Let’s be the world beaters in Cricket

The golden cup of enigma, known as the world cup, should have its foothold for ages. Millions of fans pray for this, thousand of youngsters are dedicated to it and hundreds of player craves to touch it. It is a dream of every Indian cricket fan to see their team as a world beater, not just once, but again and again like recurring days and nights. If not for ages, then at least like the dominant Aussies. Indian cricket fans were on their feet, when Kapil dev and team weaved their magic at the lords, when Dada led India in 2003 world cup to the final. But in 2003 India scummed to then the strongest team, Australia. Then in 2007 world cup what happened was a nightmare for Indian fans. That unforgettable spark was again a matter of anonymity. Indian fans were so close in 2003 when Australia decimated them in final. That buried tease was still alive and when in 2011 the world cup tournament came home, it was near impossible to ignore India as a contender. Then came world cup 2011 in the Indian soil and the fans got what they want. The tigers pounced on their prey and in their own den they ended the drought of 28 years with the gold. That sheer excitement and phantom cheers at the Wankhede when Sachin Tendulkar- The God, lifted the world cup was an unforgettable moment. Then in 2015 when the world cup tournament travelled to Australia, people were skeptical about Indian team. Indian team defeated Ireland, UAE, Bangladesh, West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa but were again crushed by Australia. This time there was no Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Nehra  and more.

People and few cricketing greats started shielding India by arguing that they have at least touched Semi-Final, as they defeated Bangladesh in quarterfinals. Dhoni consistently said that we have a new bunch of boys and they need experience at this level.

The best brain in India, by the media, is M.S.Dhoni. When senior players were bidding adieu, Dhoni was still the captain of Indian Cricket team and could foresee the future of Indian team. There had to be some master plans for the next big tournament like the world cup. Let us see the team performance, in terms of series win or loss, after the inclusion of new player’s, I,e, after 2011 world cup win.  

If we look at their performance outside the subcontinent or for the matter of fact outside India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh, the result would be like this:

One Day International Series outside	Played	Won	Lost
After 2011 world cup	10	4	6

Table 1 -Stats taken from ESPNCric Info*

Won against
Zim	2
England	1
Champions Trophy (England)	1

Table 2 - Stats taken from ESPNCric Info*

So if we take Zimbabwe out of the equation then the problem seems to be enormous. If we calculate the winning percentage then it will come out as somewhat ok as 40%. If we take Zimbabwe out, then it will be 25%, which is shocking, a clear dismal performance. One excuse might come as this –‘Our players are new, so they need time’. Yes, very true, this is a valid point. Let’s see now the performance in India.

One Day International Series  in India	Played	Won	Lost
After 2011 world cup	14	10	4

  Table 3- Stats taken from ESPNCric Info*

Lost to
Asia cup  in Bangladesh	1
Pakistan	1
Asia cup  in Bangladesh	1
Bangladesh	1

Table 4 - Stats taken from ESPNCric Info*

10 out of 14 means 71.4% and by any standard it’s not bad, it’s really amazing. This percentage, includes matches against teams like Australia and England, but in India.

So, if we examine both results, from 2011 to 2015, during 4 years, then it means we played numerable matches with wins and losses, that bring experience to our table. In between we also had test matches and IPL’s and more T-20 matches. Aren’t we prepared for so many matches? If not, then when we will start planning for the future? When we will prepare a system? If Indian cricket fans are asking for a better team than they are expecting too much?

We hear a lot about the word ‘Professionalism’ and even in a recent press conference, after losing to Bangladesh, MS Dhoni said to a reporter ‘It is my responsibility to pick up a team’. This is the only thing we supporter thought as of now and that’s why when India won the world cup in 2011, we were so satisfied looking at a master mind in command of team India. When he said ‘Players were tired’, did he mean that India have not enough players to play in international matches, but he himself said that most of his players were new then why not he groomed other players. CSK had played 8 IPL’s and Dhoni along with Indian selectors has not yet able to find young players than can be groomed timely to avoid such stress problems? Is there a distance between Dhoni and the selectors? If there are not, then who will create such players? The irony is that, MS Dhoni was the captain during inaugural T-20 world cup victory and also World Cup – 2011 victory. So having such a sharp mind, how can India reach to such a low, how can he or anyone who was responsible for grooming players even after such big victories are not able to groom players after 2011 world cup.

The very first point that might answer this is that, the players on whom shoulders India rests their hopes for 2007 inaugural T-20 World cup were, Viru, Gauti, Yuvi and Irfan Pathan. Dhoni also played a good role in that tournament. And when 2011 world cup arrived again we had Sachin, Yuvraj, Gauti, Viru, Nehra, Zaheer and Bhajji. After this world cup everything changed in India. Doesn’t it show that we were only dependent on these 8 to 10 players and when these 5-6 players were off, we were out.

Secondly, many supporters still have no idea about few players omissions from the international team. Players like Yuvraj and Gautam Gambhir were playing good even after being dropped by the Indian think tank. As an Indian supporter, I don’t mind playing all new 11 players, but when they don’t perform then who will be responsible? They alone? But when India won the world cup who took the credit? Still, there are no clear answers to these questions, but these things have hurt the fans and the teams result badly. It is quite surprising that a master mind like MS Dhoni wasn’t able to foresee such a shocking future. A team is always a blend of experience and youth, which we saw during the 2011 world cup. Surprisingly, with 8 IPL’s gone, the Indian think tank hadn’t figured out the players capable of playing at the international level consistently.

And last but not the least, this has proved one thing for sure that India lacks a system of grooming the players and the performance outside India is the biggest proof for that. A player that scores double centuries in India is not able to apply himself outside India is a strange fact. In current scenario, every single thing is available through technology, coaches and equipment then what is stopping India of becoming the world beaters. Even the amount of money spent on the game is enormous.

Indian Cricket fans are not asking for something impossible because a team is already doing this. A team that has won 5 world cups (with three in a row) and that team had actually won their first world cup after India. We as fans only asking to match some if not exceed them. At least from the support point of view and money point of view, we are equivalent to them and I am sure as compared to the talent we possess, we stand equal. Then what is stopping us? Why are we craving so long for the consistency? Is this the bug of politics? This question needs an answer. After the announcement about Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman and Sachin, there is a ray of hope about the young cricketers and Indian cricket bright future. The only question is- Will they be able to change the existing system to help the Indian cricket team? Can they make India the World Beaters for long duration and not just in a tournament or two?   

  

We are politically, socially and mentally bankrupt

The power of youth is extraordinary here. The intellect of youth is immense. The zeal to do something is enormous. That energy is brimming and ready to explode. But who shall channel this energy? The youth itself or the experienced personnel alive? There has to be some reason somewhere. The political and social giants have more than enough intellect about the subject matter, but when a common man will understand his role, then only these positive energies will channelize properly. Otherwise, 10 out of 100 will smile and the rest will go to Janter Manter and will find out in some time that their visit was useless.

The first reason is we are politically bankrupt. Today, even a school going child may understand politics (a bit). The newspapers and news are full of politics and yet we see dissatisfaction. The bankruptcy is not only because of inactive leaders, but it is also a lot to do with our own understanding towards them. We hear the word ‘Bhakts’ so often when people troll each other. Truly speaking, most of us are Bhakts of our own parties. BJP, Congress, AAP or any other party. We want quick solutions and actions by the government and government people only. We will often come across so many aged intellects that will keep on murdering a party because in 1886 something has happened. If we will see around every one of us support, every wrong of our party, if not all right. The very recent example is AAP. We accept lies, wrong actions because someone else is already doing it or we think they do it more often. There is a big bankruptcy in our political thoughts or we might be politically wrong in our behavior. The increasing impatient inside us is resulting in this bankruptcy and we will pay much more for this. We are still a party thinker rather than an individual thinker who looks at who do the work and who don’t because in reality we don’t even know who do the work. We only believe in one who claims and successfully defend (using words or money or some blind supporters) this.

Secondly the social bankruptcy. This is also something that we want ourselves. We speak lies to our parents, friends in hope of getting the gold and when it backfires we blame the society. It is still startling that if the arrange marriage is considered as rape to some then they actually mean that they want to get raped by their own choice, i,e in the name of lust, oh, I mean love because there are people who love twice, thrice, four times and more with all pleasures that they can have. The real problem with us is our uncontrollable frustrations. We want to fly high but often fails because we stand alone and then we start blaming others. This nature of us is backfiring. We see the problem of one and then generalize it for everyone which is so pathetic at our level. There are successful arrange marriages and successful love marriages, but we often remember the failed one and start becoming more frustrated in our lives. Socially, we only want to use people as a stepping stone to success and when it happens to us, we try to become a hero and stand against them. Also, when we see Television we rarely find any motivating serial or about the literature greats or people doing good work and how that work is helping our country. This lack of transparency is acting as a mist of disbelief and frustrations. We see in cities, joint families are rare. This social bankruptcy cost our country more than anything. We are unknowingly generating more pain than happiness around us.

The third and major one is the mental bankruptcy. Most of our youth believes ‘I can’t do it on my own’. We think that money, politics and networking are the only keys to success. So instead of working hard towards our own passion and dreams, we try to rope in more people illegally or bribe schools or make political connections. There is no denying that networking is required but the most important things are passion and determination. The show off nowadays is more than the determination. With the companies tagging ‘ Smart work not hard work’, young children believe that studying for 8 hours is a myth, you have to be smart enough. But those poor chaps do not understand that unless you will not work hard for understanding the concepts, you will never become smart. This is the ugliest bankruptcy we are in currently. This disbelief might become more in the future. This is one of the reasons why the quality of education is coming down. This mental bankruptcy clubbed with the management failures are resulting in the downfall of India in sports or education or for the matter of fact in any field. In colleges, schools and other educational institutes, the major misunderstanding that stays is – Students study to earn money. This has changed our understanding of studies and we look at it with this glass. We can see that even after having so many enthusiastic individuals, India is not up in many sports. We can leave our parents in the name of love, but can’t force them or make them understand about our own passion. This is because we on our own are not determined enough.      

To sum it up, we still have to go a long way in terms of understanding. Just because a family forces a girl or a boy into arrange marriage doesn’t mean arrange marriages are a waste. Similarly, numerous girls uses a boy and numerous boys uses a girl and it doesn’t mean that love doesn’t exist. This at times shows that mentally we are not creative enough to solve problems that arises at that instant. If we are so emotionally hurt, then why don’t we solve a problem by working on it rather than blaming others and teaching others to blame. Politics will not change in a year or so only if we will not change. The smart work and hard work go hand in hand. We have to be smart enough to choose a field of interest and then work hard to excel in it looking at the qualities required. Politically, we are still in party mode and this has only created chaos because no party is completely clear or good. Share good things about your party, but ridicule it for bad too. And the foremost thing we have to do is to become mentally stable to understand the situations, people and parties. Our decisions affect our lives and the lives of people around. In turn, it affects the whole of the country. We can always blame others or luck for the wrong things, but then it is our decision to entertain the wrong or the right. So there will be no magical wand, to solve our problems. We have to raise our understanding of the issues, come together to solve them and chose the right people at the highest level for the implementation.

       

Open letter to the teachers of Indian Cricket Fans

To the very much increasing useless journalism in our country,

Greetings,

I personally feel that journalism is the most important part of any democracy. It keeps the people up to date with all the news and also provide ideas and ways to participate in it with all zeal. Taking the right step forward, a channel or media company may become the fourth pillar of democracy. I used to think that whatever shown in TV or nowadays in the internet is 100% true and is not edited by any personal editor for his or anybody vested interest. But then nowadays opinions have become the news and the real news goes to the drain.

This is in response to the letter written by Sportskeeda member about Indian Cricket Fans.

I feel sorry about whosoever wrote this letter (because I don’t know you personally so I am not sure whether this article is out of frustration or well thought ideas). If you are so depressed about all the incidents then it clearly means you don't live in India and neither you have played gully cricket or you don’t follow any sport with your heart. The ovation and support these cricketers gets is nowhere close to other cricket teams wherever they will go. What are we expecting from them? Results? That too from their profession and not from anything extra they have to do. My dear writer, I am very sorry to say that people like you are the only reason why Australian Cricket Team won 5 world cups and India is still at 2 (even after winning the World Cup before Australian Cricket Team). It is still a surprise that even 32 years are not enough to raise a sport in this country that receives standing ovation and where almost every child wants to be a cricketer. Coming to the trolling part, Please do follow football, supporters boo managers and players. There are numerous incidents of throwing bottles and hitting players. Supporters fight on the ground and even show their frustration off the ground.They are also Indians right? So, dear writer open your eyes and stop talking as if you are from another world, this article only shows that you don't follow any sports, but only write for grabbing attention, which is normal today otherwise people might not read your article. People are also trolling celebrities outside India and mind you, those trollers are not Indian.

For the Sachin – Maria row, I must tell you my dear friend, you can’t catch the mouth of people around. And if you really feel so down about these things, then you must be a real depressed person by now because twitter slams everyone, actors, politicians, sportspersons, Writers, and many more. For those who crave for million fans and their blessings, they should also think about the negative side of it. Don’t try to teach people to become a saint or if you want them to be then first become one and stop ridiculing others. Trolling or writing is fine, this is a way of letting the frustration out. The supporters who have supported the team for 32 years and more will vent their frustration somewhere of not getting the performance they deserve.

But I agree with you for just one point, that is about pelting stones or physically harassing a sportsperson. Physically harassing a player or his/her family member is not acceptable by any means. Such degradation should be punishable and should not be acceptable. No matter how bad a player plays, physical harassment is never a solution or a way of letting out one’s frustration. And I  am sure there are only very few of these kind of people around.

But The only reason why you are able to write this useless article because we Indians are tolerant, especially those who are natives of India. The only reason why people think that they can bash Indian fans or supporters because they know they can only write about them and get away easily. Trolling is for everyone, not just cricketers. Then I think you need to follow politics too.

Where were you when players were getting crores and lakhs of rupees for winning the cup. The only problem is people like you don’t understand that if we love someone for his best performance, then we also ridicule him for his worst. In every interview the players scream about being professional. What is being professional means? If you are educated enough to know its meaning, then do understand that professionalism means delivering the result, that is a win. And mind you my dear blind writer, we are not expecting to every series or match like a robot. We only want them to be a real professional, what they always speak about.

And if you had gained your common sense now then write a letter to BCCI, questioning why India is not able to nurture young cricketers that Australia is doing very easily. Why same 11 or 6 players play every match and then at the end they say ‘We were tired’. Why Ashish Nehra is not playing in test or even in ODI after playing his best IPL with Chennai super kings recently? With 8 IPLs over, are we yet to identify our younger generation? This means IPL is just for making money? Is there even a system which picks the right talent?

So, dear writer, do some positive things with your creativity and find answers to all these questions so that India can perform better outside India. And I assure you, If India will even win 70 to 75 % of their matches (as a professional this is not a good percentage by the way, but we will manage), fans will be much happier and tolerant. There is a sigh of relief for us when the first time we saw the players, like Dad, The Great Wall of India, Very Very Special Laxman,  who deserve gets their place. If you are really concerned for the Indian cricket fans then do talk to BCCI officials.

And my dear holy country man. A country gains an appreciation by deliverance and not only by silence. India is gaining attention because our sports persons are delivering results in different sports and not just sitting silently and waiting for the golden sun to shine. If you really want results for Indian cricket team then write to BCCI. Your last para actually meant, Indian fans should sit silently irrespective of results and selections. Your article actually makes few individual believe in luck because they can’t do anything but they sit like a broken individual looking at their lost team while listening, reading and watching the world beaters.

And you are free to write such articles with the tag of India or India. India is a booming economy and even we are doing great in many sports, not only in cricket, so everyone wants to add his or her name with India or Indians. You are on the right path my friend.

Thank you

An Indian Cricket Fan

*This is in response to the article written by 'Sportskeeda' about Indian Cricket Fans namely -

'Open letter to fans of the Indian Cricket Team'