THE SHOCK ELIMINATION AND ITS AFTERMATH

Some people say it’s a gentlemen’s game while some say it’s a game played by 11 fools with 11000 fools watching. Whatever it is, this game continues to fascinate me. I’ve seen a lot of great moment and some unsavoury moment as well which sums up the uncertainty nature of this beautiful game.

As an Indian fan, I too had some hope that the Indian team will reach atleast the semi finals. Though I never believed the team will win the tournament, there was chance of making the semi finals as only 3 other teams are playing well. But what happened was a rude shock, a first round elimination. Some people say it’s because of the pressure of a billion fans the Indian team could not perform but the fact was they were required to beat only Bangladesh and Bermuda to advance to the next stage. The reactions back home was very much predictable, cries all over calling for inclusion of youngsters, to change the captain and coach. The problem with an average India fan is that he doesn’t view it in the way should be. Why don’t we just see it as a game of cricket?

The main reason is the hype generated by the media. Over the years the media, particularly the news channels, have created an obsession among the people. The media made sure our country be referred as a cricket mad nation, that every one says Cricket is a religion and Sachin is a god here. Every match’s been dissected for hours by the so called experts in the news channels. First thing these news channels do is referring players by nick names. Sultan of Multan, Prince of Kolkata, Little Master, The Wall, and Dada… the list goes on.

As far as the politicians are concerned, Cricket has become a issue of national interest. We hear about disruptions in parliament, but they discussed at length when our team was bundled out for a poor score in South Africa. They cried that the nation’s pride was hurt. I could only wish they discuss the more important issues like women’s reservation bill in this manner. I just can’t understand the logic behind the Jharkhand government’s decision to give a house to Dhoni. Can’t he afford a home on his own or had the government developed the whole state into such prosperity?

And the fans too overreact. One day they perform pujas wishing good luck, conduct signature campaigns and if the team fails they conduct funerals, burn effigies and do all sort of crazy things. Any rational fan could have easily said India hardly had a chance of winning the world cup, yet the hype was created about the team and when they crumbled, there were flaks from all around.

Some of the players seem to have forgotten the fact that no individual is bigger than the game. As Mark Waugh rightly put, the players from sub continent seem to play for individual records. The players just don’t play as a team. When they were winning it was largely due to individual brilliance. The team has a lot of players who stay based on their past performances and reputation. There is not a single player to fight with character against the odds with the possible exception of Dravid. No doubt, we have a lot of skilled cricketers, but to win consistently, skills alone are not sufficient, it is the character that matters the most.

Two years back, the Selectors backed some youngsters and brought them into the team. When they failed in few matches they reverted back saying experience cant be ignored. Now we are caught in the middle. The painful thing is that the BCCI never seem to learn. They’ll change perhaps the coach and the captain. Chop off a couple of players to tour Bangladesh. But what about the real core issues. What’s going to be done to make sure that the team wins consistently, be it home or abroad? The media will project as revenge of the Blue billion. Sachin will ask us to eat sunfeast biscuits, Dhoni will ask us to use Mysore sandal soap. And, of course the Indian fan will continue to crave for the stars.

The way forward is to identify talented and tough cricketers and grooming them without worrying about the results for the next few years. That’s what happened in Australian cricket in the late 80’s and more recently in the South African cricket.
with luv,
Vijay h