This says it all(-worma)

Managed to catch some time...and besides following the draw-headed Eng-Pak match, had a look at some other stories. The England tour schedule issue is now getting the Indian tint. After Anad Vasu's take on cricinfo comes this wonderful column from Rahul Bhattacharya. And this one is probably the most balanced of it all, leaving virtually nothing uncovered.

Everybody's just been so miserable about the whole thing! The Indian board has been needlessly petty and typically incompetent and whoever will be ruling it next week ought to make a few amendments quickly. In the response of the English media there has been the conceited assumption that they're being chucked into the toilet bowl and a woeful absence of adventure.

That just about sums it up, doesn't it.

And Rahul even manages to make a sales pitch to the 'tourist' interests being put-off by the English media reports!

Look at this picture and ask whether you'd really want to pass up a chance to watch or play cricket here. Himalayan Dharamsala, Bohemian Goa, Agartala and Guwahati in the forgotten Northeast, Kochi and Visakapatnam in the tropical South, more than a week in Bombay, half a week in Delhi, a whiff of Calcutta, provincial towns here there and everywhere... They may hate some of these places, love some, stay indifferent to some, but each will add to their understanding of the country in a broader and deeper way than a hop about the metros alone. Even if not configured specifically for the twenty-first century pro-sport outfit or the Barmy Army and package tour-operators, there is much for the curious traveler. You would have thought that some voice somewhere would indicate a wee bit of excitement at the prospect. Ultimately a sense of discovery, not luxury accommodation, makes a tour what it is.

And I do sincerely hope that voices like his are heard, above the din, by all interested parties, both in India and in England.

p.s. spoke too soon about the match...this is England...its never over :-)