We, as Indians are overly critical of things we’re passionate about. Be it the policies of the current NDA government, nationalism interspersed with flavors of patriotism, Bollywood sagas etc. etc. How can a religion like cricket be far behind?
As a satirical article put it, “Not criticizing the Indian team is… Unhealthy to our culture! I mean… We need our daily dose! We have these national icons, who we need to keep bashing on a regular basis!”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently pointed out after the Asia cup win, “I believe, in India, everyone has an opinion on issues and especially on cricket. There is freedom of expression and everyone is entitled to an opinion. Play like this, play like that, do like this, do like that. The problem is cricket looks a bit easier on television than when we play it on the ground,”
With the loss to New Zealand in the ongoing 2016 T20 World cup, millions of Indians took up stands on various social media circles and elsewhere about what exactly was wrong with the Indian cricket team. Commentators, news anchors, ex-cricketers along with the billion fanatics all had their iota of advice for the Indian cricket team.
The Indian cricket fans are the lifeline of the game, the reason for cricket’s overwhelming popularity in India, the ones who make demi-gods out of mere mortals.And they are the same people who bring them crashing down to earth if their emotions are hurt in any form or way. They are the reason that makes the BCCI the richest cricket board in the world. So this makes the Indian players and the selectors accountable.
I give it to you – the batsmen played some careless and needless shots. It can be said that nobody looked like owning up the responsibility to finish the match barring Kohli and Dhoni. In fact, no batsman really applied themselves on a pitch that asked them to respect the good balls and spend some time at the crease. As it happened, the curators got all the rollicking.
A case for applying yourself no matter the conditions
New Zealand came into this WC being the dark horses and not without reason. They have brought a fairly inexperienced side with the absence of retired Brendon McCullum. However, in the two games they’ve played so far, the Kiwis have defended low totals of 126 and 142 with ease against India and Australia respectively thanks to some brilliant captaincy from Kane Williamson and with their inexperienced spin options, they outplayed both the teams.
But amidst all this, we fail to realize that cricket in its essence is unpredictable. And that is exactly what makes this sport so great to watch and follow. Somewhere deep down, we all love the upsets when the underdogs against all odd beat the favourites.
You might say “What good is a sport if it doesn’t have its share of uncertainties and becomes too predictable?” That is of course until our very own India happens to be on the losing side and the fans go berserk.
In the past, we had placed our faith in the very same cricket administration, the selectors, the team members, the coaches, and the pitch curators – the entire setup which helped us win the Cricket World Cup in 2011.
Having entered this T20 world cup with a 10 match winning streak, it was only natural for fans to have huge expectations from this team. But with a game as unpredictable as T20, the tides can turn towards any side at any moment. It’s high time we repose our faith on the Men in Blue.
As fans, we just need to sit back, relax and enjoy the various facets that the gentlemen’s game has on offer and take the defeat with a pinch of salt. Criticism from fans and media is necessary for the sport as it keeps all the stakeholders on their toes, but being extremely critical just doesn’t help, rather brings the morale of the entire team down. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and not give the other teams any ‘Mauka’ moving forward in this tournament.
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