STOP THE BLAME GAME

Millions of hearts were broken on 26^th 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? ;-)