Everyone’s a Cricket adept in India, except the cricketers

Let me the better judge of……We often use this sentence when it comes to judgment, yeah, didn’t we? ”Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances” as said by the great author ‘Wayne Dyer’ and in the same coarse ” As long as human behaviour is taken to be the norm, there can be no serious questioning of human traits and behaviour. A norm is by definition a standard for judging; it is not itself subject to judgment” as mentioned by the writer and the philosopher ‘Myriam Miedzian’. Contradictory but that’s the way it goes. Three types of people exists in this world – ‘The Players’, ‘The coaches’ and (ahem!) ‘The Experts’. No surprise then, the buzz about India-England battle started much before the tournament did. By the time, when it was about to begin every news/sports channel had chosen their panel of experts and websites and newspapers had null in on their columnists. No doubt, I too have registered with each of these websites and e-papers and tune into most of the discussions because they are quite interesting and pleasurable. It’s just that, at times, the subject of discussions becomes so silly, that it’s almost funny (or irritating, depending on your mood). Let’s try some of these observable things being said and debated during the tournament.

·         ‘Controlling nerves’ key for India (As it is not for any other team/player, don’t you think?)

·         Are Indian players prepared to play in English conditions (No, the only reason we are going there, as BCCI instructed us to go there)

·         India needs to keep positive approach (Tell me who holds negative approach when it comes to this level)

·         ICC must take serious actions on match-fixing (And the Indian Government must control corruption)

·         Mediocrity at crucial situations cost Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co. the match (Oh really?! Now How did you know that?)

Now before I continue, let me mention that I have no issues and equally have highest regards with the likes of Sir Vivian Richards, Sunil Gavaskar or Imran Khan speaking their mind about a game/player/team. They are legends who talk with conviction, passion and experience and at no point are their opinions malicious or biased. I do, however, have a problem with the ‘other’ category of speakers and I flinch when teams and individuals are judged, mocked, humiliated or worse, ‘written off’ because of one bad day on the field. First things first, selectors are no full or don’t get a kick out of choosing a bad team. Secondly, a good captain is one who believes in his team and stand up for it. And Dhoni and the men in blue are no different.

What happened at the English tour was not a first for a cricket fan, let alone an Indian cricket fan. It’s not the first time Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket has had a ripple effect on the rest of the team. It’s not the first time we’ve lost a very one-sided look battle. Praveen, Munaf and Ishant did, what Ajit agarkar, Ashish Nehra and S.Sreesanth has done on numerous occasions during their tenure. Still, there are lot of positives that you can look upon instead of only pressing negative buttons.

But to think these thoughts aren’t bugging Dhoni already or call him arrogant for not reacting in these tricky situations, is taking one’s ‘expert’ status a little too far. Currently, as I turn the pages of a newspaper or browse through news channels, I see little difference in the way cricketers and Bollywood celebrities are covered.

Now let us look at a very funny side of ‘Filmy portal headline’ and ‘Sports page headline’:-

       Bollywood: Ranbir Kapoor dumps Kaif or Fakhri? Cricket: Dhoni drops Gambhir or Raina?

       Bollywood: Aamir wants Salmaan to marry. Cricket: Akram wants Pak team to learn from Sachin.

       Bollywood: SRK is angry with Aamir on dog issue. Cricket: MSD blames his batsmen for the loss.

Cricket is no showbiz, my dear friends. Team India deserved to lose against England because the latter played better cricket. I’m sure the skipper is aware of his team shortcomings. Let’s allow him to get over them his way, shall we?