Indian Cricket: My Views

The Indian Cricket Team did not lose to South Africa because Dhoni gave Nehra the final over. They did not lose because the middle order fell very quickly. They lost because Gautam Gambhir failed to give enough strike to Sachin when they were batting together. Often, there would be spells where Gambhir hogged most of the strike, but scored at low rates. With Sachin at the other end, and that too in the mood, it was undesirable for reasons anyone can enumerate. This caused Sachin to play a rash shot, and be dismissed. If not, Sachin would have been under lesser pressure and India would have easily scored at least 30-40 runs more.

Coming to my main point - Often, the Indian public's reaction to the cricket team's losses are both shallow and unsavoury. Just because Dhoni has not scored big over the past year, it does not mean marriage has caused him to lose focus. Just because the middle order falls cheaply once in a while, it does not mean the batsmen are making too much money from advertisements. And just because there are times when Sachin is the only batsman who bats well, it does not mean he is carrying the team on his own.

I don't blame Gambhir for not scoring quickly. Simply put, no Indian batsman can match the exalted batting abilities of Sachin. The class of the man is evident; the same ball that Gambhir finds hard to hit, Sachin hits it for a four. That said, we must not forget that a lot of the cricket team's greatest victories have been in matches where he has not particularly done well. The Indian Cricket team is comprised of fantastic crickets, very diverse and very talented. From Yuvraj's charm to Laxman's genius, from Zaheer's accuracy to Bhajji's guile, we are lucky to have a team like that. And enough has been said about Sachin; watching him bat is like watching Zidane or Ronaldo (the Brazilian, NOT THE PORTUGUESE) with the ball at their feet. It is an absolute honour to have been able to watch him all these years.

I love the cricket team and I am very proud of them. We must learn to savour their triumphs more than complain about the failures. They won following on! They beat Australia so many times, and in such emphatic ways. They have beaten Pakistan whenever it was really important. They beat SA having scored just 194. Why?! Why do we forget these and only dwell upon recent failures?

On a deeper note, why are we so bothered about their prowess really? Why do we attach our self-worth to their success? After all, India beating Australia does not mean it is a better country than Australia. Why then are we so bothered? It is not Dhoni's fault that he makes millions with advertisement money!

We must learn to appreciate them and enjoy their victories and ignore the losses. We must avoid making flippant comments like "They don't bowl yorkers in the final overs" or "There is no good team spirit because they earn too much money", it simply makes no sense whatsoever.

It is this Abrahamovic-ish (Chelsea owner) attitude that has caused us to lose a lot of very talented cricketers over the years. One that stands out, for me at least, is Hrishikesh Kanitkar. I really liked this guy, and I strongly believe he would have done great for our team. Him and a lot of other people lost their place in the team and were never given a second chance. One must realise that team-selection can never be an exact science; there is always a bit of a gamble, the perform-or-get-thrown-out attitude is extremely unhelpful.

The team is being run by people with far more cricketing knowledge than we have, must be place our trust in them and not view everything they do superficially. It is extremely hard to manage the team, given that the public has such high expectations. The least we can do is to be less-critical.

It has always been a dear wish of mine to see the cricket team win a world cup. Aside from sending positive thoughts, there is nothing that I can do. I do hope for the best from today's match. Having said that, I will not let a defeat affect my mood. I am and will always be proud of our team and will always be a proud spectator to their progress. Good luck team India.

P.S. - I think Sachin's best innings, and the best innings I have ever seen was his 136 against Pakistan in Chennai