Day 16 of my miseducation in Cricket: for a hot minute, I do not love my India, not after our Red Snapper reports that crap like this was stated with a straight face:
Just heard a reporter on NDTV interviewing disappointed fans in Bombay say to the camera — ‘It’s been a World Cup of tragedies, none bigger than India crashing out of the tournament’[Link]
Yes, that’s totally worse than someone’s neck getting snapped under the shadiest of circumstances. An anonymous tipster left a link to a BBC article by Mukul Kesavan–who has a book about cricket coming out in India later this year– on our news tab. I found it illuminating; I know next to nothing about this sport which Evil Abhi loathes so. 😉 Here’s a random assortment of what your favorite bimbette Bedi-impersonator learned and/or found fascinating at the Beeb:
For the television channels that bought rights to beam the tournament to these fans, Friday’s defeat was a financial disaster.
Since the Reliance World Cup hosted by India in 1987, South Asia’s cricketing nations have become more and more influential in the conduct and administration of the one-day game.
…India won the Cup in 1983, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won it in 1992 and 1996 respectively.
Mainly, though, the balance of power in world cricket has shifted from England and Australia towards the sub-continent for commercial reasons: the dawning realisation that India owns the only mass audience there is for the game.
India and Pakistan had resumed cricket relations after a long chill in 1978, just as limited-overs cricket was starting to take off.
The compulsive need to confront the old enemy led to the creation of a cricket circus in the Gulf sheikhdom, Sharjah, where, on neutral ground, the sub-continent’s blood feuds were re-played as one-day tournaments for the benefit of increasingly feverish and volatile audiences.
The fusion of chauvinism and television had two bad consequences: an obsessive fan base that tended to become deranged by defeat and the rise of contemporary cricket’s stock villain, the corrupting bookie.
Yeesh, no wonder insanity like vandalism (Dhoni’s house?!), effigy-burning (UberMetroMallu…profiting from tragedy is a sin!) and murder are all part of this disturbing picture. I knew that India and Pakistan were fierce rivals (fiercer than UC Davis and Sac State, even! j/k) but I was too preoccupied with shiny objects to take that fact one step further, to see one-day cricket matches as proxy for…partition? Since I am very much from here, I didn’t connect passionate national loyalties with the sort of enmity which leads to war.
When I rabidly root against the Dallas Cowboys, it’s not because I hate the city they represent. Perhaps that’s a flawed analogy, since Dallas is part of the country I’m a citizen of, but even when I’m cheering an American team on as they face another nation, I have no latent hatred for whomever we are playing. It all leaves my eyes wide while reminding me of how insulated I am.
Cricket will buckle under the weight of the sullen, thin-skinned nationalism that Indian and Pakistani fans bring to the game and it can certainly do without the bookie-driven corruption that feeds off this perverse enthusiasm.
The elimination of India and Pakistan leaves the World Cup in the West Indies a happier, less toxic tournament; it might even give the fans of these countries the time to actually play some cricket.
Or they could use the break to switch their loyalties to a sport that doesn’t bring out the worst in them. Test cricket, anyone?
Test cricket it is, I guess?
In the video Red posted, it’s the Indian girls who seem in better athletic shape, but they’re playing to lose – they keep letting the tackled European girls get away! Also, this being a game where wearing patkas is actually a safety precaution for girls – only the European girls are wearing them!
I don’t know how many of those that feel Kesavan’s article is over the top have grown up in India, loving the game, and following it passionately, but I’d be one of those. To me his article is a very sane analysis of the situation in the subcontinent.
The game is THAT crazy in India – obviously people engaged in violence or angry protests are a minority, but one, they are generally not staged – no one is paying them in money or notoriety to burn effigies, vandalize homes or pelt establishments. And two, I have had ample opportunity to be part of such happenings, and I might have been one of them had I not thought the whole exercise stupid. Obviously those who do these things don’t feel it is stupid. In my experience, all the over-the-top craziness you see in media is not overblown or madeup. It is more frequent and more wide-spread when about cricket, than you might think.
The India-Pak rivalry really is that intense – the matches are proxy for war in that sense. For someone who was old enough to register the 1983 world cup match and India’s stunning victory over the-best-of-all-time West Indies, India’s victory in 1985 mini-world cup in aus, Kapil Dev’s unbelievable banana yorker that dismissed Qasim Omar, and that last ball six by Javed Miandad off Chetan Sharma’s full toss in Sharjah, the game between India-Pak has been more than a game for a long time. What Kesavan writes about corruption is true also – just a few years ago a number of players were indicted on match-fixing charges – Indians, Pakistanis, South Africans etc. Kesavan’s analysis is also spot on about where in the world the money is in cricket. I also agree with him that the game may be better off without India or Pak in the world cup this time around.
To the people who have suggested that Indian media’s comments regarding the plight of Indian performance don’t hold a candle to the death/murder of Woolmer, I agree there is no comparison between the loss of a game and the loss of a life. However, you need to see the comments you are deriding in their context. The channel is not comparing the two events – his death, and India’s ouster from the tournament, and THEN claiming that the latter is the greater issue. The channel is feeding to its audience’s interests – which is not so much in Woolmer’s death, but more in India’s performance. I don’t think the Indian media are wrong to focus on India – if they are, then really every news media should devote space to every wrongful death on the planet over the last 24 hrs, before resuming with vacuous fare. So while I do enjoy the wit and intelligence of the conversations here, sometimes IMO the snark goes overboard.
I wish that Indian’s found other sports interesting as well. That they weren’t looking for demi-gods for just a game, to that point that even a Sachin isn’t good enough. That BCCI ever did anything to improve cricket playing conditions in India with all the money that’s coming in – better structured internal tourneys, coverable stadia for uninterrupted games, better coaching and analysis etc. That the govt or some other agency invested part of BCCI’s earnings to promote other games.
Wow, Seeker…what a great contribution to the discussion. So much to think about. 🙂
Losing a cricket match is not a tragedy:)
Has a consensus ever been reached on why India (and other SA countries) fares so poorly at the Olympics?
To be clear, I don’t think Kesavan is pandering to the West, because as you said Seeker, I understand that cricket is that crazy in South Asia. But I think when one looks at it from a point of view outside South Asia, apart from some variation, cricket does not seem all that especially unique to me. The betting influence, many major sports have this problem, and periodically there is a cleaning house. Baseball has gone through serious match-fixing scandals itself. And right now, on a different angle, there have been articles claiming that steroid use is absolutely wide-spread in american football. And the entire home run chase between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, which people credit with bringing baseball back from the brink of irrelevance after a prolonged strike, has now widely been decided to have been tainted by the use of steroids. McGuire, once thought to be a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame, is now thoroughly disgraced. And Barry Bonds, who is abou to break the most well-known record in baseball, for all-time home runs, can find no one to be excited by the prospect.
Yesterday we brought up the ultranationalist violence that can accompany soccer/football; and there are plenty of examples of sport serving as a proxy for war, with all the uglyness this can entail. Nationalism was even an issue when Ireland and England played rugby recently, although it was taken as a huge sign of advancement that the visit by England went totally without major incident. However, 20 years ago, there would probably have been some fireworks. Celtic Versus Rangers has served as a proxy for Protestant versus Catholic enmity as well.
I see cricket as any other world sport, but one that South Asia happens to follow and play reasonably well. Other than that, it is prone to the same vices as any other sport, and right now, has a betting problem. The jingoism, while ugly, is nothing unique to the sport. I personally don’t see a unique crisis special to South Asia or cricket.
Muralitharan named as the leading player in the world (by wisden. others are panesar, collingwood, yusuf, ramprakash)
if woolmer had not been murdered and india and pakistan had managed to go through to the super eights, would there have been articles over the toxic effects of their presence in the world cup? why were there no articles before the world cup pointing out that their presence would be toxic and what to expect? after all, these problems that have been written about have been around for a long time and would have still been there despite india/pakistan progressing. the run-up to the tournament has been four years in the making and nothing has changed since the last world cup. why was india’s presence not toxic the last time? because they made it to the finals? Why no articles before the world cup saying ‘india’s slip would be good for world cricket”?
Hey Anna! Thanks 🙂 Talk cricket, and I’m there!! I am an unabashed fan of the game and I love that SM covered not just the news of a cricket world cup but also some deeper analysis on the happs.
Nada, at least for India the answer is relatively simple – people are generally not interested in following other games as much as cricket. A much smaller pool of participants in other games compared to that of cricket follows. A vicious spiral ensues. These days, there’s very strong commercialization aspect to sport in India – huge foreign companies are looking to market their wares, and are in need of sport heroes. Perversely, as soon as someone becomes a little better than mediocre (think Sania Mirza) janta becomes overenthusiastic about their success (which still is nothing on world level – how many dozens of players were ranked higher than Sania in her heyday?!), and they suddenly make enough money to not care about improving anymore (Sania is going to be an actress, yay!). So no incentive to play sport when there’s no money, and no incentive to become world’s best because you get enough money at a mediocre level. I guess unless its personal pride of excellence at work, even this new money will not produce world champions.
Check out this on slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2162769/
Anna, you don’t know what you are talking about.
BCCI has released an official statement accusing the following people for India’s World Cup debacle:
62: Awesome.
She never said she was a cricket expert, so what is your actual problem with this post, her, global warming etc?
Can you be more specific? The whole point of covering the World Cup was to learn, so if you have something to contribute besides that, please do.
Whats a banana yorker? eh what do I care, I live in America. Excuse me, I need to get a cheeseburger now.
Amitabh,
My in-box has been flooded with jems like this ever since India blew it:)
Sri Lanka ans Windies are in trouble. Sigh.
Santosh – the thought of Bal Thackeray urging calm had me laughing for two minutes straight.
I think Kesavan has a point, but the thrust of his article is mildly elitist (very typical of the Indian academic) in its distaste for the popular war-like appeal of the sport, and his blaming of Bad Commercially-driven TV for turning cricket into more of a gladiatoral spectacle than a nuanced pleasure. Let’s not forget that it was the presence of cricket on telly and particularly the Prudential Cup victory that inspired lots of little kids to become cricketers and probably increased the talent pool for the sport.
Actually, I thought the thrust of his article was major-league elitist, rightly so. It’s a not-even-disguised plea for a return to Tests-only cricket. I mean, there was such a time, and it was fun, even for me as a kid! Of course, you still had the one dayers played by visiting Test teams against schoolboys and counties and such, all in fun, the visiting Test side would be resting its best players and so would field their ‘second XI’, etc etc. The corrupting influence of the bookies – who had to have wins and losses to stay in business – must be exposed for what it is. As for the mass participation that World Cup frenzy supposedly encouraged – did it really do that? I see it as having created a huge audience of couch-potatoes – not even talking of the occasional on-field Aloo. Cricket need no more be a mass-participation game (and it’s mainly spectator participation anyway) than opera or jazz need have mass audiences, it loses something essential by going pop. That’s what soccer and basketball are for, to be played and watched by the hundreds of millions.
Anil Kumble retires from ODIs.
Chachaji without all the money that ODIs draw in terms of TV coverage and ads, would the players be paid as well, and without the fame and mass adulation would it be every little boy’s dream to play for India? Would there be as much money for developing the sport locally (if there’s any left over now from pocket-lining by Dalmiya and Pawar)? There’s good and bad in commercialisation and popularisation.
MALINGA MALINGA MALINGA MALINGA
Yeah, Malinga almost grabbed the match back for SL. But SA still won it. Nice bit of drama.
That was amazing, as gripping as any nba finals ive ever seen, wow. 4 in a row, wow.
damn! that malinga ball in his penultimate over barely missed the stump – could have been all over. south africa escapes, but lanka’s fightback was heartening. the highlight of the world cup matches so far.
Indeed. Sri Lanka showed good spirit. They were so close.
Let’s face it, the World Cup is over. The Aussies are going to win it. Again. They battered the Windies. Who is going to beat them?
I will not write jem instead of gem. I will not write jem instead of gem. I will not write jem instead of gem. I will not write jem instead of gem. I will not write jem instead of gem.
Red Snapper (#77):
BANGLADESH!!!!!!!!
UberMetroMallu, Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s just a jame.
West Indies v Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka made 303, and then took 3 early Windies wickets. It looked dark down at the Providence Stadium. But now Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul, the the local Guyana desis have come together and the chase is ON. Sixes and Fours coming in all directions.
Don’t miss this: http://mfile.akamai.com/21317/live/reflector:34764.asx?bkup=21549
Whoops. Spoke too soon. Sarwan out. Stumped. Ouch. The required run rate is creeping back up to 11 an over. But Chanderpaul is still lingering with intent. And now another SIX by Chanderpaul. The third SIX of the Innings!!!
Forget it. The Sri Lanka wicky is a demon stumper. The Windies are giving their wickets away cheaper than Woolies’ Pick and Mix.
Looking forward to an Aussie Sri Lanka final now…
some good articles on the sri lankan cricketers:
The secret of Lankan cricket’s good health
Down-to-earth behavior makes Sri Lankan cricketers popular
it is disappointing to see the windies afflicted with the same ennui that sent india out of the tournament. was hoping for a windies-lanka final, but that looks highly improbable. even worse for the windies, because this is probably the best world cup crowd so far in terms of some atmosphere and home-side support (other than the their first round match against pakistan in jamaica).