Cutting the Caribbean crap...

It is the evening of 24th and I am back to the trivial way of penning down my thoughts, trying to sort out my feelings (of anger, distaste, frustration, disappointment, defeated expectations and what not…) An attempt to calm down this emotional turbulence instigated by India’s loss to Sri Lanka last night. The all important impetus provided by this feeling of being the “lukhi”-est and “vaili”-est person alive in the world as of now.

Cricket was always one of those touchy issues with me besides, of course, Abhishek Bachchan and Backstreet Boys. I have been an impulsive, die-hard cricket fanatic ever since. I remember dad and his friends teasing me every time we would meet over dinner or whatever, talking about how every game that India lost, was fixed. They were always conscious of the crap they would talk and even regard it as “absolute rubbish” but not before they would have laughed their heads off seeing me literally at war with myself. Trying not to get all worked up and lose my…well, cool. Now, that it’s more of a routine, I am sure it is done only to “enjoy” those signs of sheer helplessness on my face, which never seems to fail to make their day…This time was no different when we went to Bhargava uncle’s place. Ditto when Praveen uncle came over (Out of the 2 hours that he was here, he spent 40-odd minutes, trying to make me talk about how Dravid had fixed the match and got Yuvraj out deliberately. Rubbish! I know it was all done to aggravate me and he succeeded in doing just that, as always.(hmphhh…)

Coming back to the point, we know India is virtually out of the world cup. The fact has still not dawned in its entirety but I am trying to come to terms with reality. With more than a month of action left in the world cup, I wonder how it’s gonna be like sans India. “CRICKET WORLD CUP” suddenly sounds not even half as exciting and happening.

While the newspapers and news channels cant get enough of this blame game and Dravid-Chapell are refraining from commenting as this is an “emotional moment” and they can be “misconstrued”; I cant help wondering if we were really lame enough not to see it coming on the first place or we knowingly turned a blind eye to it, thinking it was the best we could do anyways.

I think being one of those “ever hopeful” lot, we were shying away from the truth. And I can bet my life on it, that many of us have secretly pinned up hopes to the Bangladesh-Bermuda match (though we won’t apparently want our team to be there because of the mercy of Bermuda) and are hoping and praying for India to be in the Super 8. No Indian is supporting B’desh tonight; we don’t really make great neighbors when it comes to cricket. I don’t know if I should be happy about this never-say-die attitude or amazed at the downright irrationality that creeps in more often than not. An even more amusing part is that not only we remain ever hopeful ourselves but even spread it around us. Take this, its not exactly spreading hope but borders on that—
I had stopped watching the Bangladesh-India match after India had had its say with the bad. 191-all out. Against Bangladesh. Hardly what I had expected even after considering all that could have possibly gone wrong. (As it turned out, nothing went right for us.) 5 overs or so into the Bangladesh innings I was told “Don’t be silly, go watch the match.” Aaaargh..to make things worse, I was asked to do that not by some die-hard Indian cricket fan, for whom the game is wide open till the last ball is bowled or the last wicket has fallen but by this, well, “expert”, who understands the intricacies of the game and can really make you think. Anyways, I went on to see the whole damned match.(I am very easily convinced, you see..*wink..)

Now cut to this—

During our match with Sri Lanka, 4 of us had been SMSing through the night. (Kritika, Shruti, Srishti and me) and yeah, I had the intermittent “expert opinion” coming in too..lol.So, in all, the 5 people messaging, represented 5 different categories of “game lovers”. Srishti cannot be called a cricket enthusiast though. She was messaging only because she had promised to stay up till me and Shruti dozed off. She represents the people who do not breathe and live cricket. They are “the impassibles”. Have got their heads in the right place so give a damn to how boys in blue play…Shruti represented the majority of people I know. Interested, but just cant get enough of criticizing the team.(Like my dad!) She hardly saw the match…was reading this book titled “7 habits of highly effective teens” (and I know I’ll be kicked for writing this…) I was supposed to keep her updated with the match. Her messages went like “lol. I told u we gonna lose.dese guys noe ntn at ol.)

Since I am not the ever hopeful types, Kritika happily filled in…her messages went like “We can still win it, bas Dravid out na ho” (he got out within the next 5 balls…lol)and also that “keep praying, kuch to hoga”. She represented people with never ending hope. But even she lost hope after Yuvraj got out and Dhoni went for a duck. “What’s wrong with Dhoni?” She asked. Trust me when I say, I laughed at this message for at least 3 full minutes…I mean expecting Dhoni to fire off, when Murali is at his best is too far fetched considering his recent knocks against Bangladesh and Bermuda (0 and 29). I just replied “Temme wots wrong wid oder 10 n I’ll tell ya wots wrong wid him…”

Anyways, the other minority of “game lovers in the real sense” was represented by “the expert”. They love, basically, the game. “I am not happy that India lost but I wont say that I am sad. They played badly…bloody even lost to Bangladesh, which was supposed to be a touch and go match.” (oooh…impressive!!) Their messages mean hard core business, may be because they know clearly what they mean and can get it across to the other person in less than a few words. Their messages are like “60-40 Lanka”. As simple and clear as that. Such "fans" are rare.(not exactly fans but i dunno what else to write.) I have known just two. These people, I think, constitute the “cricket intelligentsia” and heavily influence the way “my typa fans” think. Now that we have finally come to it, lemme elaborate on fans like me, who constitute the majority of Indian population(at least i think so...) So, gear up to know more about fans like me (*blushing)-

When they are into it, they are “HEAVILY” into it. Will go on to abuse and curse even the driver of the team bus (for the damned bus broke down and team missed out on one precious hour of practice that could have made a world of difference!!!) when into the groove. We are the balanced (hehee…sometimes..) but impulsive lot. We get all worked up during the match but eventually cool down too and yeah, we hardly ever talk sense! I wanted all 11 to retire from cricket last night. Tonight, however, I won’t want even a single guy to chicken out (like Inzamam) but face the well deserved ire of the last category of fans, which fortunately was not represented by any of us.

They are the ones, who elevate these cricketers to their haloed status in a match or two and then go on to torch their effigies, burn their posters, attack their houses and cars during their lean patch before returning their demi-God status, only to snatch it away-unceremoniously-after their next duck. They make cricket what it is in India. They make life hell for people like Bob Woolmer. They make a Balaji and a Nehra. They make and break the poster boys of Indian cricket. They, are what cricket in the sub continent is all about. You bet.