Disappointment is a normal reaction upon failure/defeat, but I can't fathom the insanity of enraged fans vandalising public and private property. Political parties seem to enjoy the tamashaa only to have a reaction geared to suit their agenda.
Media and endorsement companies fuel fanaticism overhyping our Cricketers portraying them as GODS who can do no wrong. Fans then have sky high expectations. The players themselves love to indulge in their acquired God-like, larger than life image and wax eloquent on it...they can't get enough of hero worship making tall claims on several mediums thus inflicting the ensuing backlash upon themselves when they fail to deliver. Our cricketers need to draw the line and condemn hero-worship to re-educate their fans (via interviews/ads) that they are mere mortals capable of mistakes, errors and failure like any other. It is human to err. And that true strength of a man lies in learning from failure to be a stronger person. Be it a game or life.
When a fan sells body organs to watch a live Cricket event, it is time players took the initiative to curb fanaticism for their own protection.
Sachin Must be dropped from the team. I agree that he has scored plenty of runs for india.
But he is failed in almost all the Crucial matches in the past 5-6 years. Because of the pressure on him, he is losing his wicket immediately.
It's a time to remove sachin, Schewag, dhoni and Agarkar. I don't know how agarkar is getting berth in the team in all the world cup matched. He is coming under the category of "All rounder". But he don't bat and bowl well.
The BCCI can find thousands of talented guys than agarkar in each city. He is the only proof that how corrupted (Recommedation) our indian team.
RE:No Place to Sachin
by Shankar Panday on Mar 27, 2007 07:25 AM Permalink
its not Sachin, not Dravid or Sehwag...all these guys are fine players and probably the best in the business...India's defeat is more cultural- a lack of killer winning spirit, and too much emphasis on the self..India has always been obsessed with individuals than team wins...we hv the Gavaskars, the Tendulkars, the Bedis & Chandrasekhars, but hardly match winners..ever.
more than cricketers its we, the indian fans who r responsible for our debacle.
I could see it on TV the pressure was showing on the players, and who put so much pressure on them. Its "we". Its really stupid of us to expect our team to win every world cup that they walk into.. or every match that they play.
I am sure they could have won if under less stress, but we.. throw stones, burn effigies, damage houses... thats what you call height of irrresponsibility.
We DO NOt deserve a victory from our team. We are bad fans.
Team India should stop acknowledging the ovations, claps, and fan favours when they r in good times. may be then we shall be forced to introspect..
I am amazed at the vitriol and nasty language hurled at Sachin. I do understand our frustrations, our disappointment and our capitulation in the WC, but dont, please dont pull down a man we ourselves placed on a pedestal. Lets not bring him down and sully him.
More than anger, I felt sadness when I saw that ball sneak in and bowl Tendulkar. Sadness that a giant has fallen, A MAN the likes of whom have NEVER walked the Indian sports scene.
What has Tendulkar given us over the almost 2 decades he has played for India. He has given his life, his passion and his commitment. How many times have we watched in awe, in slack-jawed amazement, stayed up all nights to watch him play and shout and cherish and admire his skill, his talent, his 100% commitment to team India.
We have loved his pure, uncomplicated, clean style of batsmanship. No scandals, no controversies, just a simple desire to excel and dominate bowlers.
From the moment he walked into our lives as a curly haired, chubby cheeked, 16 year old to the time he has matured, his body taking its toll, his back, elbows, knees, shoulders, all groaning under this weight of expectations of a billion people, we have admired him, worshipped him and revered him.
He will surely go one day and leave our cricket fields the poorer, but hasnt he earned the time and method of his departure. He is a man of immense personal pride and he will go BEFORE he is asked to, but let him decide that. He has earned that right. WE gave him that right when he won our hearts and souls.
To boo him and to insult him is an affront to this man, this professional, this DON of our generation.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by joseph on Mar 27, 2007 12:26 AM Permalink
You are correct to some extent. You should never put them on the pedestal in the first place. he is a great batsman i totally agree. but stop calling him DON, winner of hearts and souls, batting GOD i mean dont you think it's crual on your part to raise the expectations to that high. And then he comes around when needed and throws away his wicket..what happens people realised the reeking mortality of this GOD (That you created) and then they are Pissed... I respect that man however no matter how much you sell i will never buy that he is a batting GOD and i always keep my expectations under check. But i'm a minority in this cricket fan world my friend. So please for his future sake stop worshipping him and enjoy his mortal success and skills.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by Rohit on Mar 27, 2007 01:06 AM Permalink
If Sachin does really have a lot of personal pride as Mr.X would have us believe, here are some options on the table. (i)Play in the domestic circuit, PERFORM, live up to his name and get back on the team based on MERIT alone. This is only if he is still passionate about playing for our country. (ii)Accompany the Indian cricket team as an advisory member/coaching staff, devising strategies and also motivate young cricketers to excel on the international arena. This is only if he is still passionate about the game. (iii)Budding young cricketers idolizing Sachin would love to get themselves trained and learn valuable lessons/techniques from him if he can perform such a role. This is only if he is still passionate about his fans.
Sadly, none of these options are about to happen now as it may not be to Sachin's liking. These options that I laid out don't pay as much as being part of the playing XI. So let us not count on it.
Like millions of Indian cricket fans, I am just tired of watching these HEROES on paper turn to ZEROS on the field. We all need to be held accountable. Otherwise no good can come out of anything. No more half-hearted actions when one senior cricketer is preferred over the other. What's good for the goose...good for the gander. So its time these senior cricketers quit with grace and young guns who are eager for a chance to perform be given a fair chance. I am sure a nation of 1 billion can find readily new talent. Will the BCCI do something about this or will it all just be another hogwash? By the way...if you feel this is all just a dream. Do we all not have a right to dream? Am I right people??
RE:RE:Give Sachin a break
by KapilRaj Koroth on Mar 27, 2007 03:20 AM Permalink
Everybody talks of this young team, Tell me one single batsman who can replace sachin AT HIS CURRENT FORM. Spare him please .. I do not yet think it is time for him to retire.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by Kaushal Desai on Mar 27, 2007 12:06 AM Permalink
All poetry is for hero-worshippers ....the fact is that our DON never won us any crucial game. He might be a great batsman, but he is a coward when it comes to winning from dire situations. The fact is all three Indian giants -Tendulkar,Dravid,Ganguly and to some extent the smaller giants , Yuvraj and Dhoni have forever lost the confidence of the indian fans by acting like sissies when it really mattered. We dont need gentlemen, we need players who can destroy any opponent for national pride ....at will!
RE:Give Sachin a break
by on Mar 27, 2007 04:35 PM Permalink
There are an assortment of culprits who are to blame for India's horrible exit from the WC 2007. the most visible and obvious culprits are of course the players and the board. So we boo them, stone their houses, let the beasts within us rage. And when they win a game, we shove the beast deep underneath and burst firecrackers of joy.
The next culprits are, of course, the Board. Culprits simply because they seem more interested in drawing itineraries that ensure the BCCI retains its status of Numero Uno cash cow in the world. I don't see the logic of this, because being the numero uno cash cow should give it the advantage of leverage. And yet we see white men belittle us, spit at us, white umpires turn the other way when such things happen, and fine us for 'bringing the game into disrepute' when our players appeal excessively.
Then there is the media and the corporate sector. These are the biggest culprits. The media more so because they are the ones who are mainly responsible for whipping us into a frenzy by airing those insane ads that the corporates shove on their platter - World Cup Cola being the worst example. What did Pepsi hope to gain out of that ad? Not the sincere wish of every Indian that the players make the words of the ad come true; they hoped to gain the 20 bucks or so that each of us would shell out to buy the same trashy pesticide-filled cola in a golden hue. The media is the one that promotes these frenzies, and the moment India loses, they put on their hangman's masks and go about vilifying the players. They have nincompoops in the name of anchors who make it their agenda to ensure that everyone hears what they feel - that Dravid and Chappell should be sacked (check the CNN program called Tryst with Disaster - an insult to CNN that it actually aired a program of that kind).
And lastly, we have ourselves, the fans - we burn, loot, stone...that to me sounds like a 15th century hun's behavior than a 21st century cricket fans. We are a nation so starved of winners that we tend to elevate a bunch of young cricketers who have no clue about handling pressure - that is of course a very indian trait - to the status of gods, and when these poor guys fail, we let the beasts within us emerge. Instead of that, if only we could work at the grassroots to ensure that we had more than a bunch of young guys, maybe hundreds of them, to choose from...it would have helped Indian cricket a lot. But we are what we are, and this is how it will always be. We chose foreign coaches because the Indian ones were found to be good for nothing...now we are saying sack the foreign coach. You can hire God as the coach of the Indian team, but as long as someone does not work on the mental side of things, it will always be how it has been. Bleak, with flashes of inspiration. I would not call it brilliance. Just every dog having his day.
The best option for Team India at the moment looks to have two different teams for ODIs and Tests. ODI team needs to focus on harnessing the youth and thereby preparing the team for the next World Cup. Tests teams need to assimilate the youth and experience. Dravid can be retained the captain. Or some can think Tendulkar as a captain for certain time which I don%u2018t think is really feasible in the circumstances of Tendlya himself failing as the captain in the past. And there is no one who can really take the captaincy except Yuvraj from the youths. It may be difficult for Yuvi to have real team control as long as some senior players are present in the team. Yuvraj is my vice captain first and may be the captain after two years. I definitely want to see him as India captain in the next world cup. Agarkar and Kumble must retire from both versions of the game. Bhajji, Dhoni, Pathaan, and Sehwag and Kaif must be asked to regain their form and fitness through the domestic games. They must be picked up in the team only after they start spurring confident performances of about a year. Some of them might opt to do as Zaheer has done through County cricket. Sporadic shows must not be basis of selection.
RE:Curse of Indian Cricket !!
by Michael Raj on Mar 27, 2007 12:24 AM Permalink
This is true in Indian cricket. As long as Pawar and Vengsarkar there there will be Sachin and Ajit and so many other players from Maharashtra. That is the way the selection is made in this country. India is not going to be a great cricketing power whatever step one takes to improve the game as it is dominated by so called certain categories and they do not have that killing instict like the Aussies or for that matter the Safs. Stop dreaming and concentrate more fruitful things in life.
RE:Best way to avoid such disasters in future.
by Bob Woolmer on Mar 26, 2007 11:04 PM Permalink
Yaar 50 saal se Kashmir mien Pakistan ne pichwade mein charas kar rakhaa hai uski to jhaant ukhaar naa paa rahe yeh log.Bangladesh aur Sri Lanka per kya attack karengee.
Pichwade mein nahee Gooda to Lanka mein kyon Kooda
RE:Public pole
by Chhora Allahabadi on Mar 26, 2007 11:10 PM Permalink
Moron, It's not Indian team. It's BCCI team. Are you such a stupid who can not understand that how the private companies work?
RE:Public Pole
by Sage Oracle on Mar 26, 2007 11:28 PM Permalink
Parag, you are a real gujjubhai. No difference between Poll and Pole or Hall and Hole.
