I am at a loss to understand the outrage our countrymen having been showing to our cricketers for their dismal performance in the 2007 world cup. Are we trying to say that we have never heard of losses before by our team? I thought we were used to seing one every now and then.
Dating back to the snuff out we had in the test match in England, where our team under Ajit Wadekar was ripped apart by John Snow and company - till date, we have seen innumerable number of losses. But the reactions have never been this extreme. The reason: the hype created by the sponsorers, media and also we (the fans). The unwanted pressure built up on the Indian team to perform - was hitherto unheard of.
If you go by any past statistics we have always occupied the fifth or sixth position in both versions of the game (albeit a couple of occassions). Then why this mass hysteria this time?
In the good old days when Radio commentary was still on and the TV was just getting in, Indian losses were the order of the day. Even those days we had seen scathing attacks made on all the past cricketers including the giants of that time (some of whom are my personal favourites). But no one carried mock funeral processions or pelted stones at their houses. This was never heard of. Now dont tell me that we did not have fans those days and that we have fans only these days. That is hard to believe.
I would put it differently now. We have more fanatics now than ever before - I use that word because quite a few times in these columns I saw the mention of cricket being a religion in our part of the world. Well one sees it as a religion then it is to be related to downright fanaticism - for a true sports lover, cricket still remains a sport with the required changes to be made to infuse life into the game and its supporters.
I also saw someone mention - when we give something we need to get something in return. I quite dont understand that statement. What did we give to get back - our working hours, our sleep and what else? In what way did we help the cricketers except by praying for their good luck and good performance?
