Cricket's fickle critics: Why can't they leave our boys alone?

How easily we dump our heroes. How perfunctorily we admonish those whom we held up high till recently. How easily we dismiss them as crass middle-finger showing guys who, till the other day, gave us something to be triumphant about. How ephemeral can an Indian hero be? Ask the Indian cricketers in Australia for definite answers. Now in Australia and up against one of the best teams in the world, the test team is all set to be beaten 4-0 in the ongoing series after being 2-0 down already. So what? Isn’t cricket just a sport? Or is it a national weapon for jingoistic aggressiveness? For a nation which wallows in dismal performances in every field, cricket was an exception. Cricket is just a sport, mind you, but it gave us perhaps the only chance to show some triumphalism and pull out the tricolour from mothballed packets. Waving flags made us swell with pride. Only cricketers gave us that chance. [caption id=“attachment_177778” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" While we were attacking Sachin for not being able to reach 100 first class centuries, Australian writers were busy watching him at the nets as he faced throw-downs with such concentration and sense of purpose. Reuters"]  [/caption] Now we heckle them like boorish spectators from the Australian outback. Even going go-karting is a crime held against them. Australian vice-captain Brad Haddin put our national trait in perspective brilliantly when he said after the Sydney Test win: “Indians break quicker than anyone and turn on each other when things are not going their way.” A bold people will have to stand together when things are not going their way. Now we behave as if we, as a nation, are not used to being No 2 or even, say, No 134 (human development index ranking). There is not a unkind word that hasn’t been lobbed at the Indian team in the last two weeks. It’s time to assess cricket as a sport (defined as recreational activity) and what India has done with it. Just to give one example, look at the fabulous sporting league we created in the IPL. It is the first such initiative we have taken in the global marketplace and won. It is a different matter that Lalit Modi, the genius who created it, has been dumped for no obvious reason or charge. Which Indian organisation, other than the BCCI, for all its faults, has created such a money-spinning league? Look at the Aussie version called the Big Bash league and figure out. Now, to Australia. It is true that we have problems playing in certain conditions and pitches but that is no reason to blame Indian pitches as dead and flat. How did we create so many fast bowlers if our pitches were not good? Is the Sydney pitch, in which one team scored over 659 for four (one triple century and two other centuries), and the team playing the third innings scored over 400, a bowlers’ pitch or a batting pitch or a bad pitch?  If, in Ferozshah Kotla, India had scored over 600 with a Viru triple, and the visiting team demolished, we would  all have termed our  “Indian pitch” as the real hero. Are the Australians doing any such thing? In any case, how is it that there is a cry for changing our pitches when some of the greatest matches in test history have been played here.  What is wrong if spinners take wickets? The recurring discourse on Indian pitches is terribly nonsensical. Look at the positives. The fact is that though we have lost in both tests, our batting and bowling have looked good but, yes, they haven’t broken thorough. Our bowling, which was termed below par, bowled out Australia twice in the first test. We scored over 400 in the second test against a superior, lethal bowling attack. Sachin, who is the latest target for critics, has scored 226 runs in the two tests there at an average of 56.5. Michael Clarke, who scored a triple century, was making a comeback to form after a terrible dry run. But no one in Australia demonised him. They stood by him, knowing very well he will come back. Even in Sachin we don’t have enough faith. As if he hasn’t done enough. Zaheer is bowling as superbly as ever. And no doubt we have to persist with Ishant Sharma who in certain spells can rattle any batsman. In R Ashwin we have found a valuable an all-rounder who scored a cheeky half century in Sydney. He already has a test century to his credit. What more can an off-spinner do? Let us stand by him and the wickets will surely come. Now they want Harbhajan Singh back, they question captain MS Dhoni’s captaincy and want VVS Laxman to be dropped. “Talents like Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane are waiting in the wings,” a critic writes in Zee News. There is no doubt that Laxman will come up with a big score in Australia. To even suggest that Manoj Tiwary or Rohit Sharma will face up to Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle and score centuries is a joke. Have any of these critics studied the defensive strategies of these young players? Yes, Laxman at 36 is not young. But look at the way he is playing. Please leave the boys alone. The know what they are doing. Carping critics, including Sunil Gavaskar, who is on the BCCI’s payroll as commentator (like a book critic on the author’s payroll), should not be taken seriously. He wants Rs 4 crore a year as commentator. If the India cricket team were not world beaters where would he be getting the money from? Let them go go-karting. So what? Are such senior players to be at the nets all the time? What’s wrong if  Sachin’s son Arjun bowled at the nets? While we were attacking Sachin for the big sin of not being able to reach 100 first class centuries, Australian writers were busy watching Sachin at the nets and one of them admiringly watched him for one hour as he faced throw-downs from Raghavendra with such concentration and sense of purpose. One of these days one of them will score a memorable century. Then it will be time to unroll our tricolour. And for our critics to change their tone once again and ask for more pay since India is doing so well and the money is coming in.