There is a lot hullabaloo going around on our Cricket team’s shock Defeat to Australia, only an indicator of how we are seeing Cricket ODI World Cup as a sort of Shopping souvenir as we spend a lot on Cricket. Its bit worrying as we have not asked ourselves have we equipped ourselves bullet proof for all near death circumstances, to win this mega-event. Instead, our World Cup effort turned out to be a theorem of Money alone can’t buy Happiness. Since we fretted too much on our loss like a Kid suddrdenly grabbed off his imaginary lollipop, let’s understand why we imagined the lollipop first, by digging deeper.
Playing Catch me if you Can with the Law of Averages
There are again lot of theories if the Law of Averages really work out or not. I go through seven traffic signals on my work. Sometimes I am lucky to pass through 4-5 green lights but it will be never all green. Ofcourse I am not Israel and the traffic signal is not mindless Biden to give green light without considering consequences. It’s painful to see even a supposedly dumb traffic signal is so smart nowadays if not All knowing American President.
So, what are my ways to work out a winning solution to bypass traffic signals. I could change the rules by asking the Office/ School timing to change to early morning hours to avoid traffic, if I am a big Dumbo, or skill myself and start early, accepting the norms. Tell me which will help in the long run? The problem with the law of averages is that I don’t know if such thing exist or it really works out, but what BCCI did under its crooked Gujarat model is to change the rules of the game to suit our Win, rather looking to build a balanced team delivering consistent results. For starters, BCCI changed the rules of recent Asian Cup mid-event to allow reserve day just for India-Pakistan match.
”Focus on taking the right actions, regardless of immediate outcomes, as the act itself is what truly matters.”
Mahatma Gandhi
I was part of an average satire during my college days on cricket, where we worked out a scenario where the ball got caught in a rat hole in the cricket outfield and its administrators deciding to use a football bigger than the rat hole, to avoid such scenarios. With the current BCCI leadership, we are in a danger of such poor satires turning to reality, with the blind blessings from ICC.
Consider this scenario… BCCI banned Srilankan Board when it realised it might not be controlled like a lap dog under Arjuna Ranatunga. It got suspended on the grounds of political influence on the Cricket Board. Wonder if we could adopt same measuring scale, how would someone like Jay Shah who got no credentials in Cricket except for sharing the common surname of Home Minister of India, is not a political influence but a true blue cricket administrator. At least Ranatunga was a World cup winning Captain. Someone from ICC need to bell this fat nepotist cat, on the same grounds applied to Sri Lankan Board, to keep the spirit of the game alive and bright, which is currently going reckless with autocratic whims. Other countries should understand BCCI, could be a champion revenue generator, with an ornamental hand like Thanos, but it could just deliver only one handed clap or a meek flip, destructing the International Boards.
“You’re Strong, But I Could Snap My Fingers And You’d All Cease To Exist.”
Thanos
A beautiful Op-ed by Barney Ronay distills the prodigy Jay Shah’s achievements. Clue: it’s a Birth achievement not on silly merit or performance.
This is Jay Shah’s World Cup in more ways than one. It is, after all Jay Shah’s sport to start with. Shah, who has been head of the BCCI for the last four years, is the most powerful single person in any sport anywhere in the world.
The real issue with Shah’s status as unelected world boss is that he appears at first glance to be a prodigy, an administrator of such skill he was able to rise to become head of the BCCI aged just 31, and to do so while, by a startling coincidence, carrying the same surname as Narendra Modi’s right-hand man and chief minister Amit Shah, who, in an even more profound coincidence – just fancy that – turns out to be Jay Shah’s dad.
In the last few months alone Shah has run a World Cup, taken over the running of the Asia Cup because he felt like it, while maintaining a guiding hand on the world’s second most potent franchise league after the NFL. This week Arjuna Ranatunga accused Shah of running Sri Lankan cricket as an after-hours hobby.
Ranatunga is of course right because, in effect, Jay Shah runs all cricket, right down from the international calendar, to when the County Championship gets to play, to what ends up on your Sky subscription. At the end of quite a short chain of cause-and-effect, it is Jay Shah who decides whether the cricket you love is going to be allowed to breathe, or indeed to exist at all.
There has been a campaign to fluff Shah’s image in recent times, to portray him as a fearless and go-getting moderniser, with a PR agency engaged to gloss his media profile. Against this a brilliantly detailed study of cricket’s ruling regime by Sharda Ugra published in the Caravan magazine shows Shah behaving as an autocrat, taking months to OK basic office admin, surrounding himself with sycophants, trailed by bodyguards and aides. As for the BCCI’s lack of detailed accounts, this same organisation that sluices such a vast proportion of the sport’s money through its coffers, well, that remains another untold story.
As cricket aficionados, if we are real well wishers of our Cricket, we should have questioned such BCCI antics of becoming “Masters of Entire Cricket Science” without even drafting a syllabus or exam, where only certificate matters not the hard studies. Unfortunately, we did NOT! So, when BCCI said it will design the pitch on its own cheap wish and dig its own grave, we happily chummed “Yes!”, like succumbing to the Pied piper guiding the mischief to the cliff, craving for a global validation by competing in a contest involving countries countable on fingers.
“The hardest choices require the strongest wills”
Thanos
The post is just not about the Shahenshah of Cricket as he is not a lone wolf devouring cricket. Indian Cricket has always had a symbiotic relationship with indian politics which has helped them mutually. But, it was restricted to the level of administrators and bit of team selection. Now, its a case of team turning as Saffron Brigade to help the Indian politics where the benefits are more tilted towards politicians than its players, who became the scapegoats irrespective of their willingness. This could have dampened the fighting spirit when they are just employees of Hindutva election Corporate.
Jugaad Indianness Vs Spirited Australianism
I kept wondering why cricket deviations from the norms and ethics by BCCI is so abominable. It could just be harmless way of winning by bending few rules. Ofcourse, we saw such glimpses of madness when New Zealand was denied World Cup when the match was decided on the number of Boundaries scored, rather another Super over. So rules could also be a culprit right?
Mahabharat could be complete epic as it deals with all human nature adorned with fascinating characters. A huge war starts sparked by a mocking laughter of Draupadi when Duryodhana falls down. The egotistic wound aggravates to an obscene gesture of thighs by Duryodhana avenging his fall and subsequent disrobing Draupadi. Bhima vows to kill Duryodhana for his misdoings. Kurukshetra war begins. Duryodhana’s Mother blesses with her divine vision to make him an immortal. There is one character which runs all through the happenings – Krishna. Krishna helps Draupadi when her modesty was breached. He again nudges Duryodhana to wear a banana leaf, as mark of respect, before getting blessed immortality by his mother, so that his waists still remain weak after blessings. In the war, Duryodhana chooses a fight with mace against Bhima where the rules clearly states that no one gets beaten down the waist. Krishna now hints Bhima to hit Duryodhana’s thighs, breaking the rules of the game. Pandavas win the war eventually and rule Hastinapur for 36 years.
I liked the full circle of how fate plays around, the disrobing guy gets disrobed before his Mother. Thunder thighs gets blown up avenging the injustice to Draupadi. But how does fate treat people breaking rules to win at any cost? Let’s continue the story. After 36 years of ruling Hastinapur, Pandavas along with Draupadi march onto Heaven as they assume themselves worthy of it.
Pandavas… Draupati first, followed by Sahadeva, Nakula, Arjun and finally, Bheem. It is said that Yudhishthira did not turn his back even once and refused to help any one because he had renounced everything when he embarked on this journey. He also thought that renouncing everything would fetch him a place in Swarga, else he too would die.
As Yudhishthira and the dog continued climbing the mountain, they were welcomed by Lord Indra in his chariot. Indra said that Yudhishthira had been the true King of Dharma by being virtuous at all times and invited him into his chariot, offering him to take him to the final door of Swarga. Yudhishthira requested Lord Indra to permit the dog to come along, to which Indra disapproved. Yudhishthira stayed adamant on taking the dog along.
Yudhishthira refused to enter Swarga without the dog. He believed that both have equal merits and said that he will either enter Swarga with the dog or not enter at all for the sake of justice. Indra was pleased by Yudhishthira’s principles and integrity and welcomed him into heaven. It was later revealed to Yudhishthira that the dog was Lord Yama in disguise. Eventually, Yudhishthira entered Indra’s chariot to reach heaven.
On reaching Swarga, Yudhishthira could not find any of his virtuous brothers or his wife. Instead he was shocked and enraged at seeing the adharmi Kauravas enjoying in heaven. It was brought to his notice that they were in heaven because of the land of Kurukshetra.
The Kauravas, who had died at Kurukshetra doing their duty as Kshatriyas (warriors), found a place in Heaven.
Different versions of this incident portray that this explanation to Yudhishthira was given by Lord Indra, Lord Yama or Narada. Whatever the version of this story maybe, it is important to learn from this story that unless and until a person gives up on hate, anger, greed or lust, one cannot reach heaven. More than meaning Heaven or Hell in literal sense, it’s about seeing them as states of mind. One must relinquish anger and hate to achieve peace (heaven), else they tend to suffer (hell).
Now, the Law of averages did not work for Yudhishthira. But, what I could not understand on the Judgement Day type of ending is that both Indian epics talk of Heroes bending rules. Epic Heroes doing that Indian jugaad, innovating by breaking ethics and rules. They even beat our wretched reality shows and its stupid dilemmas. Lord Rama kills Vaali on his back hiding somewhere else, rather fighting him one to one. Krishna almost kills the Kaurava clan leveraging deception and illusion. They all win their war games momentarily, by bending rules, but they lose in the end. The epics are too deep and may be it takes in depth knowledge and understanding and I am a surface skimmer.
The person who does many good deeds, first goes to hell for some time duration and then is sent to heaven. A person who has done more bad deeds, gets a glimpse of heaven and is then sent to Hell for the rest of his time.
Indra to Yudhishthira
Now let’s move onto the Karta, the choreographer of Kurukshetra… Krishna. Gandhari, mother of Duryodhana cursed Krishna and his clan Yadavas that they will perish on their own. Krishna accepted the curse for his own misdoings.
It was the 36th year after the great Kurukshetra war. The Yadavas were so much in bliss in Dwaraka that they started taking things for granted. They forgot the importance of values, morals, humility and good conduct. They were arrogant and spoilt by all the wealth they were enjoying.
Once, the Sapta Rishis (the Seven Sages) decided to visit Krishna in Dwaraka. Hearing about their impending arrival, Samba, the son of Krishna, decided to test their powers. The young man dressed himself as a woman and placed a mace under his dress, to make himself appear as a pregnant woman. He, along with two of his friends, approached the rishis. One of Samba’s friends went up to the rishis and, introducing himself as the “woman’s” husband, requested them to predict the gender of the unborn child.
With their siddhis (spiritual powers), the rishis realized that this was a hoax and were angry at being treated with such disdain. One of the sages, Kanva Maharishi, immediately grabbed his kamandala (little water pot) and, sprinkling some water on the youth, cursed that whatever he bore in stomach would be actually born to him. He further declared that the thing would eventually lead to the extinction of the entire Yadava clan. The youths were stunned for a moment. But being arrogant and foolish, they just laughed it off and left the place, without even bothering to apologize to the rishis for their behavior.
The sage’s curse took effect the very next morning. Samba developed labor pains and soon delivered a mace from within him. The Yadavas now realized their mistake and became fearful. They took the mace and rushed to Akroora and Ugrasena. They all then went to Krishna and related the whole story to him. Akroora immediately ordered them to grind the mace to a fine powder and throw it into the sea.
Krishna merely smiled and remained silent. He knew that Gandhari’s curse had started working and that Samba was merely a medium for their collective karma to unfold. Thirty-six years ago, Krishna had prayed to Shiva for a son like him. Shiva had bestowed the boon upon him. However, Shiva was the God of Destruction and a son like him would ultimately end up destroying everything around him.
The Yadavas worked hard to grind the mace to a fine powder. They had followed all of Akroora’s instructions. However, there was one triangular piece of the mace that simply could not be ground. They tried their level best, but could not grind it. Fed up, they finally threw the powder, plus the triangular piece, into the sea. Once that was done, they returned home, assured that all would be well from then on.
The triangular piece was swallowed by a fish. Jara, a hunter, caught the fish and, upon finding the sharp metal piece in its belly, used it to craft a fine poisonous arrow. In the meantime, the fine powder washed back ashore and settled itself along the impressive coastline of Dwaraka. There, a type of grass, called eraka, grew in abundance, all along the coast.
Yadavas gathered near the coast to pray for their well being. Instead they started fighting within themselves. Krishna knew that the curse had started to take effect. He plucked the eraka grass that grew by the beach and placed them near the warring Yadavas. Still not quite aware of what they were doing, the Yadavas started throwing the blades of grass on one other.
Kanva Maharishi’s curse came into being and each blade of the eraka grass became a mace. These maces hit the Yadavas, killing them instantly. All the Yadavas died within a matter of minutes. Thus, the entire clan lay dead, right in front of their King. The bereved King renounced his Kingdom and went to Forest.
Krishna rested against a tree, stretching his legs in the front. Meanwhile, Jara, the hunter, was roaming in the forest, on his usual hunting expedition. Seeing Krishna’s foot sticking out from the bushes, he mistook it for a deer and shot it down with his poison-tipped arrow. The arrow was the very one he had crafted from the little triangular piece of mace that had not been powdered.
It is said that Jara was none other than the mighty Vali in his previous birth. At that time, Vishnu had taken the avatar of Lord Sri Rama and had slain Vaali, the then Monkey King. Rama had no enmity with Vaali and had killed him for no reason; and that too; in a cowardly manner, hiding behind a tree. Vaali later took birth as Jara and was responsible for killing Krishna. This story points out the fact that the laws of Karma apply universally to everyone; and that even God cannot prevent it from impacting his own life.
Our Gods are reflection of our own ancestor’s culture. Our ancestors kept their gods flawed and more human as easier version of imparting religious scriptures to masses, like how the Right wing captured Bollywood and imparting Hindutva. We don’t see any visionary Rama / Arjuna carrying AK 47 / Laser guns. So are we restricting ourselves to bows and arrows? Maybe we are a fighting race from the beginning with all gods equipped with versatile weapons. But we got a sense of individual freedom only when we started following Buddhist / Mahaveera inspired Mahatma Gandhi for whom even clothes are an expression of desire, forget about weapons begetting more weapons.
Without elaborating further on how Justice got served for Gandhari and Vaali’s sufferings, indian epics are classy just because they address the events in a full circle beautifully, however complex and layered they are. Like many movies ending up in happily ever after unlike reality where many end up in divorce and distress, the Judgement part of the epics are not elaborated / celebrated in our country. Conventionally televised Mahabharat ends up with Pandavas ruling Hastinapur happily after Duryodhana’s death and Ramayana with Rama’s coronation at Ayodhya. As per our epics even mighty Krishna, the happiest god ever, might have winced in pain during his death by Jara’s arrow. Rama spent many years searching for his wife only to abandon her on a petty comment, could not live happily with his family even after establishing Ram Rajya, ruminating on the futility of life. Ironically, the famed Ram Rajya did not work him and his family. Well! They accepted the pain gracefully. But, nowadays nobody likes a Loser, even when we all end the same way!
“Whatever happened, happened for the good. Whatever is happening, is happening for the good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good.”
Gita
Coming back to the ICC World cup hosted in England where they won by a ridiculous rule, the important derivative could be that, both the team played by rules in the right spirit of the game, rather bending rules. It turned to be an even contest and cracker of a match matching wits and guts, with a graceful felicitation ceremony.
I remember Australians of the past teams for their sledging and and slandering crook-smiths employing all means to win. They are no saints afterall just like our epic Heroes. The Law of averages did not work for them too in 2000s world cups. But Ian Healy once part of the Australian team depicted as arrogant on their behaviour, observes this generation of Australian team as “Indian”. Maybe Yellow is the new Blue as Blue has now turned to Saffronish Orange and Netherland’s Orange is turning grey with right wing racism. Maybe IPL exposure and India being the financial core of cricket might have changed them a bit. What is more startling is that they have studied the Indian Kurukshetra pitches better than Indian team. It’s up to individuals to decide if the Karma cycle is complete or incomplete, but the eternal cycle keeps continuing… eternally.
Spoilsport for a Photo-Op
Our silence in the stadium and poor reception of the match just proved we are still colonial slaves who still need the validation of the west to celebrate a sport. We still get 60 days Summer Leave so that our still White Bureaucrats don’t get tanned in the sun, when our Kids need to do the hardship of braving rains in tough rainy season. Our Indian Calendar quotes peak summer (Agni Natchathiram) goes for 21 Days, but our Summer Holidays are 60 Days to please whom? The Britishers? And Chennai Collector says there won’t be holidays for rains ranging in 8-10 cms since it is light rain(?). It was even worse in Mettupalayam. If Collectors could declare that education is only for those who can afford rich transportation, the problem gets an easy closure, so that he could pack his bags to Ooty in advance. நீங்க உல்லாசமா ஊட்டி போறதுக்கு மழையிலே எங்க உசுர ஏன் வாங்குறீங்க!
Rules? Bend it like Beckham!
Indian Leadership from Politicians to Bureaucrats to Sports Administrators is such that it still runs on Facebook / Instagram achievements, always flying inches above ground in AC vehicles. The Rule bending is evident everywhere in our (lack of governance). Maybe they invited David Beckham to symbolise their lawlessness. They did not build an emergency exit as planned, when building Uttarkashi tunnel, but do everything to garner Hindutva votes, screwing up fragile himalayan ecosystem. I don’t know if Gods will object for majoritarian mixing politics with their belief systems, like local folklore attributed the crack of Joshimath to beginning of Kaliyuga, but sport is a different animal prefers to be clean to perform well, without any need for adulterated political Mixer.
The Government don’t even have buffer days reserved for emergencies in education but NCERT is ready to saffronise the study material with Gandhi and Nehru disappearing as myths but Ramayana as authentic history. Hey Ram! Nobody killed Gandhi. Laughable rules emerged for NEET exam, entrance for Medical students, where Zero is an eligible cut-off. Now even students who have not learnt Biology are eligible. If things go haywire with our newly “engineered” non-bio-logical Doctors, there might even be a new rule that NEET-Doctors can kill neatly. If you are enraged on the previous line, you should get enraged at our Government. Our Make in India products lack the build finish or design thoughts to make it word class, but we think we can rule the consumer Market by being chinese cheap. Since the public is also conditioned for such Photo-Ops, rather looking for real substance, the sporty loss sounds too bad for us, since we are accustomed to enjoy the style more than Sporty substance. Afterall, we miss that Selfie moment!
நீதி, உயர்ந்தமதி, கல்வி – அன்பு
Bharathiyar
நிறைய உடையவர்கள் மேலோர்
If you think how a simple Selfie could do harm? Ask Chandrayaan II a Million Dollar Moon Project, which failed due to software glitch. The fact was someone who wanted limelight rushed up the Project, not to miss a selfie moment, only to end up with a miserable sob selfie with its failure. For Chandrayaan III ‘Lead Scientist’ PM’s Divya Darshan happened through Video conferencing, staying away but still stamping his face. Then there was a Kangana Ranaut type Tejas Fighter Selfie which has still a long way to go to become production ready. But you know elections are nearing. Some well wisher could have done him a favour whispering to him how Run-out’s Tejas Movie fared at Box office. Now, Modi’s Selfie craze has gone beyond limits, to highlight non-existent achievements of his Government, by installing Selfie points. Only Vishwaguru can imagine that a selfie can garner votes of the youth and not employment. As long as there are fools ( That included me too ) democracy flourishes…
“Our selfie-obsessed and self-obsessed PM is so insecure in the run up to Lok Sabha polls that he’s leaving no stone unturned to save his flailing image. First, it was the Army being asked to set up selfie points. Then, he asked IAS officers and other senior govt officials to take out ‘Rath Yatras’. Now, he has directed UGC to set up selfie points in all universities”
– Jairam Ramesh
Sharda Ugra‘s piece on state of Cricket enlightens anyone who can’t think beyond the thin veil of Indian cricket just as a sport.
Cricket is merely one of the many engines in the BJP’s dream of cultural expansion. Everyone on the BCCI payroll — players, former and current, officials, broadcasters — seems to have fallen in with the party line and has been herded under the umbrella of uncheerful nationalism. Indian cricket today is playing second fiddle to the political ideology in power because none of its faithful will speak for it.
In order to push the Lodha reforms into mothballed irrelevance, the BCCI’s cross-party grandees first edged out its professional management. What they now have is the ruling regime’s iron fist. Jay Shah, a semi-conductor of his father’s authority, has become Indian cricket’s front-line commander over and above the player-president, Ganguly. Checkmate.
The president of India travelled to Ahmedabad to inaugurate a stadium named after his constitutional subordinate, the incumbent prime minister. Seats in the lower tier most visible on television are coloured orange, the BJP’s party colour. During its day-night Test debut, the orange wall made the sighting of the pink ball difficult in natural light for fielders, but who cares.
It must be mentioned here that the only stadium bigger in the world than the Narendra Modi Stadium is the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. It’s enough to kill irony with a sniggering fit.
Indian cricket is being marinated in the ideology of the ruling regime, in this case, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
OK! to summarize BCCI and BJP just made saffronish chicken manchurian out of everyone involved, and got everyone fried too.
The Propaganda of Invincibility
In my adolescent age, I got fascinated by the tag “Dream Girl”. I used to wonder why that Aunty is not coming in my dreams. Maybe only Gharamji will get such poly-comic dreams. As I mature, Nowadays I get bloody dreams of Palestine violence but could not do much other than waking up sleepless and blogging uselessly about it. The Dream Girl is nothing but a cinematic “propaganda” to make the silver screen look palatable and sexier. The wishlist for such sweet dreams when you are in reality, better off without seeing it sans makeup, is just a blind or fake “Belief” that it’s gonna be a great dream. Amrit Kaal and Vikas comedies belong to this sweet dreams category/
When you are helpless about the ongoing Palestine nightmarish violence which will one day come down to New India if remained unchecked ( as we are in the initial stages of genocide – discrimination and polarization of Minorities) but leave it to the God, “The Lord of uncontrollables”… its “Faith”. Because, what we have in India is not Gujarat Model of Politics, but Netanyahu’s working supremacist Model aiming at consolidation of majority by ethnic cleansing and circumventing international pressure with arm-twisting diplomacy. Little wonder Modi is still the lone member of BRICS, shying away from the meet, so as not to support Gaza Ceasefire. If this sounds like a “sober global statesmanship” as propagandized, welcome yourself to the Brahma-Nazism – Modi brand of “sober” supremacist hyper-chameleonism conquering nation by misinformation, dividing its own people and silencing the diplomatic lambs internationally with opportunistic rude diplomacy!
“Fear is the true adversary; although we often mistake it for hatred.”
Mahatma Gandhi
What Modi’s BJP does not understand is that Israel’s homogenous origin is different from our diverse backgrounds, just like our cricket team, one of rare few quasi-meritocratic institutions, not because of our corrupt administrators but because of the fear of losing its loyal consumers. If they replace players just like they did with elite administrators. How about elite vegetarian fast bowlers. No? Ok! Eggetarian. No? Ok! Let’s take Halal guys. However it works, India’s diverse origins could be correlated with multi-racial USA rather monolithic Israel. So any desperate attempt to enforce homogeneity and majoritarianism in India will only erupt to civil war rather work like the infamous Gujarat / supremacist Israel model which rewarded the supremacists. BJP already learnt the hard lesson with Himachal and Karnataka State elections where welfare trumped hatred. The self proclaimed Chanakya is still looking to polarise with Nuremberg type CAA law just before elections. Like Son, Like Father when it comes to Vinaasa Kaale Vibareetha Budhdhi.
Coming back to that elusive trophy… In New India, the age old Dream Girl is that ICC Trophy which is something almost every other country has won including organizationally weak West Indies in last decade. Our Belief that we are invincible could be partially right. But, its been awhile India focused on ODIs which needs sustained tenacity and resilience to pluck the victory from the Jaws of defeat. In my adolescence any chance of India winning ODI rested with Sachin’s innings. People used to switch off TV to save electricity as soon as he gets out as if other ten is brought on “Buy One Winner get Ten Headaches” Offer.
“Reality Is Often Disappointing.”
Thanos
Our positive belief gradually grew, when a steely Rahul Dravid and silky VVS Laxman played a solid test innings in Eden Garden to resurrect our hopes. My memory have not registered if we have won or drew the Test, but it just showed we have arrived in Cricket as a steadfast Force and not anymore a meek and selfish reed swaying even to the weak wind, hoping not to break. We had enriching experiences under Ganguly and Dhoni who have at many times imparted the belief in our Team snatching victory from the Jaws of defeat transforming Indian cricket as a force to reckon with.
With the current team, unfortunately the middle order was not even tested in the current World cup as we never got into a crisis like the Final, thanks to the diligent venue selection to suit Indian team strengths for a cake walk win. It’s time we should ask ourselves if we have really retained that “Never Say Die!”, instead resorted to spoiling even ICC to accommodate our unjust interests and loopholes just to show off a win and paint even the World cup as a Saffron show, only to end up brutally up with a bloody nose, wishing the bleeding was saffron. There are differences between carefully nurtured Potted plant in a controlled environment and a wild plant, organically grown under testing conditions. The differences naturally comes to spotlight when tested with adverse circumstances like storms and floods.
Blame it on Saffron
Why this sudden decline of cricket? Once we lose the moral faith of playing fair to win by the rules, but fine with BCCI fine tuning pitches, rewarding the curators of the pitch, we actually have let down our own steely self, self occupied with unethical guilt, helplessly waiting for someone hand hold us out of trouble rather fighting it on our own, just like the helpless goldfish in aquarium. Also the present team is more of Saffron Warriors who had enough faith to propagandize in Twitter rather on winning trophies. Our Sports Persons are content if Modi is kept happy / BJP wins elections rather winning trophies.
We have successfully transformed our Cricket warriors to election agents including Bharat(!) Ratna(?) Tendulkar. The Sanatanic BCCI chose to facilitate Tendulkar for his “elite upper” records, rather even bothering to invite the World cup winning Teams and its Captains Kapil Dev and Dhoni. As a website quoted, Kapil was replaced by his Bollywood version Ranvir Singh in the stadium. Even the “elite” commentary got muted on the defeat analysing its mistakes while it was bombastic while referencing India’s string of victories prior final. Overall, It was a very carefully choreographed winning celebration involving all glitz and glamour except for the substance, that did not happen due to Australian Party poopers. Of course, we have had our moments like Test win at Australia and occasional brilliance, but collective sportsmanship needs efficient Leadership, to train the team to win at all costs not to get broken when things don’t go our way. That’s missing.
Real strength isn’t about winning; it’s about enduring hardships without giving up.
Mahatma Gandhi
I can’t write like Suresh Menon, so let’s copy his playful phrases, summarizing the state of Indian cricket.
Cricket would also be the acknowledgement of reverse colonialism, where a country takes a sport from a conqueror and turns it around as a weapon of power and nose-thumbing. Further proof that cricket is indeed an Indian game accidentally invented by the English, as the sociologist Ashish Nandy once memorably said. The first recorded cricket match in India was played in the 18th century. The colonials soon saw cricket as a way of distracting the natives from the real issues. Three hundred years later, cricket continues to serve that purpose in India.
Years from now, it is likely to be remembered not as Kohli’s or Stokes’ or Bumrah’s World Cup so much as the BJP’s World Cup, placing it among examples of the symbiotic relationship between sports and politics. In India, at least.
At the recent Asia Cup, India (who not only have the clout but want to constantly remind other teams of this) changed the rule in the middle of the tournament, adding an extra day for their match against Pakistan. Perhaps during the World Cup, we will see the cricket board honcho commanding the rain to stop. And discovering, like King Canute who ordered the tide to halt, that it would carry on regardless.
Three of India’s team, Pandya, Jadeja and Bumrah, were born in Gujarat where the world’s largest cricket stadium awaits the action. But it is a fourth man born in the State who is confident of winning at the World Cup — and not in a narrow cricketing sense.
Instead of diagnosing the defeats, the BCCI ritualistically replaced the Captains after every world Cup without acting on the actual root cause – its corrupt Administrators originating from political backgrounds. Actually, Dhoni / Rohit / Kohli are not at fault. They have all exhibited talismanic abilities at field. After all these replacements, we have only deteriorated further in ICC events. In fact the Indian media is silent on the future of BCCI as it involves Jay-Hush-Shah while speculating on the poor Cricketers. We even have a Dumboo BJP Minister who just played a Match to hold Office, so as to bypass the State Cricket Board rules. The only difference now is that BCCI is comfortable enough to change the rules itself even with the nod from Supreme Court bypassing the reforms it initiated.
“We have to be better than what they feared we would be. We have to surprise them with compassion, with restraint and generosity”
Nelson Mandela appearing at the South African Sports Committee, after they had elected to disband the Springbok rugby team, Invictus Movie
No, we are not emerging as the new Chokers, but the players are just afraid of future and the huge pressure of invisible-but-omnipresent National elections on them, when International events like G20 or ICC World Cup are conducted as side shows with the main event as a Photo-Op with Vishwaguru. The team lack the fighting spirit to change the fortunes without any help or support from the toxic administration, weighed down by huge pressure on their shoulders in ICC events. The Indian team is Hercules shouldering earth with out-of-the-world Modi on top of it.
Today’s Indian Cricket is not just a Sport, but an amalgamation of fake Nationalism with the current political establishment making it look like a war / surgical strike between countries, empty Pride of Vishwaguru as we are emerging International force when we are languishing behind Pakistan in the hunger index and as election winning machine where BJP’s political campaign was planned on cricket victory and Ram temple as they got nothing else to show off as achievements, with the indian food plate getting reduced gradually owing to inflation and cronyism. We even got Hindutva Pooop err… Pop ( of course with multiple Oohs and Aahs to kindle communalism ) as part of the mainstream songs played on the stadium, provoking even elitistic audience with Jai Sri Ram. As part of multi-million victory celebrations planned, we might have even got an Indian version of Invictus to portray Modi as Saviour of cricket. Only difference would be while Mandela fought for country’s resurrection in post apartheid South Africa, Modi’s Invictus will be about the “Supremacist apartheid” Returning back to India mushrooming under the shades of elite BCCI.
– Nelson Mandela: How do you inspire your team to do their best?
Invictus Movie
– Francois Pienaar: By example. I’ve always thought to lead by example, sir.
– Nelson Mandela: Well, that is right. But how do we get them to be better than they think they can be? That is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps.
How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us? I sometimes think it is by using the work of others.
Victory is a Journey… not an election Destination
We have not prepared enough for ODIs which is different from mumbo jumbo T20 without any major twists but offering only cheap thrills. ODI needs more patience and guts to pass through the brilliant start, middle slog and bombastic finish and clever enough to make up for any troughs through such phases. We are still not a complete Champions team.
As Dhoni says, victory is a Process. When Chennai Super Kings got many victories on the home ground, but lost miserably on other Indian grounds and even abroad, they did not complain or look to change rules. They just modified the home pitch to stay neutral and even to an extent, playing a tough game, so that they are prepared for knockouts. The oldies very near retirement homes had enough wisdom to play the game on strengths rather looking for opponent weakness. What did Rahul Dravid do as a Indian coach. He used to drop by early, to analyse the pitch, sometimes few days even before the game starts. Unfortunately, he got trumped on his own game when Australia got its superior tactics and analytics overwhelming the indian side. This “Someone else will take care” attitude has solidified the Indian team’s belief that everything is tweaked and taken care of well by BCCI and Admin that they can win without breaking sweat, only to end up in tears. All is not lost… We just need to steel up our temperament with clear tactics for every scenario, rather relying on the literal ground work, so that we never feel like lost child at carnival. Only then the victory process will take care of itself.
“It’s not about how much we lost. It’s about how much we have left.”
Tony Stark / Iron Man, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)
For example, the Indian team had initial euphoria after taking 3 wickets of Australia. But when the partnership got steady, taking the sting out of the indian bowling attack, the team members were just dropping their shoulders and some on tears even before the loss, increasing the confidence of Aussies. They clearly could not rise up to the occasion or digest a probable defeat, just like the unsporting crowd at the Stadium, evident in Pakistan and Australia matches. Rohit could have brought in Bumrah who showed a knack of getting wickets before it was too late or tried something else when the spinners were clueless on the dead pitch. They got into a brain freeze as they were never got tested on the tournament. They restricted Head on his playing side ( I don’t know anything technically like gully or cover but only about silly mistakes and its coverups ), they should have deployed few fielders on his scoring areas, taking bowling risks and tempting him to make mistakes where he ultimately fell in the end. Head scored predictably on the same areas. But, there was no novelty in the bowling attack. Contrast this with Rohit falling prey to carefully orchestrated Head’s catch. Data never lies or forsakes any one who trusts, even a crooked Politician who choose to accept rather ignore at his own peril!
“We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them.”
The Ancient One, ‘Doctor Strange’ (2016)
The Gladiator-esque Final
Remember the classic Russell Crowe movie Gladiator’s climax where he need to fight the King-ish Joaquin Phoenix who thinks people could be kept quiet and happy by distracting with Theatrics at Coliseum? Crowe gets stabbed before the contest so that he can’t fight Phoenix on his full strength. Even then he will manage to overpower Phoenix. Phoenix, at the verge of losing will ask his Army’s help guarding the contest on the boundaries. But, none would budge, nudging him to fight a good fight or perish. In the end Phoenix loses at the same theater he built to distract people from his evil rule. Coincidentally, Russell Crowe is an Australian.
“The measure of a person, of a hero… is how well they succeed at being who they are.”
Frigga, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)
Ricky Ponting has mentioned the Australian team was hesitant before the Finals, fretting about the nature of the Pitch. He quipped every pitch is 22 yards, like a Champion. Pat Cummins knew how to derive energy just by silencing the crowd, offering a different perspective to crowd dynamics eager to chant “Jai Sri Ram!” even in a Cricket match. The Australian Batters made minimal mistakes after the clinical bowling to fetch the Cup. Indian team also had its winner in brilliant Kohli and selfless Rohit. But where the Australians trumped is that they changed every hostile condition to their advantage. Fortunately, ICC had not ashamed itself to the level of delegating corrupt officials, keeping it an even game at least on that front. Even the umpires got booed by Ahmedabad crowd when they did near perfect Job.
“Just because something works, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.”
Shuri, ‘Black Panther’ (2018)
Fortune favours the Brave even if the meek survives for Finals.
Timepass Politics 