The Death of Cricket

I recently followed a Buzz that turned out to seem like a debate between Bobinson and Amal regarding the IPL. One person on the note that IPL is an anti-national event and that it should be banned forever and the other pointing out the positive aspects of it. I feel that Amal had some really good points there.

Reading through it took me back to the days when I was an ardent fan of the Indian cricket team and never missed an ODI that India played. I don’t remember when I first watched the game, but the first time I followed it and understood what it was, was in 1990. It was my brother who introduced me to the game.

Though I have never played the game or I’m not very technically sound about it, the excitement it generated was awesome. The cheer, the spirit, the emotions – I’d jump with joy whenever India won a game and I’d pray for miracles to happen whenever it looked like India would lose. Somehow most of the turning point matches always happened whenever I had an exam. I’d always be between the tension of the game and the tension of my exams. Oh especially those India-Pak matches. Calling them matches wouldn’t do justice.. they were wars! Though I had favourites in other teams too, the Indian cricket team always mattered the most to me. I was damn crazy about it to the extent that I’d sometimes imagine myself as a cricketer and being a part of the Indian cricket team.

And then came 1999 when the betting controversies and match fixing sagas were revealed. I was shattered when I came to know that some of my favourite cricketers were involved and that there was a dirty world behind the scenes. I regretted all those times amidst my exams when I spent time praying for those guys to win, when all the while they were just acting it out and betraying the country. I vowed then that cricket wouldn’t influence my life again. Many people find it hard to believe me when I tell them that I was once a cricket fan and this is why it doesn’t excite me a lot now.

Every time I see a match I wonder if it is true.. the bad performances, the catches they drop, the run outs that happen and I don’t feel the blood rushing through my veins. I no longer follow the game and barely know the present cricket team players. I’m married into a family that doesn’t have any interest in any game or sport whatsoever in spite of 2 boys being in the family. So that makes it easier for me to not watch it. But sure it still is nice to watch a game once in a while when I have nothing better to do. Seeing the Indian team lose a game doesn’t break my heart anymore. And yes, I watched the IPL final. It was a cricket match that I watched after a long long time. I don’t even remember how long coz it doesn’t matter much to me. And I’m glad they introduced the 20-20 as I wouldn’t waste a whole day watching it and wondering at the end of it whether I was fooled again.

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