Cricket in India

For weeks now the country of India has been awash in the madness brought on by non-stop cricket. Everyone is whoring to get their face on TV. To be associated with the glitz and over-the-top extravaganza that is more entertainment than sport. I can't recall any other sport being afforded such status for such duration anywhere anytime.

It wasn't always so. Before the 1983 Cricket World Cup held in England, there was little cricket on the TV. Few people understood it, and few watched it. The Indian team lost most games anyway, and no one wanted to watch their team lose. The country was socialist and with the edict of self-reliance, there was just too much for everyone to do on a daily basis to allow for obsessions.

The Summer of 1983
That all changed in the Summer of 1983. Late one evening in June 1983, someone told us to tune in to Doordarshan, the only and state-run TV station in India at that time. West Indies were five down, and it appeared that they would lose the final of the 1983 World Cup, and that India, with their rag-tag two-bit outfit, would actually win. Till that time, the only sport India ever won at an international level was field hockey. It was late in the night when the game finished, and I don't remember how it ended. That changed everything. The socialist country had beaten the best in the world at the most hallowed ground. Not once, but twice.

Until that time, most children played other sports for recreation. I didn't even know how to play cricket, and I was not alone. Buoyed by the euphoria of success (As wrote Emily Dickinson -- Success is counted special, by those who ne'er succeed), every parent was buying cricket gear for their children, and the children were hitting some balls. The mood didn't last though, as West Indies toured India and humiliated them. But the deed was done. A whole country turned to a sport, productivity suffered as everyone was glued to their radios for any game of cricket involving India. Grade schoolers ran home during the lunch break to catch some action, were late and received punishments. A whole country, poor and backward, fed on the collective euphoria for a long time.

Endnote
Despite the madness, there is little infrastructure to support new players. The league cricket system is ludicrous. There are not enough facilities and there is little money unless you can make it big on the international level. The advertisers have made money and spent money on themes related to the national gratification brought on by cricket, but very little money has been invested in generating a system to produce better players -- a system where a determined person with talent can succeed. I have seen many talented players give up, and go to the dogs. And that was where the families supported the perilous path of becoming a sports person. Unless that changes, I will remain skeptical of the hype associated with cricket in India.