The Vivekean Times

At the start of the ICC World Cup, Indian cricket fans were extremely skeptical of India’s world cup chances as they had been badly thrashed by Australia in the Test and One Day series. We knew that it would be virtually impossible back then and most of us were happy when we thrashed Pakistan in the first match. But then Team India did a complete U-Turn à la Modi Sarkar and started winning one match after another – including against strong cricketing teams like South Africa and the West Indies. And then they raised the hopes of even the non-cricket lovers and it was as if were at war against the other nations. Yes, many people who told me that they would not be following the cricket world cup as they hated the game watched the entire semi-final in which Australia trashed us badly. These folks declared that Virat Kohli was the villain of the piece for dropping a sitter and then making just 1 run in 13 deliveries. There were dirty abuses hurled at Anuskha Sharma, the Bollywood ...

The IPL is in the doldrums. And most of the fans actually appear shocked. The outsiders always had an inkling that something was going to happen. Rumours of match-fixing and spot-fixing had been doing the rounds for the past couple of years. And now with the arrest of three players, charges against top cricket administrators and even a leading international umpire, it appears that the rot has set in deep. And now the same people who screamed hoarse with excitement over the “wonderful” turn of events in several IPL matches, have turned skeptics overnight and become the worst critics of this annual cricketing event. But we need to put things first in perspective. Who were the biggest fans of the IPL – the ones who thronged the stadiums and watched every ball of these “tamasha” matches? Most of them were not true cricket fans. They would not be able to tell you basic cricketing facts like what’s a “reverse swing” or the difference between an ‘in-swing” and the “out swing.” It is ...