Each time I am asked to either speak about my country INDIA or write about it, the one thing that effortlessly flows out of me is “….It is a country where Cricket is a religion…” And very truly it is. Gone are the days when people in India were fanatic about our National game Hockey and would proudly say “Saare medals ek taraf, Hockey ka medal ek taraf” Today, cricket is the new craze & rage!

Though I am not myself a very fanatic & ardent cricket fan, everybody around me is! Though I do still watch cricket matches regularly! I might not have a thorough depth & knowledge about cricket, what has forced me to pick up my pen & write this piece is all the sleaze & murk about cricket that is making the headlines! I am not going to talk about what is happening, what is moral or what is legal and the role of everybody being questioned & otherwise. Enough has been spoken & written about it. I am going to talk about we Indians, and our role as I believe we are being cheated immensely. 

What has made Cricket or rather who has made Cricket what it really is today! It is WE, undoubtedly. For a fanatic Indian fan, like it is said, a soldier fighting for the country and a cricketer fighting to make his team declared victorious would be comparable. We would not bunk office even if we are seriously ill but would definitely to watch an India-Pakistan match! An outsider could sense a curfew if he happened to visit an Indian town on the day of an India-Pakistan match. It is that passion for cricket which not just the players have but every Indian cricket fan shares it. A young Indian today buys a home theater and a couch so that he and his friends could comfortably watch a cricket match! It is a dream for every cricket fan to get clicked with Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly or Dhoni! It is this high pedestal we place them on. It is not just the Indian common man, that follows cricket but people from every profession, from a rickshaw wala to a politician, people from every state from Kashmir to Kanyakumari & from Gujarat to Kolkata, people of all age-groups, from a kid to an adolescent to an adult, males & females (though I am not too sure of the latter) who do! Pick up an Indian randomly from a crowd and there are 90% chances that he would be a huge cricket fan!  A child would be ready to put in an hour of study more just so that his mom allows him to watch / play cricket for some time more. An ardent Indian cricket fan could write volumes of books on cricket irrespective of his / her writing or speaking skills & ability. That is how much we as Indians are fervent about the game.  It is this zeal & intensity with which we associate ourselves to the sport. Truly the game of cricket for us is of eminence and of supposed superiority. We literally worship our cricket players and for us Cricket is the most glorified and dignified game in the whole of world. It is correctly, in our opinion, a gentleman’s game, as it is called.

The recent sleaze in the game of Cricket spread all across the newspapers hitting headlines & televisions running debates is highly deplorable. Aren't we being cheated? The answer is YES, Big Time! We are being deceived & tricked in a game we watch with all earnestness, with true seriousness, solemnity & sincerity. It is this Indian Common man who is willing to pay a thousand bucks or more just to be able to watch a cricket match in the stadium, just be able to see the cricketer he worships. This money that he earns and spends to watch a pure & true game of cricket is being abused. What are we supposed to do about it? Sit silent and watch on just like we do all the other time such a headline hits the country. Talk about it, discuss & get used to it the very next day, as if nothing happened! It is we who need to make everyone who is trying to deceive us and play with our emotions that is in true sense passionate about the real game of cricket realize that we have made them! Yes, it is we, the people; the public who has made the game of cricket what it is today! Huge, Big, Magnificent!

And now as we head towards the Finals of IPL at the Eden Gardens, a genuinely iconic place, it is up to us if we are able to tell them that enough is enough; and we won’t let fraudulence, corruption & immorality take over this ethical game. If we have the power & strength to shun the game at the Eden Gardens this time, by not turning up and leaving the stadium empty to show our resentment; and turn off the television screens to show our wrath, we might do our bit! But would we? That is a big question. It is also our responsibility to take a plunge to throw the rotten eggs off the basket. And help let the gentleman’s game remain truly and eternally gentlemanly!