Get rid of that cricket addiction, India!

Yeah yeah, we couldn't.t get into the super 8s, we lost to lowly Bangladesh, and couldn't stand up against Srilanka. The media is going to jump on this, a billion voices in the subcontinent, and many many others all over the world are no doubt just ranting about these same things. Team India lost, with so much riding on their backs, Team India lost!

The media is going to be full of suggestions, drop Sachin, change the coach, get a new captain, leave everyone out of the team and what not. I think every single one of them is going to be absolutely useless. We didn't loose because of the individuals in the team, its no bloody mystery that we have the BEST team on paper! We lost because we just couldn't take it, we wilted under the pressure, gave up against the opposition, we simply QUIT!

Why you ask, a team with a billion supporters, magnanimous funding, huge corporate support, how could they just QUIT when so much depends on them?

What went wrong? I think its exactly the fact that a "billion sounds have no other form of sport entertainment than international cricket" is what went wrong! Look at Australia, people don't burn effigies if the Aussies lose, they don't throw stones at Mcgrath's unbuilt houses. We do, why, because if Team India loses, then we loose hope. Our lives surround Team India, we define our victories and losses on team India. In a country where a LOT of people are still without money, and cannot afford even half the things that are on the market, its obvious that the people will search for a burning light of hope, and they see it in Team India.

The morale is high when Team India wins, the masses can forget about their problems for a day, they can stop talking about the rising prices and that idiot boss at work, they enjoy their musty ride in the Mumbai Local Trains high on victory that day. Simply put we are addicted to cricket. The corporates know that and they feed this addiction, well who can blame them.

This results in tremendous pressure on our cricketers, infact its this pressure that fuels the fear of loss in their hearts, makes them not concentrate on their game anymore, and just give up. After all, they are only humans, well extremely well compensated humans at that. I know what you are going to say, aren't they paid to handle this pressure? Well, yes they are paid to handle this pressure, but the problem I think is not the money, I think our team in not TRAINED to handle the pressure.

If we are to get rid of this quit issue we need to work on both levels,
1. Create an environment in which international cricket is viewed as an glorified form of sport entertainment, and not the only source.
2. Train our men in blue to handle the pressure better.

How could we do this. I am not so naive to tell you that the Indian population should stop watching cricket, that is not possible, I will never stop. But lets give our people some other form of cricket than just international cricket. We have the Ranji trophy where states compete, all the big names are there, we need to make this a big issue. Pin our corporate hopes on the Ranji trophy, pour some money in the marketing, sell the TV contracts to ESPN-STAR, and see what happens. In the meantime, more support to a better infrastructure in cricket (so that people can actually play cricket) and support to other forms of sport is not a bad idea either.

On the second level, introduce some stress relieving techniques in the Indian team, e.g. yoga sounds good, or Aurveda based diet might also work. Some time to meditate and reflect in the should help the high quality individuals in the Indian team forget their own woes and play like a team.


Well, its time for India to move over from International cricket!