11 players 1100000000 fans !!

It is already stale news that India have lost their stake in the Cricket World Cup.

I actually went to a friends place and watched from noon to 1:15. Boy, was I disappointed. I saw 5 wickets fall within that space.

What infuriated me most was the transcript of the interview of the Indian Coach, Greg Chappell which I happened to read on Cricinfo.

In light of the fact that the coach of the Pakistan team has been murdered right after that team exited the world cup, is it even appropriate for the press to ask pointed questions to try and assign blame right after the match, knowing that there is a mob out there that is just waiting to lap up everything the press is going to dish out tomorrow ? Has the press no moral fibre?

It is this same press that takes these ordinary humans who are trying to play a game and escalates them to demi-god status. The same press is fed by advertising revenue from the very same sponsors who artificially inflate the worth of the players by giving them exhorbitant endorsement deals, publicity that would put movie actors to shame and way too much postive or negative focus to make or break their confidence and careers.

If the press were to put these players where they ought to be put, just players playing a game and if there is a law banning players from endorsing products or appearing in commercials, maybe things would improve. The press should actually point the fingers at themselves. They asked the Indian team coach if it is "time for a reality check?". It is time the press did a reality check on their role in this loss. They also asked the team captain "arent you answerable to your fans ?". HELL NO!! Movie actors play for their audience. Their end goal is box office success. Sportsmen play for the game. Their end goal is a victory against the other team! Not commercial success. Their game should not be linked to ratings or revenue!!

On a personal note,
1. I have made a promise to not watch or track cricket for the next 365 days!
2. There will be no requests to order the matches on Dish Network
3. No checking Cricinfo
4. No participation in water cooler gossip about things including and excluding Sehwag et. al. with the English, West Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans I know.
5. There will be no joint reminiscing with my co-brother or my wife's cousins from down under either!

This is Sundar's sabatham(wow)! Yeah, I am the next Mangamma...

ps. The wife is happy that she does not have to cough up the $199 or $ 129 or $... for ordering the remaining matches! Did you see the way the price for the Super 8 package drop as the Indian Wickets fell ?!

pps. As a person who has watched cricket for this long, inspite of all the scandals, match fixing, the crappy performance of the team, etc., I also share some responsibility for fueling this out of control fire. As an Indian Cricket fan, I take responsibility for my part!! Hence this decision.



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