The Glory of Cricket: Why does this game run in the blood of the Indians?
As my roommate and I were tracking the happenings of a game of cricket that is being played as I write this blog, I ask myself the question as to why this game is just not a game for most Indians. One of the few things that we miss having come to the US is cricket. Cricket, for those of you who do not know how the game is played, is a game that involves 22 players, 11 in each team. Based on who wins the toss, one of the team bowls and the other bats. I hold myself to the temptation of explaining the entire game, but the bottom line is you have to just hit the ball. It is actually not as easy as it sounds. You must be tactful in hitting the ball so that you don’t get caught out and you must also protect the three pieces of wood called as “stumps” that is behind the batsman. Vague as the explanation may sound, I just wanted to give you an idea on how the game is played. But the point that I want to talk about is the passion with which the game is played. This is not just a game that you watch and eventually forget about it the next day. People consider it as a religion. The players are their demi-gods. People tend to get so personally involved that they even miss work and classes to see matches being played. One of the main reasons that the game seems to be so popular among Indians is that the game is relatively easy to play and it is totally a team game. More than physical, the game involves the use of the mind in playing it. You get yourself easily involved in the game as you start playing it. This game also remains one of the earliest games that came into India (actually introduced to us by the English).
The problem with the passion
Being passionate about a game is good. But the problem with cricket is that the fans get too involved that any loss by the team is not easily tolerated. There have been numerous incidents of effigies of players being burnt when they did not perform well. If you think that it is just the uneducated and the illiterate class who do this, well, no. Even highly educated people tend to involve in such activities of protests. The fact that this game runs in the blood of the Indians, it hard to reduce the fervor amongst the fans which sometimes tend to kill the spirit of the game.
India v Pakistan – The high voltage game
One of the most intense matches that gets played is the one between India and Pakistan. Being arch rivals not just in the game, these matches tend to trigger a lot of enthusiasm amongst the fans. A man shot himself when his team lost, a weak hearted person died when he was watching one such a match which happened to have a nerve cracking finish. These are just a few of the many examples of how the game has impacted people’s life. The stadium roars with applause when their superstar walks into the field. One has to be there to believe how silent the crowd gets when the player gets “out”. Fans see the match even if takes place for 5 full days. The fun part is that even after you play for 5 days, you don’t get a result.
Gully Cricket – the fun part:
This is a form of cricket which is played on the streets, on the sands of the beach and on small playgrounds. For most cricket lovers, there is nothing like waking up in the morning at 4:30, riding your bike to the ground and reserving a “spot” for their team to play cricket. The rules are totally different and some rules don’t exist. You have 20 teams playing on a field that may be 75 % the size of a football ground. The fun part is that the game is so casual and yet every one gets so involved. It does get nasty sometimes, even to the extent of players beating up each other. But even after all this, the game ends on a “gentlemanly” note where people buy beer to sort out “issues”.
All said and done, the game has been and will continue to be one the few things that India is passionate about. The beauty with this game is that, though there are internal conflicts – whether political, class based or religion based – one of the things that the whole country is united in sharing its passion is – Cricket. So, eventually I told myself that, instead of analyzing the reasons, lets just PLAY THE GAME. To end my blog, I suggest that you visit this link which has a two minute video about how gully cricket is played (its actually a clip from a movie so don’t bother to find out what is being said): http://youtube.com/watch?v=-SLLVoKHBnw