Love Them... Boo Them...

India is known as the perfect example of unity amongst diversity. Amongst numerous things that bind the culturally diverse country, cricket is definitely one of the top three options. When there is a cricket match played by the Indian cricket team in any part of the world, millions of Indian are hooked to the game through television, radio, Internet or mobile; while thousands witness the match live.

Cricket heroes are celebrities back home. Many are role models for the young generation. No wonder you find children playing cricket anywhere – they play it in schools, clubs, streets, or any corner of the country. You will find many children who aspire to be Tendulkars, Dravids, Sehwags , Dhonis, Pathans or Kumles when they grow up.

There are few occasions when the same people who live and die along with their stars are ready to go for their blood. It has not taken the ugly face of football in Europe and South America (Columbia’s Andres Escobar was shot dead by crazy football fans of his country after he scored an own goal against USA, which resulted in Columbia’s elimination from the 1994 World Cup), but the Indian cricket fans are known to be violent (1996 World Cup semi-finals against Sri Lanka in Calcutta).

The episode of Indian cricket fans booing the cricketers during the just concluded Mumbai test is equally deplorable. I can understand how the fans would have felt when our famed batsmen fell like a pack of cards, playing like district level teams.

Its true that our players played mediocre shots, lacked application, the captain made the wrong decision after winning the toss, but that does not warrant the treatment they received at the hands of their own countrymen. They are players who have played so many matches, have got so many runs/wickets under their belts, they are recognized as one of the best in the world, but still they were unlucky to have got the treatment they deserved.

It’s easy for people to sit in the comforts of their homes and comment about cricket. It’s equally easy to sit in the cricket ground and cheer for the team when they are doing well or to boo them when are doing badly. What everyone misses is how difficult it is in the middle of the pitch; the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd also adds to ones pressure.

The crowd booed the batsmen when they got out cheaply. When England was on the verge of winning, they started supporting England. They booed the home team when they came out for the presentation ceremony. They booed Dravid when he came forward to talk during the presentation ceremony; he was finding it difficult to speak with all the booing around him.

It’s shameful how we could have forgotten the individual as well as the collective achievements of the team. It’s the same team which has won many tight matches and brought glory to our country. Till date Calcutta crowd was supposed to be the most unruly crowd when it comes to cricket, but Mumbai is catching up.

I hope the Indian cricketers are able to forget this incident and get back to their winning self in the upcoming ODI’s. I also hope that the Indian supports are more tolerant and support their team when the team needs them.