Inverse Karma

Let’s face it. I’m so bad at cricket that they’ll probably choose my grandma over me. I never liked the game to start with. I believe its a dull, lifeless and a very passive game – at any given time, only 4 people are actually moving on the field.

India is an unnecessarily cricket-crazy nation. The majority of the masses is so obsessed with the game that they idolize the cricketers if they are winning and burn their effigies if they lose. Oh, and they also ransack their houses. Every news channel these days notoriously sensationalizes anything it could lay its hands on. Heck, the BCCI has probably enough money to run a small government.

Though being the unstoppable motormouth, I find myself totally tongue-tied when my friends bring up cricket during a conversation (that happens every single time!). But I’d have to appreciate how they could remember so much about the game, like who won what when, who hit how much, and who got whom out. My sister, who happens to be an insane cricket fan, can glance at a TV grab and say which match it was, who played it, when they played it and where. She could also throw in the match statistics if you ask for it! Whew! And then when I actually got to playing the game, I realized that I have to do 3 different things – batting, bowling & fielding – and be good at all three not to suffer humiliation. And then comes the million gazillion fielding positions which are named such that they bear no intelligent semblance to logic. And I ask myself, is it really worth all the effort? No sir.

Granted, cricket is a uniting force. Introverts can open up to others discussing the game. Long-lasting friendships are forged over a game of street cricket. But the game is too much hyped and over-analyzed. The Indian cricket players were gifted plush villas and ridiculous amounts of money for winning something (I don’t remember, maybe the T20 World Cup?). Why doesn’t Vishwanathan Anand deserve that? There are so many talented sportspeople bringing in laurels for the country and all they get is a 4-inch column in the newspaper.

Of the aforementioned 3 cricketing departments, I tried to be good at any one, eventually without luck. Lets just say cricket isn’t for me. I still continue to play with my friends though, not in hopes of getting better at the game, but wishing they’d grow out of it some day. Alright, they won’t. Well, I’m not hitting a six either

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