Obsessing over cricket

IN Opinion | 04/12/2006

You don`t say!

Darius Nakhoonwala

Last week came as a bit of shock when I discovered that leader writers, who I thought were god-like creatures full of compassion and wisdom, were human after all. The scales didn`t actually fall, but it was a nasty surprise, nevertheless, to see these exalted beings writing about cricket. Cricket, I ask of you, a game that has the great dirty unwashed as its fans and where players actually make all those vulgar gobs of money.

Indeed, the Telegraph wrote two edits in three days, first because it was a chance to take pot shots at the Marxists, Brinda Karat in particular. " All and sundry are claiming success over kicking a man whose failures are now legion. Ms Brinda Karat — who knew that she was an authority on cricket? — has gone to the extent of suggesting that Sourav Ganguly be brought back to the Indian side. It would be unfair to her to say that there is a touch of regional chauvinism in this sudden advocacy of Ganguly on the part of Ms Karat, who seems to have discovered her Bengali roots after she was made a member of the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal." O dear, not cricket, this below-the-belt stuff.

The second one was on Saurav Ganguly`s recall to the Test side. Not hiding its dislike for him, but unwilling to incite Bengali mobs to come and burn the Telegraph office, this is what the paper had to say. "What Ganguly`s supporters do not realize is that his inclusion in the side was not warranted by his performance. He was not getting runs, his technique, always weak, was faltering, his feet were not moving and he was a liability on the field. He was dropped for these and other cricketing reasons, not at the behest of someone`s personal whims. Many of these reasons have currently become irrelevant because the entire Indian side seems to be afflicted with Ganguly`s faults. In that negative sense, he is a perfect fit." Ouch, again.

The Hindu, whose editor was a Ranji level player, also could not hold his peace but became ruminative and intellectual… "there are times when romantic notions of the game`s exalted place in society conflict with reality. How else can you reconcile the notion of sportsmanship with the fierce, over-the-top reactions to the successive defeats suffered by the Indian cricket team in One Day Internationals in South Africa…serious questions need to be asked about the values underpinning India`s national obsession when Members of Parliament join the chorus and some of them speak about raising a privilege motion against Greg Chappell for candidly stating his understanding of the value of parliamentary instructions on cricket."

The Indian Express also took a swipe at the MPs, saying that Indian cricket perhaps had 800 too many advisors. "MPs chose to make a national issue of the India XI`s lean patch, and held forth on ways and means of guillotining Greg Chappell for his abysmal record as the national coach…. Parliament is not the arena for members to assume patriotic pretensions in dwelling on what is after all an individual pursuit."  

The Deccan Herald, in contrast, smartly boxed Greg Chappell`s ears. "Greg Chappell`s comment about the Members of Parliament (MPs) has quite predictably evinced a sharp reaction. Cricket has always been a national issue in India and cricketing issues are close to every Indian`s heart... What he ought to have been wise to is the fact that when demi-gods fall from grace, the thud is loud and clear.

The other papers all took a similar line.

 Contact: darius.nakhoonwala@gmail.com