It makes me feel so sad at the behaviour of these so-called fans towards the Indian team. Can't even heroes fail at times? Must we be so antagonistic towards our sons that police will be needed to protect their homes and families? What have they done wrong? Dacoity? Cheating? Scam? Murder? All this is done here itself and we are far more at ease w/these. I still can't understand this anger...is this the worst performance by an Indian team? There have been worse performances...but do the cricketers deserve this?
We have all been disappointed at the events happening in the World Cup'07, but must we lose all reason? Do we have the right to question their commitment towards their country? I don't believe that they performed badly by design. They know the rewards of performing well, so why the heck should they perform badly deliberately?
I firmly feel that enough is enough. Let's treat them w/dignity and understanding, and not selfishly as we have done so far. It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach at the comments readers have been coming out with in your columns..."don't come back", "Sachin, retire" etc. Whether we like it or not, they are our team, and we must stand by them thru thick and thin. They surely deserve this unstinting support and must have it when they r down, like now.
I respectfully urge cricket lovers to lay off the team India and give them the support they deserve for the many wonderful moments they have give us. Now there are too many people saying what's wrong w/the team...people who have got into the Team India band wagon v.recently are speaking as if they have been following the game for years...they will never understand the game and won't enjoy the game's niecties regardless of which team plays well. When are we going to understand that sometimes trying one's best isn't good enough. There are so many factors that control the game...guess that's why we are such great fans of the game!
As for this cry for youth, let's leave it to the selectors and coach...they are experienced cricketers and surely know what actually went wrong and will correct this in the future.
I am also amazed at this performance oriented payment system being discussed...is this a business oriented setup wherein motivation will be provided by money alone? This is a skill setup wherein one's mental and physical preparation goes hand in hand. I think playing well for India is the best motivation, and our cricketers are well aware of it.
About Greg Chappell, I feel he's done his best, and in fact we should use his considerable experience rather than pull him down. Fellow fans, let's give them a chance to correct matters rather than throw them away which will bring its own set of problems.
Let me end w/this final note to Team India: Men, we love you and welcome u back. Things have not been great in the past few days, but things will turn around soon. May be we needed this set back to spur us on to greatness. We (at least some of us well meaning fans) are behind you all the way. Remember the old saying? "The sky is darkest before dawn". Do work hard but remember to enjoy the game...that's what Viv Richards would say, I guess.
Three Cheers for Team India, World Cup 2011 Champs!!!
RE:Team India's return home
by Shivraj Menon on Mar 29, 2007 12:39 PM Permalink
Dear Fren.... Hero can fall.... 'HEROEs' shud never fall.... Hero can fall ONCE.. Hero shud never fall repeatedly....
A TEAM may fail rarely.... Repeatedly is not pardonable.....
Now here the above all happened... Further the main reason for such behaviour is not that the media had created a hype or so...
Just look the way the players body language.... while they played.... No dedication... No team coordination... Look the way Sachin out on first ball... Look the way Rahul's approach... Look the way Saurav's run rate maintained.. Look the way ... all the time.. Dhoni's walking style back to the pavillion.. The way Zaheer gave the catch in B'desh match.... IT IS THEIR LACK OF DEDICATION N LOYALTY TO THE GAME COUNTRY N COUNTRYMEN which is reason for the disappointment... Robin Uthappa fared very badly... BUT NO ONE is accusing him..coz if u see the way he played the dedication was there and all his outs are good outs and a bowlers outs... not a batsman's failure.... Thats all yaar... A repeated TEAM failure shud
RE:Team India's return home
by mohamed iqbal on Mar 29, 2007 12:16 PM Permalink
Dear SSM,
I totally agree with You .
But One Thing That weill have To do In future is not To Give too Much Importance to These players and consider Cricket as Just another Game .
And If corporates Restrict themselves from spending Huge money On these Guys , Hopefully the players would do their Best .
If what i Heard is true that These Players were Spending a week Before The Event Shooting for a Pepsi AD rather than Concentrating On The Big game , It is regrettable .
RE:Team India's return home
by srikanth on Mar 29, 2007 12:19 PM Permalink
its true game is just a game. but it doesnt mean we play without passion when u r representing ur country. u need to be proud to be representing ur country. instead our cricketers r showing that passion in those ads. i dont like that.
i certainly donot support fans attacking the cricketers property, stone pelting leave alone going anywhere near their families. but at the same time they need to show the passion at representing our country. i dont care abt the result of the match, but i certainly do care abt the way they play, abt the way they apply themselves on the field, look at the bdeshis, lankans, safricans, aussies...
so i wouldnt suggest stone pelting etc. its very very wrong. instead, we need to compell BCCI in taking some hard steps, like performance, form takes the criteria instead of stats, records, names, or even experience etc..
RE:Team India's return home
by george yacobu on Mar 29, 2007 12:23 PM Permalink
dear friend. please understand these players are heavely paid by our funds to do a job. they have failed to do their duty. declare that they are unfit to get the result also to play in future insted of building hope on them.
RE:Team India's return home
by abc on Mar 29, 2007 12:43 PM Permalink
dont feel so sad,friend.indian team deserve all these bcoz the team do not have involvement & dedication.they are making crores of money thru advertisements and from whom the advertisers are getting so much of money?from us,the consumers.
they won the match again bermuda.is bermuda a standard team to be qualified in world cup? our team india,with the best batting line of the world,lost matches against bangladesh & srilanka.its a part of every game - we may win or we may lose.but where was the commitment? where was the spirit?where was the urge to win? leave australia,our team should take lesson from bangladesh.
RE:Team India's return home
by Sasanka Mahapatra on Mar 29, 2007 02:48 PM Permalink
Thanks for the replies...some very thoughtful ones in them. One more point...haven't other cricketing nations gone thru these patches? West Indies have suffered from some of the worst patches recently. They were blanked out (Whitewashed) repeatedly in Tests. Aussies too went thru this kind of ignominy...remember how Kim Hughes cried while giving up his captaincy? Then Border took over and got positive results after quite some time. These are phases which all cricketing nations have gone thru...what's disappointing is the kind of support (or rather lack of it) that we die hard fans are giving them in these times... Regards, SSM
