Nation of Cricket

Vasu Reddy From Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

With all the scams and politics in the country people get a full dose of the escapades of the select few who engage in national scavenging.  There is no end to the political power plays and financial plundering.  One has to wonder if there were no kickbacks and scams what will be Indian infrastructure look like and if there would be a poverty line in India?

It is getting tiring to write about scams and politics, and there is no end to the new and improved scams and political games.  For a while Anna was a hot topic with his proposals for ombudsman in India and that too fizzled out for the time being.  Once again old and renewed political players come back, and this is like a cat has nine lives, as they keep coming back.  There is not enough space to write about their escapades and continued support of their political aspirations.  We have to find some way of finding things that are not political and not involve a scam, thus talk of the nation of Cricket that India really is.

The retirement of Rahul Dravid a few days ago is of no surprise as the gentleman gave most of his adult life to cricket, and admirably.  He could have hung on for a few more series but it was time to call it quits in his own opinion and good for him to decide on what to do with his time.  There is a lot of praise and admiration for him across the global cricketing base, and a well deserved break from the rigors of the daily grind of cricket and the demands of a billion people.  Now he can just be domesticated as the rest of the married men.  As admirable as he has been on and off the field, he immediately displayed the same class when he announced his retirement.  Once again a wonderful career and a wonderful gentleman of class, and he will be missed.

Right after Rahul Dravid’s retirement came Sachin Tendulkar’s 100^th 100.  It is perhaps a feat that will be unparallel for generations to come.  While India lost the match (again when a great milestone is achieved) to Bangladesh, Sachin’s achievement once again has a universal applause and no greater feat in professional sports can be in the same category.  It made not just the Indian public but also the global cricketing nations unanimous in its praise for the gentleman.  For the time Sachin has spent playing cricket and his continued performance and his demeanor has unparallel support world over, and simple cannot be valued in any monetary terms.

Sachin lost a great partner when Rahul Dravid retired, but in the last couple of games young Virat Kohli is displaying the flair of a great one day player who has quickly raised hopes of the cricketing public with his performances.  While we cannot count his proficiency in all forms of cricket like Rahul Dravid did, he certainly has started off with the flair for a long innings.  No doubt that he can be groomed for filling the big shoes of Rahul Dravid.

The nation is happy with the cricket team’s performance and when they win even meaningless games, the public is full of pride and joy.  There is no telling if they win series after series and create records after records as individuals.  Just a day or two away from the current series decider, and once again against Pakistan, which is a hot contest.

While wishing for a successful campaign in the current series, Cricket does keep India together, and cricketers in special places of Indians heart.  All we need is the Indian team keep winning and perhaps people will forget about the scams and politics and even the hard work they put in everyday to make ends meet.  Good luck Indian team and keep making the nation happy.