I will start off by clarifying that this article is coming from a person who is no cricketing expert, at least in comparison with most of his friends who can exactly narrate the 1983 Cricket World Cup final ball-by-ball, or any other match for that matter.
Now, having set the expectations right, I would like to ponder on the much talked about cricket match: World T20 finals held on the 6th of April, 2014. For whatever reasons, India happened to lose that match. Ohh wait; I would like to have the luxury to rephrasing my last statement: For whatsoever reasons, Sri Lanka happened to win that match. Yes, I too, like any other normal Indian, was disappointed by the fact that India didn’t get to keep the trophy this time. But that’s not something which troubles me. I mean; that’s what sports are all about right: winning and losing.
What troubles me is: how Yuvraj Singh has been made a joke off, on the social networking sites, during and after the match for his poor performance.
At the risk of repeating myself I would reiterate that I am no cricketing expert, so don’t expect a detailed critique of the match on where exactly things went wrong for the Indian team and who exactly can be held responsible for it. You can contact the “experts” for that. For the time being let’s just assume that Yuvraj is the sole reason for the India’s debacle, as is being suggested. What troubles me is how most of the people conveniently chose to ignore his contributions to the Indian Cricket team thus far, and started bashing him on the online social media. He played a prominent role in giving India its two glorified world cups (T20 World cup 2007 and ICC World Cup). One dismal performance on his part and we put on our thinking caps to come up with the best troll images on him. If this wasn’t enough some blessed souls even pelted stones at his residence. Well done guys, you just redefined the term sportsmanship. If a country treats its player by making fun of him and pelting stones at his residence, then probably this country doesn’t deserve a player like Yuvraj. We surely have some growing up to do, and only when we shall be mature enough to handle failure as swiftly as we handle victory, we can deserve to be worthy of having him in our team. The problem is not in you, Yuvraj; it’s in us.
Is it just me, or anyone else feels that something is inherently wrong with the way we perceive things around us. This question aims for an answer which addresses a wider perspective, not restricting itself to the world of sports.
Let’s take politics for instance. People who proactively voice their opinions by criticizing Government for its bureaucracy and corruption, are the same people who never cast their votes and perceive voting day as just another holiday. The so called youth of the country complain that politicians with good values and principles are scarce to find in the largest democracy of the world, but they conveniently choose to ignore their values and principles by participating in malpractices like cheating in exams and gaining an undeserving advantage over an honest student.
Another genre were we are always ready to voice our opinion is the Indian cinema. When we come across movie like “Chak De, India” and “Swades” we shower Shah Rukh Khan alone, with praises more than what he deserves; and when he comes up with a “Ra.One” we blame him (and him alone) for his dismal attempt, more than what he is accountable for. We somehow completely ignore the fact that a hero is merely a face of the movie and not the movie itself. No wonder our super stars, are larger than their movies, and their movies are larger than life.
We have always believed in individual glory, and somewhere in the bargain we have lost the true meaning of team spirit. No wonder we blame Yuvraj for India’s debacle.
I believe on April 6th, 2014; Sri Lanka was definitely the team which played better cricket and earned its much deserved victory. Yes, as an Indian I was disappointed; but as a true fan of cricket, I was happy for Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene for receiving a rousing send-off as Sri Lanka won their maiden crown. It somehow makes me feel that they needed this victory as badly as we needed a victory on 24th September, 2007 (T20 World cup 2007).
I believe we somehow have lost our power of appreciating good things and started looking for reasons to complain about the bad things. We frown more and smile less, and whenever we smile we do that more at our smart phones than at people.
It astonishes me how we find pleasure in talking positive things about irrelevant things like an Oscar winning movie which is somehow remotely connected to India; however we conveniently ignore the positives of an Indian player who has given us many memorable victories.
It’s high time for us to stop complaining and start acting. If you are unhappy with a particular politician or his party, show it by casting your vote. If you are unhappy with the way Indian Cricket team is playing, then get into the team and change the status quo. If you feel you are too old to get into the Indian cricket team, inspire your son/daughter (Yes, girls can play cricket too!) to take it up as a career and mould them into good cricketers.
Yours faithfully,
We, the people
an art, by
Shashank