No More Mr. Nice Guy!!!

Why we should thank the 4 Ms of India?Media, Middle Class, Movies, Money

The war, oops the series in Australia is coming to a close and the entire country is awaiting the denouement of the Harbhajan Singh vs. Andrew Symonds saga. Just when we thought that news channels were running out of controversies to help increase their TRP ratings, Symonds again obliged by taking on a teenager (Ishant Sharma). Hayden was not to be left behind and he too jumped in by calling Harbhajan Singh an ‘Obnoxious weed’. For those who do not follow cricket (I am sure you are not an Indian), I am not talking about WWF wrestlers engaging in one-upmanship. All this is happening in a sport that used to be called ‘The Gentleman’s Game’. The sport in question is cricket and the participants are Australia, where cricket is the National Sport, and India, where cricket is more than a religion.

Long after the series is over and the contretemps over Harbhajan Singh, Andrew Symonds and the use of the word ‘Monkey’ on the cricket field is resolved in the minds of the players involved (it has already been resolved by the ICC), Indians will look back with pride that the incident marked a change in the way the world looks at us. As Indians we have unfortunately been suffering from inferiority complex, low self-esteem and worst, slave mentality. In past tours the Indian Team members would act as ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ when confronted with verbal abuse/sledging, it affected a billion viewers. A non response to an abuse/sledge would affect the spirit of the entire country as it almost felt like the Asian countries were a part of the repressive regime of ICC. Indians will continue to exalt its heroes but there has been a veritable rise in dissent against the non-Asian cricketing nations as there was no platform to vent. The media was not as strong around 10 years back as it is now. The Indian commentators of the stature of Harsha Bhogle and even the legend and voice of Indian cricket, Sunil Gavaskar, were subservient to the west as they determined their employability. As a result the country had to swallow its pride and that left scars on the spirit of every Indian.

Today, the tirade of how the Australians have tarnished the sport is flashed on every news channel in India. The young Indian cricketers have taken the Australians head on and have not been shy to give it back to them in kind. So what has brought about this refreshing change of attitude? Is it the growing importance of India in the Global scenario? Maybe because BCCI brings in the maximum amount of revenue for the ICC and therefore has the muscle to dictate terms? Or is it that finally our pride has been hurt enough that any self respecting human being will react? Or did Bollywood (with movies such as ‘Chak De India’) knowingly/unknowingly infuse a killer instinct that was so lacking amongst the Indians? The fact is that it is a combination of all of these.

They say that Indians are over doing it and are becoming ‘an arrogant lot’ as a result of the money muscle of the BCCI. They do not shy from pointing to the records of Indian players who have been booked the maximum number of times by the match referee. The fact about records or for that matter any report that gets generated is that the output is solely based on the input. The match referees have ignored incidents where Australian cricketers have sledged, indulged in excessive appealing, and shown dissent with impunity. It is extremely galling to watch incidents such as the one involving Glenn McGrath and Sarwan where McGrath almost physically abused the West Indian batsman, and get away without even getting reprimanded. The cacophony caused when Shane Warne (for that matter Damien Fleming, Glen McGrath, and the list goes on and on) used to appeal and audacity of the manner in which they showed their disgust with impunity and actually get away with it is a clear indicator of the fact that it is not a level playing field when an Asian side squares up against the Australian side and to a lesser extent the South African side. Contrast that with the Indians where Sehwag and Ganguly get booked for excessive appealing that was no where close to the pitch of the likes of Shane Warne and you will get the picture. The Symonds vs. Sharma incident where Symonds clearly provoked Sharma to which Sharma reacted only resulted in a fine for Sharma. Symond not only went unpunished but also feigned innocence.

If one would have the time and the resources to review every match that has been recorded till date, one will find that the number of offenses for which the Australians were not booked far exceeds any other team to have played competitive cricket over the same period of time. Maybe the cash rich BCCI or for that matter one of the media houses will finance a study that will highlight this claim. I am sure that the media channels will look upon this as an opportunity to gain credibility amongst the Indian viewers and voice their sentiments backed by tangible numbers. I am equally confident that the BCCI will never support such a study as that may affect their relationship with CA (Cricket Australia) and they need the Australians for the IPL. For those who read between the lines, it was evident that the BCCI never intended to be as aggressive in supporting the Indian players over the Bhajji vs. Symonds issue and but for the media and the poise and class of Anil Kumble, BCCI would have ignored this and Indians would have once again swallowed their pride.

To conclude, we should thank the Indian media, the Indian Middle class (mostly responsible for the growth of Indian Economy to its current status), Indian Movies, and BCCI’s Money for relieving us of the agony of swallowing our pride each time WWC (White World of Cricket) attempts to put us down.

We are a proud nation and should refuse to be treated as lackeys!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 (I migrated from blog.co.in)