India has the strongest population amongst all the cricket playing nations and finds home like support whichever country they tour. Our stadiums are packed for every ODI involving India and more so if we are playing a competitive team. And naturally all what the spectators wish to see is an India win. But victory is unfortunately just one of the two strong possibilities and has just a 50% probability. Be it India's disappointing campaigns in the 2007 World Cup, 2009 World T20 or the 2010 World T20; the players have been criticized and rightly so, but I believe we Indians are obsessed with seeing our team only win. Below par performance by the team can not be ruled out but the fact remains that We can not digest defeat. We tend to forget all past laurels and achievements. We have achieved the Numero Uno ranking in Test Cricket and we as fans have been overjoyed. Sachin Tendulkar's record breaking 200* made us all feel proud and on top of the world. We at one time had also reached the top in the ODI rankings too. But why do failures bother us so much that we forget all the past glories and lament on the just concluded performance. Is the fans memory that short? Yuvraj, a proven performer in the shorter versions of the game has been lambasted for his poor showing in the IPL and in the World T20. Dhoni, the captain, having played and captained the team like a dream over the last few years had a bad World Cup and awkward moments every now and then which is normal, and we already have "fans" and media criticizing him. Agreed, players need to work on their fitness and abilities, but isn't it here that we fans need to step up and encourage him. Or do I have a wrong notion of what the real fan's role towards the team he supports is.
We Indians love our cricket and have lately started taking to other sports too. But do we have the sportsman spirit to digest defeat? NO! Wills World Cup 1996 Semi Finals between India & Sri Lanka at Calcutta is a glaring example of that. A steady surge by India to their target of 251 set by the Sri Lankans was jolted by a flurry of wickets and India stared at defeat at 120 for 8 in 34.1 overs when a section of the crowd turned unruly and torched seats and threw bottles & projectiles at Sri Lankan fielders. The match was forfeited and the Islanders eventually won the World Cup. This till date is the most shameful incident to have happened to Indian cricket.
The fans in Mumbai who now have termed Tendulkar as "God", booed him off the field when he was going through a rough patch and was dismissed cheaply in a Test against England in Mumbai. What's even more appalling is the master batsman being called "selfish". A man with 33000 international runs and almost 100 international centuries is shamelessly termed as "selfish" by his own fans. Not in words can my being appalled by this be explained. Thats just another disappointing example of double standards that we Indian cricket fans carry.
Another incident that happened in Calcutta was after Tendulkar was run out against Pakistan in the Asian Test Championship match in 1999. Calcutta crowd had yet again turned unruly and threw bottles on Pakistani fielders. Spectators had to be evacuated for the rest of the day and robbed the match of an interesting finish. It was a match India would have expected to win, but Shoaib Akhtar and a fighting Pakistan unit had other plans, and India ended up losing it.
Why do we have this innate need to be destructive and abusive when our team does not do well? Is it a part of us being Indians or we are purely obsessed with the sport and cant forgive our players for bringing us shame by losing a few matches? I observed a popular cricket writer on Twitter saying "I sincerely hope Ireland scores over 280 or so and makes these motherfuckers earn a victory", during the India vs Ireland game today when a Irish pair played exceedingly well against the Indian bowling. Now what do we call this? What I am astonished about is the pure disrespect for those very individuals who are playing for the country. That probably is the reason why India has never had a Chaudhary Abdul Jalil more popularly known as Chacha Cricket of Pakistan or something like the Barmy Army (English Cricket supporters). We Indians being the most maniacal followers of the game havent really been the best supporters of our own team, let alone the game as a whole. How else would the demeaning and appalling forums; online & on TV talking about the team's poor performance, personal attacks on various players, demanding Dhoni to be axed as captain be explained.
Cricket in India, sadly, is tied up with nationalism. This is a product of our past: for the first few decades of our independence, there was nothing at which an Indian could point and say, “Ah, India dominates in that, it can show the rest of the world how it’s done.” Cricket, for what its worth, turned out to be something we weren’t too bad at. The 1983 World Cup win, 1984-85 World Series win, cricketers like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev & Tendulkar gave reasons to the fans to find obsession with the game.
Not matter what the result of this World Cup is, I will continue to be a cricket fanatic and an ardent supporter of the Indian cricket team. I call myself a rational cricket fan. May not sound the best, but surely makes sense to me for I do not resort to abusive and destructive behaviour when the team is struggling and needs support of their fans. For all the disappointments we have in our lives, we've found scapegoats in our cricketers who bear the brunt of being in the national side of the most popular sport in a country of more than a billion people. Trying to be slightly supportive to our cricketers might be a beginning to a better fan - idol & fan - sport relationship.
