Indian Cricket

Well Indian Cricket, I guess it would easily be the most talked about subject, spanning across all stratas of the Indian society and you will find people from all age groups taking part in it with the same enthusiasm and with an authority that would make you believe that the person really knows the game. But if truth be told, its just a game and should be treated in the same way. Bringing fanaticism to any sphere of life is cruel and bringing it to a sport all of us love is a shame. I seriously hope that the Indian public aided vastly by the immature Indian media and opportunist business strategist let the game be a game and let the lovers of the sport enjoy it, rather than kill it by creating all this hype and furore over every small thing. I will take the example of the latest fiasco, Indian performance in the ongoing world cup. India did not do all that well and being a competitive sport that it is, were promplty eliminated. Sob Sob Sob. I am dissappointed and so are millions of people all over India. But thankfully I am balanced enough not to let my disappointment tranform into acts of vandalism or to pass mean remarks about any sportsman. i just dont understand it, like its beyond my comprehension, one day when a player X wins you a match, you are so gung-ho about him, you will go on to say he plays for the country, he is the best, he will be promoted to a God like status and just a few bad days and he is relegated to be the worst thing that ever happened to Indian cricket. I have played the sport and I know what a win or loss is. You try to give your best effort whenever you step on the field and there would be days when the results wouldn't turn out your way. Those days sadly come (Unfortunately it happened for India in the World Cup) and you have to live with it. I played badly in one of my school match and I still remember it, one of the saddest days of my life when we lost to a rather poor team in our backyard(I scored a duck in the match, boooo hoooonn). As for the viewers, they watch the game, get disappointed if their team doesn't win, criticize the players and then move on, their memory is short lived (at least till your next loss), ; its the players who never forget the loss and are hurt the most. Take the example of a player like sachin, he walked into the team as a 16 year old, and then for the next 15 years he was like a God, everything he did was for the good of the country, for bringing pride to the Indian cricket, all his bruises and injury bear testimony to the fact that he put in alot of hardwork to bring alot of joy and ethusiasm to the fans of the Indian cricket. And now when he is out of touch, probably needs some public support, instead of rallying behind him and trusting him to make the right decision, we are so ready and eager to right an early obituary to him. This I believe is shameful and outright selfishness. If you trust the player to play well and someone who you looked upto for more than a decade, you got to be more careful before criticizing him. Its not just the public, its the irresposible Indian media which adds to the woes, a bunch of greedy ex cricketers who in their time didn't fractionally as good as Sachin (okay Sachin is too big a comparison, I would say a Ganguly or a Kumble) talk about his cricketing abilities (hahaha, this is out right mockery) and sicne Sachin and Indian cricket sells, would analyze anything and everything about them just to earn a few bucks and boost the TRP.SHAME ON THEM. Its all utter crap and has motivated me well enough to not waste any time on these news channels. And now I hear that greg chappel had some criticism of the Indian team , why do it now when its all over and when its the time to take the ownership, take the blame and rally with the players. And look at this person, at this time he is playing the blame game, shame on the man. He was not happy with the team, he could have quit, could have expressed his disappointment prior to the loss, that would have made him a man. Not this cowardly act. what if India had won the world cup, he would have quietly basked in the glory, and now that it has lost he is trying to come clean. I will now wish to end this. Take cricket as a sport, and if you like a player, remember that a sportsman has his fair share of ups and downs. If you trusted his judgement in his good days, give him fair time and the benfit of doubt when he is going through a lean patch. Only then would the sportsman have the confidence, belief of the support that he has, and no throwing stones and acts of vandalism just makes you a criminal and not a lover of this beautiful game.

PS:Sachin, you have been a great motivator and brought a thousand smiles on our face (okay there were disappointements too but that is common in a game), I have cheered for all your centuries and without my or anybody's support you have stood there alone and made this country and Indian cricket very proud, a feat that not many of your critics can boast of. You have handled all the adualtion with alot of grace and at this juncture I still trust in your judgement, and would like to see many more centuries flow from the lovely willow of yours. You were and are great and the day you leave Indian cricket will be a great loss. No matter what these greedy critics have to tell about you, people like us would live to tell the next generation that there was none like you. You made us all and this country proud (wish I could do something like you in my trade) and a big thanks for that.
Well I named Sachin but talking about Indian cricket, this would be so true about alot of others, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Saurav Ganguly to name a few.