It Takes One Day ...

This was the prominent tag-line of the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.?

On Nov 19th, there were two cricketing storylines –

Following 15 years of strong leadership, a systems infrastructure to churn out world-class talent, and an increasingly glowing performance record, can India cross the final hurdle to become World Champions, after 12 years, and cement the legacy of Virat and Rohit?

Or,

Would this bunch of Australians, who aren’t as storied as their predecessors, sporting a most gentleman-like attitude vs. them, cause an upset, with their persistence, ability to just “switch on” when it mattered most?

However, the prevailing storyline at play was –

India - the economic center of world cricket, given its unparalleled consumer base, and the strengthening grip of its Board – is seeking the crowning stamp of the national team officially conquering the pinnacle of the sport.

Everything was aligned – the culmination of 6 weeks of the 10 nation tournament in India, the final at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, the team in peak form, the presence of the PM along with 130,000 screaming fans (including yours truly) in a colosseum-like environment dressed in a sea of blue, and ofcourse over a billion people watching on screen. Did the Board even get into the pitch preparation to cover all bases? Not clear, but not impossible. Before the players took the field, an array of Indian fighter pilots boldly manoeuvred their state-of-the-art jets to pull off acrobatic stunts in the blue skies and set the stage.

This was’nt a cricket match. It was a coronation event, being staged, for the Indian establishment to demonstrate its indomitable presence on the global (cricketing) world.

Until, it was’nt!! But, that's not the point here.

It Takes One Day …

... to see what the problem is.

We used to be a cricket-loving country. While we always cheered for our heroes, we were that country which appreciated great cricket, wherever it came from – a standing ovation for Saeed Anwar on his 194, cheering in admiration for Jonty Rhodes’ high adrenalin fielding, and more. What united us, across caste, creed, sub-culture was the appreciation of the beauty of a Tendulkar straight drive, or Mark Waugh's lazy elegance.

But, something else happens today when India plays. The stadium transforms to a bloodthirsty colosseum, where all we want is two events - boundaries from Indian bats, Indian bowlers taking wickets. Any departure from these 2 events, however outstanding, is an aberration – something that has to be erased, and met with a deathly silence. For after all, the opposition is incidental – there’s just one team on show. It’s colosseum theatre, not a match between two teams.

From a cricket-loving country we’ve become an Indian-cricket-supremacist-loving country.

The problem is NOT about India bringing more aggression in its playing style and approach than before – I personally love that. For instance, I love Virat exerting his presence on the field to intimidate the opposition – but I also love how he is the first one to appreciate the competence of an opponent. When the audience booed Steve Smith unceremoniously after his return from the ban, in the India-Australia match in the 2019 World Cup, he exerted his influence on the crowd to stop that – I loved that.

This didn’t happen at the switch of a button, but has been creeping on us gradually.

Today’s youth is nowhere into cricket like the previous generations. Watching the game, let alone understanding its nuances takes too much time. But, everyone loves the nationalist theme at play. Are the machinations of the administration and media around us uniting us with cricket, and then stirring up our innate tribal instincts? Sitting at the stadium, rather than gaining a futuristic view on India, I felt a relegation to a tribal past (the fact that the 100 odd vendors there didn’t accept any digital payments didn’t help). The DJ who kept playing his songs between overs would continuously rile up the crowd to shamelessly back only the home side. Was the booing of the umpires justified?

India’s at this pole position of power in the cricket world. It would behove us well to be graceful, respectful while at this pedestal. What if this World Cup was a wonderful melting pot of cultures, displaying our core Indian value of hospitality? What if professional arrangements had been made to have fan and media representation from different countries? What if we could have rekindled our rich cricket-loving legacy by acknowledging and appreciating performances from stalwarts all over?

This is definitely, India’s moment, the dawn of India’s century. Jeetega Jeetega - We will win this – just doesn’t have to be on the cricket field all the time. Let cricket be cricket – a beautiful sport, which we used to love with purity. Can we decouple cricket from being a quintessential source of national pride? We are the largest pluralistic society in the world, and have a lot to be proud of already.

It Takes One Day …

... to realize this truth.