Sunday, March 25, 2007

The men in Blue

A blue day for Indian cricket. India loses to the minnows in world test-cricket playing nations. A lot of furor over India's losses. India is knocked out of the World Cup. So what's the Big deal? I am glad that India lost. Not because I am not a Indian fan, but precisely because I am one.

The Indian team plays a ridiculous amount of cricket every year and I am scared for the health of the players. At least, with this loss, the team gets a month off from cricket and can possibly regroup. I feel sorry for the players. They are not entirely to be blamed for the loss. If there is anyone who is to be blamed , it is the BCCI. These guys, for obvious monetary gain, schedule an impossible number of matches every year, leading to player burnout. It is foolhardy for us to expect them to win every match they play. As a stark contrast, Australia, the world champions, play a few matches every year and still, the team was complaining about too much cricket being played.


The Indian team is under too much pressure to perform. I think the joy of playing a game is lost when there is a billion hopes resting on victory . The fans are to blame partially. I guess, we are a bipolar nation, vacillating between adulating and denigrating our apotheosized Cricket Gods relentlessly. Why can't we be forgiving of our heroes and realize that cricket is only a game and that the players are only Human?

I guess the time has come for the BCCI to realize that India's domestic cricket needs strengthening . They need to cut down, drastically, the amount of cricket India plays and invest the world's-biggest-team-brand's money in domestic cricket's infrastructure.

We as a cricket crazy nation need to realize that the more forgiving we are and the more realistic our expectations are, the better it is for both sides.


Quite antithetically, All play and no work makes Jack a dull boy.



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