Cricket Utopia

Everybody I ask these days has a waning interest in the 'national' sport of the country (India, if you are reading this outside the sub continent). The Everybody includes my spouse, my brother (although his knowledge and interest in the game is at best nebulous), my friends on facebook and my friends who come face to face with me, my office colleagues, my guest house coordinator to the plebeian auto rick fellow ..everybody has an opinion on cricket irrespective of how much they follow it. Ardent aficionados would beg to disagree though. Most would attribute this to T20 cricket (T10 cricket is soon to follow) especially to the Indian Premier League, IPL (I prefer to call it the Indian Paisa League), but I presume it is the loss of twists and turns that has sullied the interest in the game. The rise of teams like Zimbabwe and Srilanka was crucial in the 90s in keeping the interests alive. Lanka won hearts besides winning the World Cup in 1996. The doyens of Lankan cricket Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda DeSilva were revered and loved as much as young flashguns Jayasuriya and the little pint sized dynamo Kaluwitharana; not to mention the Flower brothers who were at it always..surprise and awe the fancied teams. The average cricket lover loves to watch the underdogs win. The ICC has failed to put another underdog in international cricket of late. Bangladesh is improving alright, but the interest is not there. Kenya is a pale shadow of itself. I believe it is time to grant conditional time bound ODI status to other upcoming teams like Ireland and Netherlands, and perhaps even Afghanisthan (look at their recent record in the ICC associate members trophy, if you are raising your eyebrows !) The game would be more interesting in some aspects, perhaps enabling someone emulate Sachin Tendulkar's double hundred against one of these sides, and perhaps somebody attempting to break Boom Boom Afridi's record of the fastest hundred. Lets face it, we love to watch the individual brilliance and even though it is a team game, we worship only the Sachins and the Yuvrajs of the world and not the Praveen Kumars and Debasish Mohantys of the world. And no this has nothing to do with their looks either. Mathew Hayden, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lance Klusener, Saeed Anwar and our very own Senior Pathan and Sehwag dont make the fairer sex swoon with their looks but with their handsome burly hitting. In other parts, a Pietersen sneezes to make news while the more hardworking Collingwood collects only accolades for a workman like innings everytime, which would be both important and conclusive to the English teams' cause. Cricket Utopia doesnt spawn from the order in rankings, but on its carkness and the avid fan loves the drama and the twist in the tale. Imagine reading a novel with no new characters introduced and all things going fine as in mundane lives. Who would read such a book. Till this moment Australia and England made the rules, it is time the largest fan following based countries made their own rules. That doesnt mean we need under hand cricket to popularise the game beyond the regular followers, we just need to further invigorate the contests in Tests and One dayers. New venues and new teams would certainly help expand the interest levels in present followers but also increase the number of fans but enhance the multiplicity of interest in the game. Let there be rankings for all the 100+ associate nations who have some cricket being played with the rules book in their minds. I remember during the Soccer World Cup, zillions would have checked India's ranking on the Fifa website or atleast Googled it. (Even though it doesnt matter !! India is leapyears behind getting a ticket into the final 32; Mr Bhaichung Bhutia the lone Indian star will have to stay alive for another century to realise this dream of his !!) Utopia will reign if there are new stars born and the old order gives way. Loved to watch England win the T20 World Cup. The surprise was heartbreaking for the other more fancied teams like India, Pakistan and South Africa (rate them highly, but even they are becoming predictable with their chokers stereotype) but it was good for cricket. The surprise in Soccer has kept the game alive as far as the world cup is concerned. Nobody can vouch for the fact that only the top 8 teams will reach the quarter finals. In the end, entertainment is draggy if it is repetetive and predictable like most of the B-town flicks. Time for an overhaul.