Cricket Crazy Nation

 CRICKET CRAZY NATION Before coming behind me with cricket bats, let me state that I am a huge fan of Cricket. So please don’t hate me as soon as you start reading this article. Like everyone k...

CRICKET CRAZY NATION

Before coming behind me with cricket bats, let me state that I am a huge fan of Cricket. So please don’t hate me as soon as you start reading this article.

As everyone knows, in India, Cricket is just a game. It is a religion with a huge number of followers. As Ashish Nanday claimed, “Cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by British.” In how many countries would work crawl practically to a halt during a major match; crowds stay awake till the wee hours of the morning to hear the result of a match from abroad and thousands of people seriously worship the posters of cricket legends in their sacred temples? None, but our own dear India. Our cricketers indeed occupy a place in people’s hearts rivaled only by Gods.

I would shamelessly like to admit that I strongly ( and of course, proudly) believed that Cricket is our national game till my G.K teacher shattered all my hopes in class five and told me that it was Hockey. (Yes, it was very embarrassing)

However, the point is that this random game called CRICKET has practically sidelined all other sports played in our country. Be it hockey, weight lifting, polo, or even the indoor ones like chess, etc. It is really sad that our women's volleyball team is not even getting proper food and accommodations for their national matches when the high-and-mighty cricketers travel in Limousines, BMWs, and what not ( run on government expense). For a minute, throw away the true cricket patriot in you and answer this question: Is this fair?

While all other sports on one hand are deprived of proper playing equipment and venue, in cricket, sponsors are ready to spill crores just to see their company logo on the jersey of the Indian cricket team. As a game, it has divisions in itself. It is the most chauvinist pig kind of game I have ever witnessed. How many of you can tell the name of the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team? (Google search is not allowed!) It’s not only shameful but also sad that the same game has such a vast viewership difference, just because the people of different genders are playing. In one of the world cups, our so-popular men’s cricket team could not even qualify for the super eight but our women’s team won the coveted cup and made the nation proud.

A kind of cold war has cropped up in India, with all the sports being played in our country versus cricket. The highlight of this war is that, instead of the kingdom, viewership is at stake. The winner gets the fame, money, glory, and whatnot.

Our much-criticized media also plays a key role in highlighting no other sport but cricket. Before each, there is at least a two-hour program, where you can find Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri discussing the condition of the pitch, weather, many strategies, etc. And of course, after the match, there is a prolonged and outstretched three-hour analysis of the entire game. Isn’t this supposed to be a news channel showing some real ‘news’, something related to the country and its people and not just eleven sweaty men and their over-hyped game?

Let me give you an example. When the Babri Masjid verdict was declared, no one cared about people’s response towards the decision or where was India standing on the preparation of the upcoming Commonwealth games. The front-page headline was “India beats Australia in the test series.” It’s hilarious that when more than thousands of people were dying from the dengue epidemic, the media was concentrating on Yuvraj’s finger injury and Dhoni’s honeymoon.

The point is, viewership and victory are directly proportional to each other (and for those who get nightmares about physics tests, viewership and victory go hand in hand.) when a sportsman knows that all eyes and hopes are pinned on him, he gets an urge to perform better. Surely, the commonwealth games have given life and boost to the sporting culture of India. Sports like kabaddi and boxing are gaining popularity, thanks to celebs. Love cricket but give some space in your hearts for other sports too. Thus, if we want our country to excel in all sports as we do in cricket, then we have to support our players and give them true motivation.