History repeats itself. Perhaps we love to repeat history (2007 ICC Cricket World Cup) quite early. I am talking about a very popular Indian sports, I am talking about the Indian Cricket at an International level – a game that’s almost present in every Indian blood by birth. But unfortunately this blood has gotten spurious and needs transfusion.
So, when was the last time you as an entire nation burst crackers, waved Indian tri-color flag, came out on the roads late in the night with that can of KF beer and danced away your happiness, unplugged? The last I remember was when the Men in Blue bagged the ICC World Cup T20 trophy back in 2007! When IPL never existed.
When India loses, the entire nation bleeds. When CSK/MI/RCB etc. lost, how many bled? It means a lot to the whole cricketing and non-cricketing nations to some extent, when a team is the World Champion. I repeat, WORLD Champs! How much did it matter to Australia/NZ/South Africa/England when CSK won the IPL championship?
It does carry immense weight when The President of a nation congratulates a National Team on their triumph and the heroes among them are awarded Bharat Ratna/ Padma Vibhusan/ Arjuna/Padma Bhusan awards. How many you think will win a National Award for giving their blood and sweat for the exhaustive IPL matches!! Still, they barely give a hoot. At the end of the day, it’s the buck that matters!
Human nature. Gluttony. When we ourselves, being in corporate industry slog for money and our tail points to the firm that lures us with a fatter one than the current’s. And so are our players who haven’t woken up from the fantasy/voluptuous world of Sherlyn Chopra & Co. flaunting their silicones. After all, Saheb…they are all single! So the attendance at the late night parties are quite inevitable for our bachelor boys, you see! Hence, quite unabashedly, the ones at the helm could direct the alibis to IPL’s late night parties and tortuous travels. They never got tired during IPL matches? There were quite a lot series played prior to IPL as well! Why can’t a single player say a BOLD NO to their team owner to practice for the ‘short pitch’ matches ahead? They can’t , because they are sold!
At the other hand, the selection committee would try to save the IPL baby for it’s quite lucrative for them. After all, we have our bureaucrats and politicians who have their murky deals & investments hidden in the entire Pandora’s box. Now what they could do is, blame the Indian Captain for blaming IPL. This is funny and this is a vicious circle.
But even if you wish to, you still cannot avoid catching the IPL frenzy, rather the most trending event being witnessed by a million Indians. Could you? So, why not join the bandwagon? But how? Pick up an IPL team, start updating statuses supporting the team & bashing the other team on Social Networks, even if cricket means quite less to you. Welcome aboard, you are catapulted to IPL mania now. But I always knew the consequence. Too much of cricket, be it post-IPL or pre-IPL, can never hold on to the charm. Needless to say why IPL is ostensibly ‘charming’ !
Could we ever have the 1983/2007 (ODI/T20) history repeated? We surely could if we could stop cricket getting invaded by capitalists! As mentioned by few remarkable cricketers, if we could have a team dedicated solely for 20/20 for there ain’t a dearth of talent in India. Rather new talents can be discovered and nurtured, it means an opportunity for many Ranji players who never made it in the past and tough to make it in the future. It also means they make a better livelihood and make some bucks for exploiting their talent and that should get duly recognized!
For God’s sake, I do not wish to see the shamefully abysmal performance repeated again in the ICC World Cup 2011. If that happens, we Indians have lost our sense of cricket. We rather love to be swayed away with short-lived yet libidinous pomp and show!
Last but not the least, few old memories…
P.S. This is my personal opinion. Facts may have been wrong. Your opinions/suggestions would be highly appreciated.
~~Biswajeet's Blog~~ 