Down With The Men In Blue - III

Down With The Men In Blue - III

I write (19/02/2003):

First and foremost is the point that i tried to make with my mail was that after all for heavens sake, its just a "GAME", lets not waste our 'patriotic energy' (again it might not be a usual term, but you all can guess what i mean...) on something like cricket...

1) Do you really believe that Sourav Ganguly & Co are happy that they are losing?

if i give YOU a Rs. 100 crore contract for five years which is in no way related to your performance, wouldn't your motivation (and plz these guys are professional cricketers, supposed to earn their living by cricket) be affected in how-so-ever smallest way...

2) Do you sometimes have a lean trot at your work or at your club level game or in your personal life, which lasts longer than you would like it to? And this despite your trying your best to overcome it?

is it a lean trot when we lose or a purple patch when we win... our teams ODI record stands testimony to this fact, i dont have to say much on this...

3) If at the end of two matches, one which India has won, and one which it has lost to Australia (who are incidentally favorites to win the World Cup, and perhaps one of the greatest teams ever in the modern day cricketing world) if we are to lose heart so early and easily, aren't we the biggest " losers " of all ourselves? Who are we to blame our cricketers for developing a 'loser' mind-set?

Again, its not the fact that they lost but they manner in which they lost, not played the full quota of fifty overs for the last nine matches... honestly i never felt our team have it in them to win the world cup (although i'd love to eat my words for once) but there are ppl who get carried away with all the hype created by the media around our rather modest team... I forgive these ppl... its a natural reaction...

4) Do you give India 0% chance of winning the World Cup after the defeat against Australia? If you have even an iota of faith in your team, should you be whining, cursing and complaining all the time?

I for one would be still going to see the Ind Vs Eng match on a big screen, its a game after all...

5) Why do you grudge your players their product endorsements, and commercial rights to earn their living? Unlike the majority of us who have a regular secure long-term occupations, they have a limited span of career (often cut short by injury - look at Jonty Rhodes, or form, selection politics, others, a la Shane Warne) to make their life earnings. And everyone does not become a TV commentator or a columnist. Would you give up your right to earn a legitimate income when you are being offered the same on a silver platter? Is being rich and successful a crime?
I'd like to quote a friend here... "When I pay money for something, I better get most out of it. Its like this, someone comes at ur door to get some donation 'coz s/he couldn't eat for several days. You give a pity on that person and give some money. later u find out that your money was misused in any way but not to fill the stomach, would u give money to the next person who comes at ur door? Probably not." (Thanx Manish) not Exactly but this could be analogous to the ads and for the products they promote... if you buy them because of the goodwill of these players... and they keep on losing, i think the guy concerned is justified in feeling cheated (maybe the goods are as good as the cricketers)...confession time -> I never bought a product because a cricketer endorsed it... but it is quite frustrating to see the very first ad that apppears after Sehwags dismissal from an atrocious stroke is the Reliance ad starring Sehwag playing a match winning stroke

6) Hasn't the same Indian team, with a similar team composition, done us proud right until the disastrous tour of New Zealand? Everyone scoffed and sniggered at the West Indies sometime back and look how happening they suddenly look? Don't we have the maturity to understand the volatilities and slumps and plateaus that can happen to both form and performance at any given time? Is losing a cardinal sin? How about discussing the amazing skills of the Aussies and the sunny spirit of the Dutch?

Great Point... how i wish many of us could be mature enough to discuss cricket as a GAME but all of us know that passions run so high that its definitely more than a game...we are a nation devoid of heroes...politicians are scamsters, filmstars have underworld links, Social workers are scoffed at, managed to win two bronze medals in the last two olympics... many ppl look upto cricketers as an expression of their aspirations of being a world beating nation...naturally the passions and the stakes both are high...

7) Do we appreciate the way the South African public is handling their disappointment so far, hosts and favorites, and yet facing the prospect of not making it to the Super Six? It's easy to say that they have played good cricket but a loss is still a loss. By the way, the Indians under Mohd Azharuddin were playing outstanding cricket too (in fact, they had just earlier played a phenomenal game to beat Pakistan in Bangalore)but we were so unforgiving when they lost to the Sri Lankans, and that too in the semi-finals? So where do we draw the line between sanity and senility?

Firstly Cricket is not that big a thing in SA (and i suspect even Rugby might not be as huge as cricket is in India), as i just wrote before most of the people do not understand that its just a game...

8) Are you aware of the fact that the Brazilian team was not even likely to qualify for the World Cup in soccer, but eventually ended up winning it last year? In the last cricket World Cup, Australia came back from the abysmal dumps to win seven matches in a row to win the title when the were facing the prospect of an early elimination? Remember the Pakistan victory in 1992? Or at best, our own in 1983? Do you then concur that a difficult beginning often prepares you for tougher matches at a later stage?

How all of us would love if our (lopsided) heroes manage this feat... but infact its the realization that nothing of this sort could ever happen to our men that there is so much frustration...

9) When you are going through a bad patch, what encourages and motivates you? Someone who humiliates you further, rubs salt into your wounds, castigates you incessantly, and reminds you of the consequences of your failure? Or someone who tells you to move on, and inspires you to believe in your abilities, and to treat every failure as a stepping-stone to further success? And that finally it is a sport - a game - and a gentleman's game at that - even today. What do you think is the Indian team expecting from us when they are perceptibly struggling?

Even after the disastrous tour of New Zealand, people were so enthusiastic, there were 20 ft bats with 100,000 signatures, all sorts of music videos, all channels beaming good luck messages...the hype created an unbridled optimism...no one felt the need to dissect indias chances dispassionately... but when the inevitable happened and reality began to sink in... this backlash was bound to happen... blame it on the media, mob mentality whatever... ppl feel they are being cheated when they see these ads... try to understand that by nature we are an emotional country... we take our decisions with our heart and not our minds (remember the IC814 hijacking)...

10) Should the team bounce back and put up a great show, will those of us who have accused them of self-profiteering, deliberate intent to lose, and all sorts of uncharitable remarks, seek to compensate them for the same? Will the same people go to Mohd Kaif's house and paint it white again? Will we start doing a victory procession after every match to express our solidarity for the team? Or will we suddenly become the next biggest turn coats in town, and say, "They are playing better because of the pressures they knew we were giving them" ???

what happened at Kaif's house was a reprehensible act... but as i said we are emotional country and pardon me, emotional ppl by definition are fools... most of us would forget what happened as if it were a bad dream and it'll be like nothing ever happened and we always were the greatest side in the world, as i said emotional ppl are fools and when they are optimists too... its a rather strange concoction... dont worry too much about what we'll do if this or that happens, we live in the present doing everyting in the heat of the moment, past doesnt bother us and future doesnt perturb us...

Ladies and gentlemen, the Indian cricket team needs us now. Our support. Our encouragement. Our motivation.

Bravo...