Zero tolerance for losers in an emerging India

MPs — cutting across party lines - hyperventilating on the whys and wherefores of the state of Indian cricket is not entirely unexpected. The political class, after all, is known to seize on an issue to make it a tamasha: and in India, cricket is a readymade tamasha even before the team does well or badly.

But while the antics of the MPs should be dismissed as jingoistic nonsense, there is a wellspring of hostile opinion rising among the genuine followers of the game in the country which neither the cricket establishment nor the players can afford to ignore any longer.

``If such performances continue, I don’t want to invest any more time, money and passion in cricket,’’ said a distraught young man at a seminar in St Stephen’s College in Delhi on Saturday. He could be the voice of the new India, which demands delivery on promises made, and excellence in return for rich rewards.

Failure, especially on overseas tours, is not new in Indian cricket, neither is extreme fan reaction novel. When Lala Amarnath made the first century by an Indian (against England in 1933 at the Bombay Gymkhana), legend has it that married women tore out their mangalsutras to shower the dashing all-rounder with gifts. In 1974, when India got a 0-3 drubbing in England - including being bowled out for a niggardly 42 at Lord’s, fans burnt down the giant bat that had been erected in Ahmedabad in honour of the team which had won the 1971 series in England.

For the most, though, the Indian fan has been happy if individual players have done well, records have been procured (Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar), and with the occasional major triumph (World Cup, 1983). Not any more. 

Emerging India is getting increasingly intolerant of losing face. It is not so much about losing a match, as about performing like losers. With rapid strides being made in diverse fields to announce the country’s march as a Superpower, the continued mediocrity in Indian cricket is beginning to rankle like never before.

Spend the money, the voice of new India seems to say, hire the best men, get foreign coaches, reward the players handsomely. But no half-measures please. Prepare well, play better, show us the results.

The South Africa tour is still young, and cricket is a funny old game, as they say. But the task for Rahul Dravid and Co is cut out.