England vs India: Why Indian cricket fans have every right to be angry

The last three weeks have been a nightmare for anyone who has been associated with the Indian men’s cricket team (For those who are unaware, the women’s team beat England by 6 wickets in their first Test in eight years). The men’s team has gone from bad to worse and in retrospect that historic win at Lord’s has now started looking more and more like a fluke. Having played some competitive sports myself I know that no sports person steps out wanting to lose. In fact that age old saying “Winning and losing does not matter, what matters is participation” is not a part of any athlete’s vocabulary. The only thing that matters really is a win. [caption id=“attachment_1671021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  It was a disappointing end to a disappointing series for India. AP[/caption] Dale Earnhardt, the legendary American NASCAR driver once said: “Second place is just the first place loser.” Yet every sports person steps out to the playing field being fully aware of the fact that losing is a very real possibility. The fact that a winner and a loser exists turns an activity into a game. And when both sides fight to win that turns a game into a sport. The key ingredient is passion and intensity. And it was this passion and intensity that the Indian cricket team failed to show. The players’s attitude towards the game has hurt the fans. I am certain that the players are feeling bad about the loss but to assume that the fans are not hurt is to be completely unaware of fan psychology. Kirk L. Wakefield in his book, Team Sports Marketing describes this by saying “Fans experience pleasure and satisfaction with their teams…. a dedicated sports fan has an enduring involvement with the sport and situational involvement with the event.” The basic reason behind this phenomenon is called Bask In Reflected Glory [BIRG]: a self-serving cognition whereby an individual associates themselves with successful others such that another’s success becomes their own. Nothing achieves this better than cricket in India. Cricket is not about the skill and fortunes of the eleven men who actually play but about the self-respect and pride -if not vindication - of an entire nation. This is why the fans are hurt. To brush it off and say that “being an India cricketer is a high pressure job, each of our move is scrutinized and our failures are discussed threadbare” is the escapists way out. The truth, Team India, is that you chose this life for yourself. You know cricket in India is more than just a sport. The love people have for you turns you into overnight Demigods. It expands your bank accounts by amounts that could possibly rid our country of poverty. Those are issues you don’t complain about. When you won the T20 World Cup in 2007, fans thronged the streets of Mumbai to celebrate your return. When you won the 2011 ODI World Cup, you brought the entire nation to a standstill as it roared its approval. If it is just a sport why did you not complain about the attention then? The truth is you cannot decide when you want attention and when you don’t. That is the biggest curse of being worshipped. If you have given the fans a right to worship you and put you on a pedestal then be rest assured they also have the right to pull you down. You cannot just ask for only sunshine. Life is not that fair.