World cup cricket tournaments have their share of surprises. The world cup 2007 is turning out to be anticlimax. The teams, which were expected to stand on the victory podium, were knocked out in the preliminary round and the death of coach under mysterious circumstances. The incident has cast a dark shadow and a sad commentary on the gentleman game in the grip of bookies.
Coming to performance of the hot favorites, what was intended to be warm-up matches for the fancied teams, Indian and Pakistan turned out to be their waterloo? Teams from the subcontinent were made to bite the dust by minnows. The Indian’s never looked a confident team of reaching the second round; leave lone wining the world cup. Having watched the India, Bermuda match in bit and pieces, our teams early exist did not come as a surprise to me. Indian players were struggling to middle the ball, against a pedestrian attack. With the writing on the wall in a highly surcharged match Indian took the Lankans and result was predictable. With such pathetic display, they did not deserve a place in round two.
They are lessons to be learnt for cricket fans too! Cricket fans performed Yagnas invoking gods for Indian teams success. When Bangladesh inflicted a humiliating defeat, fans broke into frenzy. Indian fans disappointment at the team’s poor performance can be understood. With crores of rupees being spent on the team preparation, hiring a foreign coach for an exorbitant fee, the least expected from the Indian cricket team is to the reach the second round. The selectors vow an explanation to the nation on team India’s dismal performance. But there is no justification in rampaging our cricketer’s houses and physically harming their family members. Houses of Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards were not pulled down by irate mobs when lowly rated Indian team dethroned reigning champions West Indies in the 1983 world cup. This shows we are not a matured nation. After all cricket is a game and it and it should be seen as such. We Indian have a hypnotic obsession for cricket, showering our players with gifts, lands and houses and trample them when they fail. The media cannot absolve itself of the blemish as the media hype has made our cricket stars as national heroes, hence the disappointment. There a host of factors that affect the final outcome of a match. It is the great team that emerges victorious and not a good team. And alas! Indian’s have never been a great team. We had lost in the past and continue to lose in the future, if BCCI fails to address the basic problems that plague Indian cricket.
Next time if India loses a cricket match, cricket buffs pull up the selectors!
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1 comment:
Dot on target!
Cricket is a game. Winning and losing are a part of it. Losing a cricket match does not make any country inferior nor winning the match any superior. Victory simply shows that a team is good at throwing a ball and the other bad at hitting it or vice versa!
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