Suveen K Sinha / New Delhi Oct 25, 2009, 00:02 IST
Where have all the Indian cricket fans gone? There's love all right, but not for the game.
A few years ago, a colleague asked if the cliché was correct that India was a country of a billion cricket fans. This colleague lived with a bunch of cats and spoke tenderly of them. And Sourav Ganguly’s team had just won a Test at Adelaide, thanks to Rahul Dravid’s heroics, and cricket fever in the country was at a new peak. Naturally, Umpire’s Post was sceptical of the question. But the colleague pressed on.
Indians, he said, did not really like cricket. Someone who really liked the game would be able to appreciate seeming non-events, such as a nicely played forward defensive to a slow ball pitching outside the off stump, or a good stop by the fielder at forward short leg, where one fields in palpable danger to life and limb.
The more cricket evolves through its new formats, the more Umpire’s Post thinks about the Catman’s premise. It rings truer and truer. It seems there are very few cricket fans in India, if any at all. There is ample evidence of this void.
No one gives a damn about good fielding, defensive shots, good bowling, or a battle of attrition — and few runs — to save a Test. At first it seemed that those watching cricket merely wanted fours and sixes. That is why the initial and slog overs of one-day matches seemed to pool in viewers. And the advent of Twenty20 seemed to be just what the umpire ordered.
But the events of the last few days — or shall we say non-events? — dispel the notion. Champions Trophy (50 overs a side matches among national teams), Challenger Series (same format, domestic players aspiring for a place in the national side) and Champions League (20 overs a side involving international clubs and a sovereign team in Trinidad and Tobago) appear to have attracted less viewership than the losers in the Bigg Boss house.
So, what is the thread that connects those not watching cricket these days? One answer of course is that there is just too much of it. The other seems to be an absence of stars. It was an interesting final match of the Champions League Friday evening, but most seem to remember it because of Brett Lee, who is a legitimate star in India. Few stars were in action after India’s early exit at Champions Trophy, most national players stayed away from Challenger, and Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers flashed only briefly in Champions League.
This can also explain why Sachin Tendulkar cannot walk the streets in India. He does not have a bat in hand then and no one is hurling a sphere at him, but multitudes still descend in droves to try and touch him, perhaps hoping for a sprinkle of stardust. It’s love all right, but hardly for the game.
Wonderful Just reflecting the thoughts of a purely cricket knowledged fans. These days it has been a habit for the viewers that they want hitting (4's and 6's). They stopped looking into the discipline of the game, the character, perseverance, patience, game plan, etc... these are the factors which is majorly going to play in any game. For people of these they rate a player wonderful if he just hits the ball to clear the boundary. If someone like rahul dravid put his all within him to stand other side and plays a central knock of an innings they would call him that he is too slow and they will ask "look the player who is playing in the opposite end he is hitting boundaries", they will forget his role. Many such things happening these days, people have to cultivate their mind to the real perception of the game. Change is needed.
Posted by: Lokesh
October 27 , 2009, 19:39 IST
Suveen sinha,
The below quoted part of your post is really terrific and this shows that you are highly knowledged towards the game. I appreciate this and I loved this stanza.
"Indians, he said, did not really like cricket. Someone who really liked the game would be able to appreciate seeming non-events, such as a nicely played forward defensive to a slow ball pitching outside the off stump, or a good stop by the fielder at forward short leg, where one fields in palpable danger to life and limb."
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