Im a Cricket Fan and share the same feelings as all of you. But there is something about our team that bothers me. Let me share it with you.
Lets first swallow the bitter pill. The truth is that, our winning the 20Twenty World Cup had more to do with the oppositions weakness than our strength. The win has actually masked our teams shortcomings.
The Indian Cricket Team is not consistent in its performance. They dont look invincible, and display vulnerability in every game. Rarely in control of the game, they let it slip away from their hands until the end, when they manage to hold on. Tats sad.
Despite all the training and coaching that our bowlers get, we get beaten to pulp. Soon, all the tailenders around the world would have their best batting record against us; thats how generously we have been treating them.
Actually, Misbah-Ul-Haq is a nobody compared to our team. Naya ladka hai. Hes done well for himself, but that doesnt mean tat we cant get him out. We let him smash us around, then its gonna be disaster.
Tats wat I call vulnerability and lack of consistency.
I dont think Aussies ever get beaten to pulp by a promising newcomer. Once in a bluemoon maybe, but their consistency is wat makes them stand out and they say it loud and clear, that hey India, watch out, because ur happiness is gonna be shortlived, and I strongly believe in wat theyre saying.
They are a quality side.
Our side is still a rough edged diamond, needs lots of polishing. Needs some tough nut like what Shahrukh did to the womens hockey team in Chak De,
Crush egos
Bring discipline
Instill teamwork, and
Have strict performance criteria
These 4 factors can really change the culture of the team. The glory will return.
Our players feel theyre God, and now that has got even more inflated thanks to the Hoohaa! and excessive praise from people. Im waiting with bated breadth to see what they intend to do with the Aussies, whore out for revenge :D
My bet is that of the next 10 matches that we play, whether the regular side or the 20Twenty side, we might end up losing many of them. This stems from complacency due to the "top of the world" feeling that the players and the nation is floating in.
Exaggerating this false notion is the media, which seems to have no other work except to cover "faltu" news like this, when there is great unrest among the impoverished and downtrodden. Has any news channel made an attempt to uncover the real story of Singur? The issues in North East India? Well, the best article I have read in past few years was "The Road to Harsud" by Arundhati Roy. It brought out the misery and pain that the villagers of Harsud are facing due to their displacement for the Narmada dam.
I was totally pissed off to see ministers and politicians sharing the stage with the cricketers. Bloody hell, now I feel that there should be laws and accountability for all employees of the Government, just like we have for private organizations! Else these idiots will keep wasting their time doing unwanted stuff like this. I really wonder what the country is coming to.
A piece of advice to all cricket fans: Please dont behave irrationally with the cricketers. Let our cricketers know where they stand. You take them to Cloud 9 when they perform, and plunge them into the valleys of doom when they dont. This masks the real issue and creates a halo around it. The more such things happen, the farther we will be from the reality.