The Unanimous Religion of India....Cricket !!!

My previous blogs discussed my views on religion that have come from the ages and the things that the Britishers had given us. Let me mention to you another religion that was given to us by the same old Britishers, the Cricket. Yes, “Cricket is a religion in India” and the God changes for every generation, contrary to that of the age old religions that were build on a particular individual (God, except the Hinduism). If it is Sachin for the present generation, it was Gavaskar for my father’s generation and it well could be Yuvraj, Gambhir or Dhoni for the future generations. Well, if the birth of an individual mainly decides one’s religion and customs, Cricket is the only religion that is bestowed upon an individual from the childhood, by majority of the country irrespective of the family they are born in. But, it too has its flaws according to me and here I mention them.

How did the sport of cricket start, I mean a match and not its origin? Not to mention the recently invented pre-analysis of the match, it starts with the Pitch report and flip of a Coin follows immediately that decides the team that is going to bat first. So, what does winning of a toss depend on? Before answering the question, let’s discuss about the various factors that decide the winner of a match. The pitch decides most of the match; even one can say who’s going to win depending on who batted first. Even the skill of a player is out beaten by the pitch, like sometimes the ball comes on to the bat and sometimes not, which many of the players cant adjust to.

Another factor is the number of overs a ball is used for and also the way it is used, as it decides whether the ball would swing or not most of the times, of course along with the ability of the bowler. Next is the atmosphere, which dictates the moisture content in the pitch and the velocity of the wind that help a bowler to change the way one is bowling. These are the factors that make the kind of delivery one is going to deliver. Even at times, rain can be a spoilsport. Then, comes the ability of the batsmen, the way he takes on the delivery depending on his mental and physical ability.

As with any other competition, skill is required to win and not Luck (regarding the toss); that’s determined by a supernatural being. Let me tell you that, “Good luck is the lazy man's estimate of a worker's success.” Thus, a match of cricket depends mainly on the Toss of a Coin and not on the team’s overall ability. That’s the reason the same team that had won the previous match loses the next match depending on the pitch and the toss.

Considering all these factors, should a cricket match with our twin, Pakistan decide the animosity towards each other? It is taken with utmost pride and a loss is almost viewed as a self degradation. Should it be the case? If so, it should be viewed as a competition between two Religions and Gods, not between two Nations. Don’t you believe in Luck that is determined by your God? Then agree with me that it should not be viewed as a competition between the twins but two Gods, otherwise think over the various issues mentioned and just be a sport, not hostile. Come on, don’t be a spoil sport...

Now, consider the most widely viewed sport of the world, Football which could be viewed much better than the cricket. In football, a simple toss of a coin doesn’t dictate a winner as there would be no pitch, instead it’s the overall ability of the team that decides the winner and the same ball can be used for the whole match. Rain adds to the fun and even tests a team’s ability more profoundly. More over it has the advantage of sooner ended than a match of cricket that keeps in mind the ever time hunger globalised world.

So, what’s wrong when George Bernard Shaw said, “Eleven fools play and eleven thousands fools witness,” of course the latter has to be multiplied by the same factor in the case of India.