Millions
of hearts were broken on 26th of March when it became clear that
India would not make it to the final of World Cup 2015. I am also included in
that heart-broken crowd. After the match, I tried to calm down with help of
books and songs but in vain. Finally, I called my father to elevate my mood and
bingo! Within seconds, I was a different person. At that moment, however, I
wished what he said to me could be heard by everyone, hence, creation of this
post.
Ever
since I have started watching cricket, I have witnessed extreme behaviors of
Indians during India’s matches. This extreme behavior turned into absolute
abnormality during World Cup tournaments. Whenever India lost a crucial match,
newspaper editions of the next day featured incidents of people dying out of
shock, people breaking their televisions and still others venting out their
frustration on expensive crockery. Whoa!!
One
such incident (without much damage though) took place in my own home during the
1999 World Cup. India lost a league match to Zimbabwe by three runs. That match
was India’s ticket for making entry into the quarterfinals. India had three
wickets and nine balls left to score those three crucial runs, but they couldn’t.
When the last wicket fell, my father shouted and sat up with a jerk, and
seconds after that I could see the cup and saucer (the nearest objects he could
find) lying broken on the floor. Next day, he could not go to shop because of
high fever. Newspapers and news channels were full of criticism on India’s lame
performance.
When
team India lost the semifinal to Australia, they knew something similar awaited
them. I felt bad too, but that bad feeling was more because of judgments coming
from my country people and less because of our defeat. I knew that the
newspaper next day would be filled with statements on how our batsmen screwed
our dreams, how Dhoni should have set a better fielding and of course, the poor
shot played by great Virat.
However,
when I told Papa about my wallowing, he started laughing. He answered calmly, “Your
wallow is legitimate sweetie, but Australia is a strong team. It has robust
players, a power-packed batting line-up, and most importantly, they are playing
on their own ground. Unhi ke jagah mein
unhi ko dadagiri dikha ke cup le aana halwa hai kya (is it a cakewalk to
defeat them on their own ground and bring back the cup). Our team did their
best. So cheer up and cheer them up.” He was so right.
So,
here is my question to so-called die-hard Indian fans. After winning seven
games in a row and defeating strong contenders like SA and WI, is it fair on our part to
play the blame game? Be it Twitter or Facebook, not a single platform has been
left for their criticism. Calm down folks! If you have the guts to sneer at
other teams on India’s victory, then have the spirits to accept its defeat
sportingly. Above all, stop the blame game. Why didn’t Kohli perform? Why didn’t
Dhawan show some sensibility? Who asked Dhoni to take that single? Stop
shooting questions.
Our
team has landed on its soil after months. Act less like BCCI directors and
behave more like cheerleaders. They have lost a match; they have not triggered
apocalypse. Come on! I mean what slogan would we have for the next world cup if
India won it this time - take it if you can? How lame! Now, I have already come
up with an energetic punch line for 2019 World Cup – we will get it back.
Spectacular, isn’t it? :-D
P.S. – A crucial reason for India’s defeat was
the absence of Australian players’ non-gentlemanly banter on the field. I bet.
Had Starc or Maxwell dared to crack jokes with Kohli or Dhoni, we would have
fired our way into the finals. What say? ;-)