Piyo Thanda, Jiyo Cricket!

You know a good book by the effect it has on you. You go around preoccupied, for the next few days at least, with the plot going round and round in your head, replaying the key points mentally, just soaking in the pleasurable experience,...or if it's a book like No Logo, you keep looking for a conspiracy theory around you.

I found this to be a fascinating book on anti-corporatism centred around the culture, lifestyle and corporate agenda of North America. And though I got the feeling I was reading the book 6 years too late, or atleast that an updated version was required at this point of time, there was plenty of food for thought in the book. It's easy to see why it's been labelled as the Bible of the anti-corporate activist, and though Iam still not sure where I stand on the whole issue, I definitely am looking at the BIG brands in a new light the last few days.

Anyways, a cursory glance around me tells me that the 'hijacking of common culture and freedom of expression by the big corporates' is still an alien phenomenon when it comes to India. We're still too busy earning money and being a 'developing' country to have the Brands coming after us. But there's one place in India where money flows in the public domain - cricket, and I get the jitters that we might just be losing it here.

Munaf Patel comes up with an impressive Test debut at Mohali, and the very next day, we have NDTV coming up with a 'Munaf Mania' special, getting up-close and personal with the family members of 'India's tearaway fast bowler'. Pleazzzze...give the kid and his family a break! A very good match for him, no doubt, but an average speed of 135-137 kmph doesnt make him a tearaway bowler, in my opinion. But then, that's been Munaf's USP to break into the national team, and it does sound good on TV. Would the same hype have been built if he had been a trundling medium pacer at 120 kmph who picked up the same 7 wickets on debut? I think not!

Last week's surreal ODI between Australia and South Africa has been labelled by the expert and by the man-on-the-street as the 'best match of all time', and Iam astonished! Do we even remember that the game includes a beleagured tribe called bowlers too? Seeing the ball disappearing into the stands every second delivery isn't cricketing nirvana to me, and Iam sure it isn't to many.
Then why such a lop-sided view? Switching on the TV gives me a possible answer. So many news channels introduced the bulletin on this match as 'the best cricket match ever'. ESPN-STAR has this ad running nowadays of the South African team celebrating their victory with the catchline, "The greatest cricket match ever... Remember, you watched it here first."
Oh yeah, how could we forget? But could WE have the right to tag the match with a title, please? Do you have to stuff your opinion down our throats? ....And that's what scares me.

My Dad and I had one of our interminable debates on the Saurav Ganguly affair, which quickly digressed into the BCCI-Dalmiya-Bindra imbroglio, and I was suddenly brought up short. I hadnt even realised that we had slipped from sports to politics in our argument. Where does one end and the other begin, in today's context? With an operating revenue of 230 crores, the BCCI has never been richer. So is it just a coincidence that the office-bearers today seem to have so many issues apart from administration to tackle?

And who can forget the endless conflicts over personal and team sponsorship which threatened and continue to threaten the Indian team participation in various international tournaments. A classic case of the peripherals taking precedence over the core, marketing taking precedence over the game.
And what about cricketing careers being discussed thread-bare and post-mortems conducted in end-of-match discussion shows by so-called experts?
What about aspiring national players being snapped up by sports management agencies based purely on the 'potential' they see in him?
And Iam pretty sure MS Dhoni giving up his brown-streaked hair for an easier-on-the-eyes black curls look, had less to do with his personal choice and more to do with the people 'managing' him. It's a question of brand image after all.

The fact is, the richer the game gets, the more removed the pristine image of cricket being 'a gentleman's game' becomes. Business and the game become irrevocably entwined. There isn't the slightest space left for the game to stand by itself. Layers are built one over the other, till it becomes difficult to seperate talent from hype, sporting moments from business opportunities, fact from fiction. Indian cricket is slowly getting to that state, which is a pity.
I might have to turn that darned TV set off soon.