin family, the highest caste in the Hindu social order, had an uncle, Madhav Mantri, who played for India. It’s one of the great imponderables, a classic recasting of the nature-nurture divide to speculate whether Gavaskar, raised by a fisherwoman, could have played the game.

He might have had the eye and the dexterity to star in backstreet games, but would a fisherwoman’s son have played 125 Tests and scored 34 centuries? The chances may not have been great. The Brahmin caste, which forms only a tiny fraction of India’s population, has always dominated the national cricket side.

Don’t get me started on neuroscience. It’s my major. This is nature vs. nurture. Let’s leave it to the experts, Andrew.

“Why do their fielders not chase the ball to the boundary? Why do Indian batsmen rarely run for singles, apparently preferring to hit the ball to the fence or amble through for two runs in no obvious haste?” Anand wrote. “Having too many Brahmans means that you play the game a little too softly, and mostly for yourself.”

That sounds like some sort of conspiracy theory!

Despite his talents, Kambli was always booed and mocked at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Observers believed it was because of the dark colour of his skin. Not so, says Kambli. “I think it’s because of my caste.”

“I think” signifies you are opining. Facts please?

SECOND TEST SIDE

Castes among the Indian team’s Hindus:
Brahmin
Anil Kumble
Rahul Dravid
VVS Laxman
Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
R.P. Singh
Ishant Sharma
Jat
Yuvraj Singh
Rajput
Mahendra Dhoni

Of the team’s non-Hindus, Wasim Jaffer is a Muslim and Harbhajan Singh a Sikh.

Ow. I never knew about players’ castes, really, except for Harbhajan and Zaheer’s, obviously.

This is just very, very disappointing reporting from Sydney Morning Herald. Does anyone here actually believe this baloney?

Photo Credit: SMH

Post from: EveryJoe

Caste Apart: Australian Media’s Soft Journalism