The euphoria in the air after India’s historic win over Australia is yet to settle down. The media is still going overboard in celebration and immortalizing our cricketers who have achieved the unachievable, done the undoable. Switch on any television news channel, and you will see team India being covered wherever they go, what ever they do. The media is all over them, showing what they had for dinner, where they went for a holiday, what kind of girl each of them would like to marry and what not. Most of them just out of their teens and new to this kind of attention are actually enjoying it, and so are their parents and family members. I suspect, each of their family has a dedicated room or at least an outhouse for the media crew. Thanks to them, the whole country now knows where the refrigerator is placed in Praveen Kumar’s kitchen, where Gautam Gambhir takes bath, where Ishant Sharma’s father reads morning newspaper, you can just go on.
The other day, I was shocked to see a news channel unilaterally consulting a doctor to prescribe some kind of diet and medicines for Ishant Sharma, which will make him stronger and bowl faster! The doctor, trying to capitalize on the limelight, went on analyzing the shoulders, arms and muscles of the young fast bowler in front of the camera and prescribing remedial actions what Ishant should adhere to, in order to have a long and rewarding career. I wonder, if she would have ever seen Ishant in flesh and blood. Or has technology improved so much in our country that doctors can treat people just by watching their pictures? The story is similar for each member of Team India.
Coming back to cricket, our ex-cricketers, who now consider themselves as consultants and experts of the game; too have played their part in adding to the hype and hoopla. A handful of them have gone on to the extent of putting this victory only next to the 1983 World cup win and a few others consider it third after the World cup 1983 and the World Series cup in 1985. This apart, the welcome that the team was handed with on its return home, the cash prize that the BCCI has awarded each of them, not to forget about the astronomical auction money from IPL, every body has just gone crazy over them.
What is alarming is, there seems to be no respite for the young team. The whole atmosphere created by the fans, the media and the officials, can easily sweep them off their feet. Just when Team India has started to show some kind of fighting sprit and mental toughness on the field, the unnecessary off-field atmosphere is going to test their character even more. Let’s face it, not everybody has the attitude of a Sachin Tendulkar, who has managed to keep his head right on his shoulder throughout his illustrious career amidst unbelievable adulation and fan followings.
If that happens, the ultimate loser will be Indian cricket. One must not forget, the same media is going to crucify each of them at every single reversal, without even considering that they need moral support to overcome difficult circumstances.
I do realize that all this is part and parcel of a cricketer’s life in India. But then having said that, one can not stop worrying, for the simple reason that we don’t want to disturb the re-building process of Team India. Some tough decisions have been taken. The results have just started to show. Still there is a lot of scope of improvement. To do a quick reality check, what we have achieved after all is, just a series win in a tri-angular tournament, where the third team was Srilanka which is going through an identity crisis at this moment. The old war horses are retiring and the new ones don’t seem to be ready to take over the mantle yet. The Aussies too are going through a rare bad patch. So while credit should be given to Team India for their good performances, too much should not be read into it. We need our youngsters to back it up with more of such results. We need consistency in winning.
Only then can we call it a truly great side.
The other day, I was shocked to see a news channel unilaterally consulting a doctor to prescribe some kind of diet and medicines for Ishant Sharma, which will make him stronger and bowl faster! The doctor, trying to capitalize on the limelight, went on analyzing the shoulders, arms and muscles of the young fast bowler in front of the camera and prescribing remedial actions what Ishant should adhere to, in order to have a long and rewarding career. I wonder, if she would have ever seen Ishant in flesh and blood. Or has technology improved so much in our country that doctors can treat people just by watching their pictures? The story is similar for each member of Team India.
Coming back to cricket, our ex-cricketers, who now consider themselves as consultants and experts of the game; too have played their part in adding to the hype and hoopla. A handful of them have gone on to the extent of putting this victory only next to the 1983 World cup win and a few others consider it third after the World cup 1983 and the World Series cup in 1985. This apart, the welcome that the team was handed with on its return home, the cash prize that the BCCI has awarded each of them, not to forget about the astronomical auction money from IPL, every body has just gone crazy over them.
What is alarming is, there seems to be no respite for the young team. The whole atmosphere created by the fans, the media and the officials, can easily sweep them off their feet. Just when Team India has started to show some kind of fighting sprit and mental toughness on the field, the unnecessary off-field atmosphere is going to test their character even more. Let’s face it, not everybody has the attitude of a Sachin Tendulkar, who has managed to keep his head right on his shoulder throughout his illustrious career amidst unbelievable adulation and fan followings.
If that happens, the ultimate loser will be Indian cricket. One must not forget, the same media is going to crucify each of them at every single reversal, without even considering that they need moral support to overcome difficult circumstances.
I do realize that all this is part and parcel of a cricketer’s life in India. But then having said that, one can not stop worrying, for the simple reason that we don’t want to disturb the re-building process of Team India. Some tough decisions have been taken. The results have just started to show. Still there is a lot of scope of improvement. To do a quick reality check, what we have achieved after all is, just a series win in a tri-angular tournament, where the third team was Srilanka which is going through an identity crisis at this moment. The old war horses are retiring and the new ones don’t seem to be ready to take over the mantle yet. The Aussies too are going through a rare bad patch. So while credit should be given to Team India for their good performances, too much should not be read into it. We need our youngsters to back it up with more of such results. We need consistency in winning.
Only then can we call it a truly great side.
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