Sarojini Naidu, one of India’s mainstream and most popular freedom fighters, had once obliged a child with her autograph. On asking the child if he knew who she was. She got a reply- “Yes,”, the child said, “You are C.K. Nayudu’s wife!” Colonel C.K. Nayudu was the first Captain of India’s cricket team. And from this little anecdote, you should be able to understand how highly respected a cricket captain Colonel Nayudu was.
Apart from Colonel C.K. Nayudu, many former Captains like Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Hazare, Lala Amarnath, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and MS Dhoni have become icons in India’s popular culture. India’s cricket culture as a whole has been glorious, but the rich legacy has now been turned into a pathetic, cash-driven drama show.
Virat and Co.’s embarrassing defeat against Pakistan:
In its inaugural match of the ongoing World T20, team India took on Pakistan. Till now, India had a clean record against arch-rivals Pakistan in World Cup matches. India hadn’t lost a match against Pakistan at the ICC World Cups to date.
However, India lost the all-important T20 match against Pakistan by ten wickets. Fans know that a cricket ground isn’t a military battlefield, and we are not supposed to win every cricket match. However, the way the team went down without a fight and lost with ten Pakistani wickets and 2.1 overs to spare in a T20 match is quite heart-breaking for fans, especially when the team hasn’t won an ICC trophy since 2013.
Bigger problems with team India:
The defeat against Pakistan isn’t a peculiar or sudden problem for India. There are some bigger issues at play ranging from team selection to allegations of factionalism.
Indian cricket fans expect their team to perform well, especially because of the kind of facilities and financial resources available with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today. Till the early 1990s, BCCI didn’t figure amongst the cash-rich Boards. Yet, the team consistently improved its performance.
Today, BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world. Yet, the game is becoming a matter of showbiz with instances like bending the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement before the start of their T20WC match in Dubai- maybe because Bangladeshi Hindus dying in India’s neighbourhood or Afghan minorities being killed by the Taliban are non-entities.
Those asking:
Indian cricket team lent its support to the Black Lives Matter movement before the start of their T20WC match in Dubai.
Of course Hindus killed in Bangladesh are non-entities for our Cricketing elites. https://t.co/Y4tyVtu8E2
— Atul Kumar Mishra (@TheAtulMishra) October 24, 2021
The organization of the Indian Premier League (IPL) may have been a commercial success, but hosting IPL or securing rich sponsors hasn’t seemed to have helped the Indian cricket team at an international level.
Ad campaigns, increased visibility, and events like bending the knee in support of BLM are all alright if the team management wants it. But Indian cricket fans have supported their cricketers for 89 long years, and they will back their cricketers on only one condition- impressive results in major ICC tournaments.