The Uglier Side of the Game

The worst traits of human quality have been laid bare during this World Cup tournament. I am sure a lot of people have been saying this WC will be remembered for all the wrong things: murder, retirements, resignations etc, but there is something much deeper that is the cause of all this. A thrashing in a test series never solicits this sort of knee-jerk reaction from every nook and corner of the world, but the ODI game does. Even though all cricketers say that Test Cricket is the "real" game, it seems to be the ODI game that ends their time in the middle. What a shame for a game that is so much greater that just a 100-over duel in the middle.

Eventually, like all wars and crimes, this effect can be put down to commercial reasons and perhaps much more. Human follies like ambition, anger, insecurity and jealousy have come to the fore in this tournament as never before. Expectations are woefully inflated and anything short of reaching the finals seems to constitute failure. Why is so much importance given to this tournament and this form of the game? This is not like football, where WC is the be-all and end-all of the international game. Here, test cricket is the main thing, but still the ODI game is influencing decisions in the test arena. That is quite unpardonable. A 5-0 Ashes whitewash didn't produce such extreme reactions. Perhaps that's why Australia is the most successful team: not only are they the best and most confident, they have the best perspective. They lost the Ashes and haven't looked back since. Other teams have lost test matches (England) and won ODIs (SA, England, NZ) and thought everything would be fine for the WC, but clearly not.

ODI cricket draws so much money for the national boards and the ICC, that it now assumes the centre-stage in the game, at least when it comes to decision making. Failure in this form of the game means it is no longer a sustainable sport and so both the people (who mostly prefer ODI cricket) and the boards think it essential to take action and put undue pressure on the players and staff. This not only affects their performance in the middle but also exacerbates the situation off-field. Players quit, coaches leave and captains resign. The weight of expectation created by the frenzy, hype and commercial aspect of the ODI game brings out these worst qualities: ambition, greed, envy, anger and meekness.

For all of us who truly love the sport, all this comes at a huge cost and big disappointment. We like to watch good cricket and are not particularly phased by who loses or wins. In cricket, what's more important is how you play rather than how you perform. You'd rather see a classy 50 in a losing cause by a team you support rather than a grinding match-winning 100 by another player from the same team. Cricket is much more than a sport where only winning and losing matters. A winner is a winner, whether they win or lose. The only loser in this story are we who enjoy the game, who'll never get to see Lara bat ever again.