yes, it is a case of murder and not suicide, as i think woolmer was brave enough to face this defeat and criticizm, which was to follow this defeat. however, his death or murder has given something special to the pakistan cricket body. unwillingly the board presidents and other members have resigned from their posts, which they will never do, otherwise. now there might be a chance that Pakistan cricket will go into the right hands.
from the management point of view, this might be enough (resignations), but to do justice with the game and Nation of Pakistan, there must be an accountability. the selectors and management must be asked about the team selection, because here in pakisatn, considering the knowledge people of pakistan have (in cricket), a street hawker can select a team better than this.

Wonderful post! For long, the behaviour of the subcontinental cricket fan has displayed a very distressing trait that is a spillover of our attitude to life itself...that people owe us something but we owe nothing, not even a modicum of good sense and balanced reaction. When Zico missed that famous penalty against France in the World Cup q/f in 1986, nobody burnt his effigy. Instead, Brazilian fans waited at the airport with a banner that read,"We forgive you,Zico!"
To a large extent, mainstream media and irresponisble former cricketers fan these flames of discontent vigorously. When non sports channels start covering cricket, they need to look for sensationalism everywhere. Hence the extreme reactions, the condemnation, the revolting abuse. Can any sportsman perform in such a vitiated atmosphere? Worse...will he even want to?

Bang on Mukul. IF we start treating sport as sport and understand there could be victories and defeats based on what happens a day and be fair on our comments we are moving forward. But indulging in violence seems a foolish/ lunatic thing to follow. To all those who did and who supported these activities a simple qn. Will You kill ur Kid if he fails in a exam. IF yes God save u

nice article man;

u r blog is the only 1 i read cause u call a spade a spade ,even if u are an India.
Very few guys in their blogs do it..
KEEP GOING MUKUL

The extreme vandalism is getting far out of hand.
And i think the day when matches are awarded to other team with this has to be done..Look at football.FIFA s really BOLD IN COMPARED TO ICC.LOOK WAT HAPPENED IN ITALY.WORLD CHAMPIONS CAN NOT PLAY A MATHC IN Seria A and policeman got killed.What did they do.Italy itself banned football in italy.........

Think Indian fan has to enjoy the game and understand the true spirit.They just dont seem to support the team by being over supporting.Thing now india is getting addicted to their fan support and they cant win some mathes without their fans shouting in the grounds.This can be real disadvantage if they play in pak,AUS,SA,SL.... IND SHOULD GET USED TO PLAY WITHOUT THEIR FANS AND fan should act more interlligently(look at Windies fans and learn).....

nice going Mr.Mukul.

U write stuff that are real conflicts to the post ,before they happen.SOme stupid bloggers in site realize to write and apologize after the drama happens.......
Violence is gettingout of hand..India is biggest in advertizing.We have to look in deep to those big brands affecting these fans..May be there is some agenda they are pressurizing India through fans,,,they need money somehow...eg. pepsi withdraw from PAK aftter WC.. we dont know how these companies are powerfull.

may b MR>mukul is also under a company influence ,and he may not post this comments..Well i think he s better than that...
........."The vandals who attacked Mahendra Singh Dhoni's house in Ranchi are stock characters in Indian cricket's absurd dramas, clones of the men who did the same to Mohammad Kaif's house the last time round in South Africa. Kaif's fault was the same as Dhoni's: being part of a losing Indian team."..
this cant b ordinarry fan actions.THey cant hurt the ordinary man..........may be they are caught up in this hype started by some indian company and are following the habbit...

plz let us rethink before we destroy.other wise there ll b no sport to cheer.

regards.......

Spot on..but this doesn't apply to Sri Lanka. Cricket is pretty much a religion here too but we don't deify our cricketers. They lead normal lives and can move around without being harassed for autographs, even though everyone recognises them. Cricket is just a game....

Hats off to you sir for highlighting the malaise of cricket-voyeurism in india. time and again our nation's 'sports fans' stoop to newer lows while reacting to losses.
i blogged about this (with far less eloquence but far greater satisfaction with the use of expletives)
http://isbglorydays.blogspot.com/2007/03/fwits.html

I think you have hot on the nail about the root cause of India's obsession with its cricketers. Most of the 'fans' never attend any of the domestic match nor do they even follow the game. The neglect of the domestic game has actually paralleled the growth of mass obsession with its stars. I was not born when Karnataka fought those contests with Bombay in seventies or the Delhi-Bombay rivalry of the early eighties. However, i remember seeing my entire family huddled around a radio listening to Bengal-Delhi final in 1989-90 and the Bombay-Haryana final in 1990-91.

The lack of love for the game among these 'fans' was evident during the Champion's Trophy when other than India matches and may be Aus-WI and SL-Pak matches, every game saw empty stands.....

I enjoy reading your articles. What astounds me is the length that the asian countries seem to go to when their team loses. As a New zealander i love cricket and rugby but when we lose its dissapointing for 10 minutes then move on, what i would like to know these death threats etc are they for real that they would murder a player or just emty threats?

Being a pakistani fan, your article was of great interest in this particular time of my life. I have to say though I don't fully agree with the way you few subcontinent fans.

First off I, like you, wonder how 'fans' can justify to themselves that wrecking dhoni's house or calling for Inzy's head is the right course of action to make your players play well, (if they weren't under enough pressure as it is).

Saying that, I do feel let down and to an extent I feel betrayed. I was waking up at 4am to watch paks series in SA, in india, in SL. I started work much earlier so I could finish early so I could watch the WI game. I stay awake to them play in AUS. whenever they come to england, I plunder my savings into expensive tickets from ebay to watch them draw 2-2 with what at the time was possible the worst ODI at the time (I think we hold that honour now).
My point being is, I subscribe to skysports, to ARY I buy tickets I buy their shirts, I along with a million other pakistani fan and criket fan pay their wages, pay for them to travel all over the world, stay in nice hotels, have the best training facilities, have the time to train everyday, the best medical treatment, the best physiotheripist and have who was possibly the best coach (rest in peace). So tell me sir, how can I or any other fan in my position not feel the least bit let down or even betrayed by the people who gave us such hope.
I also disagree with your competitive sport argument, I play competive football but that doesn't man every time pak lose I just give them a pat on the back and and say better luck next time. I can understand losing to WI because in terms of preperation and facilities available, they are on equal terms which is why indian fans should feel too agreived about losing to bangladesh. But Ireland? This is a team that practices 1 day a week at best, this is a team that drew to zimbabwae (having played out their skins). I do feel let down by this, I do feel betrayal not because we lost (I xpected us to lose most of the super8 games) but who we lost to. All due respect to Ireland, they shouldn't have had a chance.

Saying all of this, nothing justifies death threats, violence or burning of any kind....at the end of the day, its just cricket

"They're different because India is a nation of losers: its teams win at nothing but cricket"

That is your explanation?

Sri Lanka's sporting achievements don't stretch outside cricket either (the Olympic bronze medal of seven years being the one of the few exceptions).

For a region that has similar cultural and social values, Sri Lanka is seemingly a more mature nation. When our cricket team fails, we swear aloud and get back to our lives.

For once, our larger neighbour would do well to learn from us.

You seem to one of those indiscriminate India bashers in international forums. Just to put things into perspective, these vandals are no ordinary fans, but a political group (Jharkhand Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the ruling party in Jharkhand JMM). Stock characters in india's absurd cricket drama, maybe, but a typical Indian cricket fan, I don't think so. This post is an uncalled for character assasination of the sub continental cricket friend in my honest opinion. Please let us reserve the 'right to be dissapointed' on spineless performances of the teams we support.

Interesting thoughts ,please donot generalise it as subcontinent behaviour.As we Srilankan love our cricket, its more of a passion for the game than a craze out here.We have cricketing personalities and not celebrities and demi gods.Still Jayasooriyas are free to move about and carry on with their day to day work without being mobbed.
we are more like the barmy army,though we donot have the luxary of travelling with the teams.As Srilankans can make a party out of even a loosing game.We have short memories , and never allow emotions to get mixed up with the game called cricket.Finally our media which again doesnot provide any undue publicity to our cricketeers.
We Lankan cricket fans are definitely a different subcontinent breed.

Nice work Mukul, Yes the behavior of the so called "fan club" in asian countries is getting out oh hand, however, I also believe that politicians/leaders should also be more involved in this and try to prevent the ascent into the "God Like" status given to Cricketers in India, compare this, when Dhoni scored a 100 he got land donated to him by the Govt, but for an average Inidan getting such a land by normal wages will take a lifetime, and so when the "god like" superstars do not perform this envy at the back of the average wage earners mind blows up and then we have the explosion of anger. Its time to stop treating these cricketers with lavish presents when they do well, but acknowledge that as much as they do have a good day, tehre will also be bad days ahead...

Mukul,
Great article.It is an issue which is close to my heart and several other "true" sport fans.As you rightly said,the fact that Indians don't win in anything except cricket is partly to blame for this fanaticism.Not enough heroes to look up to,not enough inspiring stories worth following.

But,I beleive the media(and I mean you and your fellow brethren) is partly to blame for it as well.Whenever we do win something in non-cricketing sports,there is hardly any mention in any leading newspaper. Do people actually know Anand is nwo the World No.1 or that Paes recently won a doubles title? Or that Manavjit(corect me if I am wrong) holds a world record in shooting? How much coverage do they get? Or may be the fact that Sachin became a proud father for a third time or Kim Sharma being Yuvi's girlfreind are more meritorious. Do people even know who Gopichand is or for that matter Geet Sethi? I wonder how much coverage Sania would have got(forgive me if I being racist)if she looked like Venus Williams? Even as far as cricket goes,how much coverage do the local matches involving Ranji temas get unless they come before the Indian team is about to be selected?

The Times of India,proudly claiming to be India's oldest newspaper and in which you have chosen to contribute your esteemed article,is the worst offender. There is not a single day when the sports page does not carry a picture of Sania or Sharapova flashing their you know what- conveniently titled "...Sania in action against.."
The pages are filled with articles about fashion and "hotness" quotient during grand slams. And pointeless,meaningless conpiracy theories about cricket. I can go on and on about the print media (where I can safely say that The Hindu,for all its dryness still minatains a sense of dignity),but I believe it would suffice to say that on the day when one of India's greatest martyrs,Bhagat Singh, died,the Times carried a huge quarter front-page photo of some Brazilians flaunting their invaluable assets!I hardly ever read the Times of India now.

Why am I telling you all this-I believe YOU are also a reason for this mess that is Indian sport. When the naive,unsophiticated reader si constantly bombarded with trash his mind is bound to merely reflect the same.As a responsible journalist,as you claim to be,you should not have even gone to TV show in which you claim to have been embarassed.The least you can do is to not to contribute to newspapers like the Times of India which have no sense of morality or ethics. Just read its sports pages for a couple of weeks and you will know what I am talking about.

It is easy to lay the blame elsewhere,but I can see you are doing nothing to change the situation. Being a historian and Sociology teacher,you could have at least taken a cue out of Bapu's tactics of boycott and non-coperation.Why do you endorse such newspapers? Aren't you also not just sacrificing your sense of morality and ethics for money, by-lines,exclusives columns or whatever the case may be. I am not saying this would change everything,but there have to be some concrete steps taken to ensure responsible journalism.

I knwo I ahve slightly veered off track,but just to reiterate what I am trying to say-instead of blaming the fans,spectators and the visual media, try to do soemthing to change the scenario in the print media(which is equally worse).If you can't do anything,the least you can do is to BOYCOTT these scandalous,sleazy,soft-porno tabloids claiming to be newspapers.

By the way,Mukul,it would be nice if you can write a personal reply(prefer an email) to my earlier post(which basically as in response to both you articles).

Your articles are good. I am aganist the vandalism, but I am not going to justify the players either. There is always a difference between loosing aganist a competitive team and to a team like bangladesh. Now most of the younger players can be seen in page 3 or with a model or an actress now a days. They are on advertisements and on celebrity events. Now for a common man in india, he believe what he see. Money is flowing in indian cricket, but where is it going ? In a cricket loving nation like ours, I never saw a promotional or encouragement for the young cricketers. Money should be spend on finding good players and providing them proper training. What we do have is some correpted state level boards based on ugly politics and the same old renji trophy. I think the cricket board should make a survey on how people in india think about renji trophy. There is no excuse for the way they played aganist Bangladesh. Now think of the hopes that people have for the national cricket team. They are not going to play on the super 8 even. Well that makes every single person who is following indian cricket. If they can't cherish the hopes of 100 million people then should quit and let those who can do the job.

so the lazy blogger writes on the lazy cricket fan. after all that has happened in world cricket and the world cup, he has found his niche topic to write on.

how can you call the vandals who did all the the things mentioned above fans?
dhoni's house was attacked by small time politicians of JMM (the party has since apologised). since when has JMM become a fan of cricket?

same is true of kaifs house last year. all those people who get photographed attacking houses, presenting garlands, doing havans are not fans. they are attention seekers, looking for their 15 minutes of fame and our media is more than willing to oblige.

lazy blog, lazy thoughts.

you pretend to be too much of an intellectual to really undersatand how a fan feels like or reacts.

Though the fans went overboard in destructing Dhoni's new house compound. or burning of the effigies. But I do not agree that the fan does not have the right to write about the disappointing loss. This expression of loss of faith had more contributions
1. This was no bilateral series. This was the WC and that too the very first match, which was must win.
2. This was against Bangladesh, and everyone knew that we are digging a big hole for ourselves to come out of, if we lose.
3. The absolutely pathetic display of batting by the Indians.
Did the same fan do all this when India lost to WI 4-1, lost to SA 4-1. What happened during the Champions Trophy, were there any houses destroyed, effigies burnt, barring the issue of Sourav Ganguly. It was because we knew that WI could be a handful in WI and SA are certainly better than us. What about the DLF series? Did the average fan react the same way. No. So I dont understand why all the cricket reporters single out the fans reaction while trying to justify the teams dismal, spineless shows. How many of you guys actually used the words spineless, prideless and call a spade a spade. Sachin or any other superstar was pale in comparison to the young guns of BD. Do we still want to consider them greats. Mind you, this is not jumping to a conclusion, the hurt has been there from the WI series. All this while it was promised that it was experimentation for the WC and did it result any improvement in performance. No, nada zilch. So how can you justify the teams performance as any thing but nonchalance, spiritless, listless and just plain arrogance. Just read what Habibul Bashar had said after a loss to SL, he was apologetic, did he need to be?. No infact none of the BD fans would have expected him to be. But on the contrary was there even a fine line of apology in Rahul Dravids post match conference. No, infact he seemed more stubborn that there is nothing to worry. Please do understand that this mass appeal also feeds the coffers of these players and the BCCI. Without these they would be pathetically riding scooters and working as clerks in public sector banks. They can only dream of driving a car let alone drive a Ferrari in the streets of Mumbai. We can say that this is just a game when we have seen them lose fighting like the SAfricans in the prev. editions of the world cups. But this is a meek surrender and we have seen many such in the last 2 years. Infact they vastly outnumber the plusses. Media is also to blame, why doesnt one ex-cricketer call a spade a spade, they are truly overt the top when it comes to praise and mildly condone a loss. Wasnt this team filled with such experience that any BD player would even dream of. Please do not compare this with the Windies loss to India in 1983. The WI still had enough matches to qualify and they knew it very well. But this team had to be aware that in the group stages they do not have second chances to make amends. All this goes to prove that we cry shrill about Australian behaviour but we wont do anything about our consistency. Tell me in any of the losses has any one criticised Sachin. Is he so sacrosant ?

There are a lot of reasons, not least of which is the sensationalist media you talk about in the last post. They hire so-called "experts" that know little about the nuances of the game. Players are rubbished as easily as they are glorified, and for an uneducated, easily brainwashed guy on the street, the obvious thing he goes and does is burns an effigy or attacks a house. These people obviously don't realize how hard an international cricketer works and how much pressure he is under, and so let their shallow ignorance, egged on by a sensationalist media, to transform into acts of violence. They don't have the slightest common sense or a sense of perspective, in that on a given day, even the biggest team can lose to a weaker team. That's cricket.
I think Indian cricket needs to tighten its belt a little bit...monetarily, I mean. The administrators need to reduce the amount of money that is pumped into it, so that the pressure on the players decreases. There are so many other hard-working sportsmen in our country who don't get as much recognition as our cricketers, which is sad. What about our hockey players, footballers, golfers, tennis players, athletes, and so on? The odd Arjuna award is all they get.
The reason why teams like Australia and South Africa are so consistent has nothing to do with their culture or ability. It is to do with fans and the pressure they put on players. These countries have plenty of other sports to be obsessed about, so cricket isn't the only thing that gives them entertainment. If we can bring about such a situation in India our performances in cricket will definitely emerge consistent.

Mukul, every point you raise is absolutely valid.
I have always been an India fan. But right from the start of this World Cup, for the first time ever, I wish a speedy exit. Why? 2 reasons - a) our cricketers are overrated, home pitch heroes. And a world cup win would send their stock absolutely unfairly, but unfailingly sky high. b) The television coverage is a disgrace, with pseudo-nationalist ads and gross over-commercialism. They dont even wait for the last ball of the over to be fully complete, and score to be announced, before three ads )yes, three!) come on. This is not the way any true cricket fan enjoys watching what is, in essence, a game meant to be enjoyed with a certain rhythm! If India lose, some off the more jingoistic ads will go off the air, advertisers will think twice before plonking the money next time, and this false nationalism (driven by greed for the ad dollar) hopefully doused.

Good call, Mukul - as an Indian fan, and cricket fan, I too hope for a first round exit - for the long term good of the game!

Mukul, you need to know that frustration is not because India is not performing well. It is because of the whole system in Indian cricket. The game has lost its charm as money entered in. Why are people like Sachin hanging on unlike greats like Warne and others? Why the team selection is so horrible? Losing does not bother an Indian fan. How you loose matters. You can always loose yet play very good cricket.

Mukul's argument is spot on. Before Friday's big match against SriLanka, it would be great if TV channels across India present a more realistic picture of the Indian team going into the match to try and lower the expectations which once again would have risen following the win over hapless Bermuda. The fact of the matter is we have an ageing team and a relatively weak bowling attack and in all likelyhood, inspite of the teams best efforts under mind blowing pressure, we may lose to SriLanka who have a much more dynamic bowling and fielding side. Its unfair to expect the players to perform to their full potential under such pressure and we owe this team a little bit of understanding if they do exit in the first round.

well said sbcmouli,exactly my thoughts,the author of this article should get of his high horse and look at it from a common fan's perspective,when the fan is constantly bombarded with images of the stars plugging one product after the other via TV,Print and all the other media's possible,he gets the feeling that instead of preparing and training and making oneself better in all aspects of the game,all that the cricketer is interested is amking as much money as possible in the shortest span of time.
this obvioulsy leaves a bad taste in the fan's mouth.I definitely do not condone the stuff that happened at Dhoni's under construction house,but the frustration of the fan is justified.
Like sbcmouli said the let down is even more considering the importance of the touranment/game and the quality of the opposition,if the same game was against SL and we lost such a backlash will not be there,India because of its overhyped,overpaid superstars who have won nothing of significance their entire career lost a game which was there for the taking and basically put their whole campaign in jeopardy.
The subcontinental fan is not a couch potato like the all knowing author claims,he is hard working lower to middle class individual who mostly is trying hard to raise or support a family in the ultra competetive indian context.
Couch potato is mostly an american term which actually means overweight good for nothing folks whose whole life is before the television.

I was joking with one of my colleagues after India scored a WC record win V Bermuda.
Some of the sponsors would announce holiday resorts in Khandala to all 15 memebrs (including the 4 who have not played in the match) each worth 1 crore. If I remeber right even the non playing members example 16 year old Parthiv patel was paid 90+ lacs for the last WC.
Come Friday: After India's defeat to SL they would all be asked to return the resorts!!!
Otherwise the fans would destroy them...
Although it is unfair to resort to violance against the team members, they should be criticised because they were expected to reach second round by beating B'desh and bermuda givnig them the cushion to lose against an equal opponent in SL. But if they mess it up against B'desh the fans have a reason to feel cheeated and betrayed.
The best way is to pay them on performance and also the media should stop hyping them.
The craze for cricket otherwise will not come down inspite of losing. We did not reach semis in champions trophy which was held in India a few months back. Today again we calim to be contenderes for the Cup (on paper).
Selection should be fir and unbiased. Look at Sehwag. Scored 100 against a team after 2 years which would ensure that he will play in 2011 WC whether he scores in between or not.

This is for Jokan

Good call, Mukul - as an Indian fan, and cricket fan, I too hope for a first round exit - for the long term good of the game!

Only an Indian can make such a comment. That is why Indians are looked down upon all over the world. I mean what kind of attitude is this. This is cowardly attitude and nothing else. Just pretending to be a well wisher to cricket. Cricket is played for winning and not just for the sake of it.

There are a couple of few points to be noticed here.

Yes, it is true that cricketers are like gods in India and Pakistan. They get all the top class facilities unlike other countries. So, the expectation is high. Therefore, the fans have rights to be disappointed. But burning effigies, destroying houses etc. are nothing but vandalism. These can not be supported.

But before showing their frustration, the fans should also ask themselves whether they are thinking correctly or not. You are expecting that India should have thrashed the "minnow" called Bangladesh. When you are doing that, you are still assuming that Bangladesh is still the same team as it was in 1999 or 2003. As a knowledgeable cricket fan, one should realize that. Moreover, there are several other factors that went against India. Firstly, it was India's first match in the WC. In the first match, a team may not be in best form. In WC football also, many great teams lose their first match and ultimately have to exit. Those who follow sports, they know that it is not unusual in sports. This is nothing specific to India. Secondly, Bangladesh is almost an unknown team to India. I think among all test playing nations, India is the one who played minimum with Bangladesh. But on the other hand, Sachin, Sourav, Rahul, Virender, Yuvraj - all are household names in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshis have been watching them for years. Thirdly, India has the big brother attitude towards Bangladesh which hurts the egos of the Bangaldeshis. So, they are extra determined while playing them. Fourthly, India cancelled at least two series with Bangladesh for the sake of "more" important series which also hurt the Bangladeshis. This way also, India missed theopportunity of knowing the team Bangladesh. Srilanka never missed such opportunity and so they did not have problems in thrashing Bangladesh. Fifthly, India never invited Bangladesh to play tests in India. This is also an example of treating Bangladesh as a second class cricket playing nation. Almost all others invited them. I think all these factors contributed to India's losing to Bangladesh in the WC 2007.

"His sense of proprietorship is so developed that when his team loses, he speaks (or writes) of being betrayed without a tremor of self-consciousness"

Love it.

Even if I stay up in the wee hours of the night out in California to see a test match being played in England, it's totally irrational and arrogant in fact to feel "betrayed". Actually, it's quite immature as well.

And to take it one notch down, even the fans who taunt, jeer and make sly remarks at players who aren't performing to their expectations....that's just silly.

Like...grow up already. You make your own team look silly by being a poor ambassador of your nation by acting immaturely.

And at the end of the day...it's cricket. It's for entertainment purposes. If a movie doesn't end the exact way you want...do you hunt down the producer and jeer at him? It sounds ludicrous because it is....it's just that in cricket and I n a lot of sports this is commonplace, so the travesty of it all is underestimated.

I’m glad someone wrote a piece like this in hope that others may now understand and think twice before tarnishing the game.

Love it.

Even if i stay up in the wee hours of the night out in California to see a test match being played in England, it's totally irrational and arrogant in fact to feel "betrayed". Actually, it's quite immature as well.

And to take it one notch down, even the fans who taunt, jeer and make sly remarks at players who aren't performing to their expectations....that's just silly.

Like...grow up already. You make your own team look silly by being a poor amabassador of your nation.

And at the end of the day...it's cricket. It's for entertainment purposes. If a movie doesn't end the exact way you want...do you hunt down the producer and jeer at him? It sounds ludicrous because it is....it's just that in cricket and i n a lot of sports it's commonplace, so the travesty of it all is underestimated.

BCCI is paying the players a hefty salary. I am surprised after all this, the quality of Indian players haven't improved a bit. Are the players spending enough time improving their game or playing in Ranji or county games? Looking at the number of interviews and advertistments they are involved in, I doubt it. They need to realize that some of their money is coming from a poor cricket fan in India who is not even getting 2 square meals a day. BCCI should take a better control of the players schedules until we start winning some championship. Maybe, the players themselves should put a moratorium on their outside money making attitude until they get into winning ways. Maybe the pressure of feeling treated badly in India(if we don't make it to super8) will make them play better against SL!!

Mukul, as always, I agree with the theme of the piece, and am a fan of your writing style. But I hope you'd just STOP pontificating and let the Indian fans mourn the "disaster". You should know better than to generalize the desi fan as "a lazy, pampered know-nothing". For every generalization you make about India, the equally opposite also holds true. So, I do not appreciate your comparison of the everyday Indian fan to the the bloke who vandalized Dhoni's property.

Glad to see the Sambit Bal article elsewhere on the Cricinfo site. Dead right.... and the police are now officially saying Woolmer was strangled....time to get a perspective. The World Cup should be cancelled right away. And should not be held again until the ridiculous side effects of subcontinent passion and money is addressed. Will they do it?
Going by the ICC track record so far, not a snowball's chance in hell!

So called desi fans should read following article from Lanka web

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/220307-3.html

Now you can realize why SL play so well at the moment

spot on Mukul,,
u ARE ALWAYS SPOT ON ...
,but there were some comments that are pretty interesting here,

Person named SAMMER says that there r some extreme groups ,organizations wit extemistss....we should look in to that and make cricket right in india,,,,". other wise cricket india will face same problem in cricket PCB,,
ICC have to take some actions soon,,Y cant ICC behave in brave manner like FIFA,,
some greate once said ICC IS A TOOTHLESS TIGER...
RIGHTLY SO,, ICC SHOULD INTERVEAN AND STOP THESE CLASHES IN INDIA. OTHER WISE NEAR BY COUNTRIES WILL ALSO GET INFECTED..

have to say these also after reading all comments done..

guy named vikas comments "lazy blog, lazy thoughts.

you pretend to be too much of an intellectual to really undersatand how a fan feels like or reacts.
>>>>".........

well if u havent noticed,, mukul is a great reader of the game. other wise he ll be just patriot indian with no original idea,, mukul has some open mind and thank god hes writing with his open mind. otherwise thses blogs wont be read by any others outside india,,,,,,,,,

reg,,,

Thank you Ajay Kamnath,The Zico incident in 1986 world cup is the best example for the future for the vandalising subcontinent fans(excluding Srilanka).Win or loose learn to play the game in true spirit.

Nice article Mukul.. I don't prefer lengthy posts. Coming to one Mr/Ms. tmx's post. Good one. Your country has enough voilence going on. No need of additionl one. As a Desi fan, true vandalism is not a proper approach to express one's frustration. But as some body pointed out, cricket in many ways, is the pride of our nation (atleast I feel it that way). When India loses a game, it hurts my pride. Fine if one game is lost.. But you play to lose is not the reason the game is played for. Show some resistance, put on a decent fight.. If the team shows these qualities, no matter what I am sure there would be few cases (or no cases) of vandalism. My conclusion, players are equally responsible for the response from supporters. Perform well.. fight hard no matter what.. You guyz will be happy so do we..

I agree with Mukul & disagree with him.

Agree because - Bangladesh played out of their skins on 17/March. They might never replicate the performance, but on that day they did. Rahul therefore must be feeling like Clive Lloyd on 1983 ! A bunch of Indians played out of their skins to beat Lloyd's WI, remember ?

Disagree with his one-sided criticism of the Indian cricket fan, not because I think the fan is right, but because I think the fan's reaction is understandable. Thanks to Media commentary, the motto - In India, Cricket is religion & Sachin is GOD has gone into the hearts & minds of a lot of people.....What did the media, sponsors & cricketers who added fuel to this motto expected when "GOD" failed ?
If Sachin & co. think nothing of taking money from sponsors who are portraying them as GOD, they have to understand & be willing to pay the price of such GOD's failures. SORRY if you don't like the language, but a fact of life.

Posts of Mukul is great..But what i noticed is the guys posting here as some extreme ideas.....

A guy/.../girl named some "DSK" says "Coming to one Mr/Ms. tmx's post. Good one. Your country has enough voilence going on. No need of additionl one>>>>>"..
Now..... why the hell he needs to talk about coutries other conflicts when we talk about cricket.
If he doesnt know about cricket OR he doesnt have anything positive to contribute, then shut up..
Talk politics with u r family.If u have one "DSK"..

reg.......

One big loss for our country and all and sundry start giving verdict -- learn from srilankans, we respect them, we adore them , we do this, we do that, you do this, you do that.......All childish....Some ppl r saying "BCCI spending money on indian players, yet they r not improving" I saw in comments in other posts of Mukul Kesavan too that there was lot of India bashing and majorly it was done by SriLankan readers. True India played bad cricket on 17th march, but India doesnt become a bad cricket team suddenly. In 2003 WC SL lost to Kenya, did they become bad team. In 2006 SL lost to Bangladesh, did they become bad ? Did some one from India go and said them "boss look you have ur board officials fighting and ur boards get dismissed frequently by ministers, look your world cup captain allegates on those who run the show and yet your cricketers dont improve ? " Nope no one said that.....And i repeat again today s clash is not yet started and thanks to Indian media and print media they have already written India off and terming SL as red hot favs for today s game. Why cos they had 2 huge victories against Ban and Bermuda. And yes they won by 243 runs and 198 runs. But i guess India also won by 257 runs against Bermuda and then why doesnt india also start as hot favourites may be a blue one ? And the past record for India is also good against SL, but then again SL is hot favourite. Let be it. In this world cup favourites have lost (Pak to Ireland, India to Bangladesh) so today s favourites would also loose.........

Just kidding, was tryin to sound like a Srilankan fan who are commenting in horrible grammar and terrible english.......And yes today s v-cut is expected to turn and bounce too........

You have a few points here - but you are talking about the fans plumbing the depths. Even the other extremes - hailing India as the best team in the world, saying that they are favourites in the world cup, saying Sachin is the best batsman in the world - are as disgusting and speak of a deep desire to be recognized, an inferiority complex ingrained. I am consistently against India, not because of their most recent loss, but because of them getting more attention than what they, as a shambolic team filled with overrated players, deserve.

Today we lost to Sri Lanka. We lost because of poor team selection. We had no good allrounder in our team, no Pathan. We should of had Anil Kumble in our team. I thought that because of Tendulkar's lack in form he should be batting at no. 3, but after today i think that Tendulkar belongs at the top of the order. Heres my line-up:

1.Sachin Tendulkar-Sachin belongs where he belongs
2.Sourav Ganguly- Experinced Rebuilder
3.Rahul Dravid-The Saviour of the innings
4.Yuvraj Singh-Agressive Rebuilder
5.Verinder Sehwag-Hard Hitter could hit a quick 50
6.Mahendra Dhoni-Hardest Hitter in world cricket
7.Robin Uttapha-Experinment(new Jayasuriya)
8.Irfan Pathan-Adds the finishing touches
9.Ajit Agarkar-Handy Batsman
10.Anil Kumble-rotates the strike
11.Harbajan Singh-Smashing

Maybe if we had tried to use this team against Sri Lanka today we might not have lost. When we had our dream run about a year and 4 months ago. Pathan was a major part of that, so was Sehwag and Dhoni. If India wants to do well after this world cup, they need to act now, and the selectors need to make the right decisions. I think that this team would beat any team in world cricket. I feel sad that these players: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and The great Indian WALL-A.K.A-Rahul Dravid, will walk off the cricking arena with no world cups to there name.I don't feel angry i just feel sad, that the best Indian players of all time will leave without holding the world cup trophy in there hands.But i leave one question: Will Tendulkar continue to 2011? Will Dravid continue? Will Ganguly Contine? Our team now in lacking experince in bowling especially, but i think that if we keep this team until 2011... who knows what will happen?

*points and laughs at Indian cricket fans*

I love the fact that you guys have to rely on Bermuda to beat Bangladesh to get into the Super 8. Hilarious.

Now perhaps you'll start concentrating on the cricket and not the commerce.

Good riddance.

You're right to say that many Indian fans are heroworshipping buffoons with an entitlement complex. But here's where you're wrong:

1) Not all Indian fans are the same:there are many of us who DO believe that the team is an overpaid overindulged bunch of idiots-- but that doesn't mean that we start a riot.

2. You can't compare cricket in India to cricket in England. In England cricket is a second-sport... the primary obsession is football. Football is the thing that inspires passion, idiocy and loutishness for the Brits in the same way that cricket does to Indians. The sad thing is, even at their worst, British rowdies are no way as bad as their Indian counterparts.
Most Indians doesn't really love sport or even cricket. They just, for whatever reason, like watching ODIs featuring India. And then treating those players like deities. And then stoning them when they're angry. It's positively idiotic.

For such a wide fan base, one cannot use generalisations. Most of the fans of the Indian cricket team just abuse the team and forget it. The effigy burners and the vandals usually have some ulterior agenda, most probably publicity. People like this are more in number than any other place because of the huge population and they are encouraged to strut their stuff because of large number of TV channels.
I have been watching cricket for many years now and I am very dissapointed with Indias performance for the last few years. There is a lack of focus at both mental and physical levels. In one dayers, Indians are very bad at running between the wickets and as soon as they encounter wickets where boundaries dont come easily India loses. Combine this with poor fielding ,lack of fitness and poor strategy it is a recipe for embarassment especially away from home. After the 2004 victory over Pak, Indian cricket should have moved forward. But instead of working harder, everybody slipped -team and management slipped into a comfort zone and the fans are paying for it.

you guys lost to sri lanka and are out of the world cup.....yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

hi Maverick ;
Nice comment man..

Nice dirt u tried to dig up..But all u r theories and accusations to the author and SL Cricket is in vain now..
well its the gut feeling that said india was going to loose.Well now we have to think abou the future......

There s clearly some impace on the Indian team cause of the Soooooo called Desi fan.well it was a negative impact somehow . We saw that from the game also.Indians were under some pressure(think wats happened at home hit them.....hard,,there has to some end to this..),even when they had the best of the conditions and the TOSS>If SL won the toss, Ind will batt first, Vaas whould had a his B'day with that much sideways movement.Well thank god India didnt bat first.

Now there has to some sole searching.Ind no doubt has the best batsmen in the world on paper, look at the total ODI's experience.Think theres some moral issue.think all indial fans and especially the Desi fan should rethink their stratergy.No one wants the Sub-continet to go down. Ind,Pak is huge in Cricket here.
Well the grasy pitches at current WC(now these new pitches are like Austrialia.. arent they?),may not help the subcontinet.But we have to get used to this .otherwise the day when SL,Ind,Pak loose to Ireland wont be that far..........

Now people are attributing the loss to the pressure the team felt because of fan expectation. For god sake, this is a tournament not your backyard practise sessions.. ofcourse there would be pressure. I am not sure why there is a denial in admitting that the damn team is not worth it. The writer says that the average fan is a couch potato, but what about the players?? can anybody vouch that cricket is a game for athletes? are these guys athletes? Ramesh POwar, Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid, tendulkar, shewag?? only the faster bowlers are a bit athletic, there too you have a munaf patel. and since when is a fan required to play the game to be able to criticise? After playing for 300+ games if you still are not reliable is the fan to be blamed for that? If the damn team has never won any tounament of substance, is the fan to be blamed for it? Even a child would know that the cricketers are who they are because of the fan. If you only want bouquets from the fans, I think you need to get your head examined. It is a reality in everything. Every post/job comes with a responsibility, there is no job which doesn`t have its share of fallouts. In cricket it is the crowd support. Ofcourse vandalism is evil and govt should act to eradicate it.

The writer again is ignorant in saying that violence in sport is limited to India, it is a much more serious threat in Europe where teams are fined by asking them to play in empty stadiums. Hooliganism is a very serious issue there. In india the crowd as of now (touchwood) does not burn public property. Having said that it is definitely wrong to vandalise player's homes and issue threats to them. Government should try to eradicate this behaviour.

I see that the writer has an annoying habit of generalising based on shallow facts. The articles are never well researched and seems like most of his thoughts are not based on reality but some noble ideal in his head.

The reality is that there are couch potatos in the bloody team and the average fan is struggling to come to terms with it. They accept defeat much more readily than we do. It is the gullibility of the fan that inspite of these ridiculous performance we will rally around them the next tournament they play. These are the truths. Please write on these.

Maverick,

Bad grammar, bad English....BUT GOOD CRICKET from Lanka...Don't you think?

I agree there is some soul seaching to do by the Indian team, Indian media & the Indian public. As a neutral bystander what I have noticed is the irrational Jingoism & arrogance of all of the above. The way India treats its smaller neighbors like Sri Lanka & Bangladesh is pathetic. I have met many SriLankans & Bangladeshis and also seen many posts by Sri Lankans who would have been happy to see India succeed and even win the world cup. I cannot ssy the same of many Indians. For those who haven't met any it will be very obvious from some of the posts. Where does this Inferiority complex come? India you should be proud of your many achievements at home and overseas and not be jealous of your neighbours. Personally I think for a country of over a billion people your sporting sucesses are abysmal. Look at China and there vast improvement in a relatively short period of time. Forgive me if I open a raw wound but is this all becaue of the class & caste system which I hear is prevalent In India?

Kapil Dev, the former Indian allrounder, said that India did not deserve to go into the Super 8 stage of the World Cup. "It is shameful that we have to rely on Bermuda to stay in the tournament," Kapil told an Indian news channel as reported by AFP. "I hope that does not happen because Bangladesh deserve to go into the second round since they had also defeated India. All credit to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India were pathetic and not good enough to remain in the tournament."

These comments coming from this man kapil dev, prove that you don't have to have played sport to feel "betrayed" by the clowns that turned up to play against the sri lankans yesterday - look at the aussie fans, they feel just as betrayed when australia lose, but the difference is the players feel that shame too, when they lose they want revenge, they have passion and drive....... can you imagine the likes of sewhag and dhoni acting like the aussies? I think the "desi fan" should switch to watching football.

The thoughts which flowed inside my little brain when I witnessed one of the deplorable performances of the Indian cricket team in this world cup.

The end of great era of batsmanship.... The one and only sachin tendulkar going to hang his cricket gears without conquering the world’s biggest cup!!! The so called the supreme batting trio amassing 35000 runs in ODI couldn’t make this world cup themselves even once in their 3 endeavors. A sad end to the unforgettable greats:(((((((((((
Does that mean the trio is incapable of achieving this herculean feat? Hmm may be this has become evident from this world cup that the world famous batting line up failed to score even a minuscule 200 against the so called minnows Bangladesh.. may be underdogs is a better term to use than minnows because they are no more considered a minnows after beating a strong side in their first world cup encounter.

Some might argue that world cup is the only tournament which can decide the fate of players, coaches like the great Inzis, Wasims, Bob woolmers. And now we never know what may happen to the Indian cricketers back home in India. The Billions faith, hope, dream shattered in 8 hours of play will definitely have some major consequence on the team selection, mainly the players and the coach. The Die hard cricket fan like me will make a haste decision not to follow cricket here after at any cost and some may shift to support other teams just to follow the happenings in the world cup just out of the craze they have for the great sport.

Is the world cup worth the hype it has created in the cricketing arena? This question can be answered in two ways. Firstly it is straight yes. When world cup football is taken so seriously by the nations who play football, Why not cricket? It does have its own charisma. It is a trophy which is won by a team which performs consistently for a period of 45 days, which holds its nerve to fight, fight and fight to get hold of the precious trophy in the grand finale. But in the other argument, it could be said that a team which just performs for 45 days could easily take away the most sought after prize. Also the individual achievements of great players like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam-ul-Haq were belittled by the fact that their teams could not win the cup in their life time. Though I might be wrong in including Brian Lara since the West Indies are fighting it hard at the moment, I do hope at least Lara could achieve this feat to stand alone from the other greats of his time.

World cups come and go. But I definitely feel that the interest, the passion, the sense of oneness which is created among the fellow Indians making them feel like one religion namely “CRICKET” and their god “SACHIN”, during a cricket match, especially during the world cups will never die over the years. Even at this moment my little brain hopes and it is hoping against hope for a Bermudan win against the Bangladeshis so that the world cup would be still alive from the Indian perspective. This is Cricket for you and this is India for you. This is Shreeni for you:))
Jai Hind!!!!

Take home message is, learn to enjoy the game like Sri Lankan players do. They immensely enjoy each and every moment of the game, not less or not more than a bunch of school boys playing in a paddy field. Sri Lankan fans too show the same enjoyment in success but always ready to accept the reality of defeat. It is just a game for them but not for the ICC or BCCI. For them, it is $$$ behind each and every ball bowled and each and every minute of play.

Great post Mukul, As a fan from the sub continent who is not from india. I feel that the behaviour of some fans is shameful since this is not the first time this has happend whilest some of you might explain the incidents of Dhoni and Kaif as as politics and attention seekers. This has been going on for a long time the explenation that the media is to be blamed is foolhardy because you imply that people are gullible and foolish enought to believe anything the media throws at them this cant be true.

If you must say that the media has painted Cricket as releigion then the same mantra can be sucessfully applied in other sub continental countries at the very least this has not happened.

Mukul please mind your word as they can be misinterpreted by people in many ways.

The problem here is that the fans dont own up that there is a problem with how they show their support or the lack there of which reminds me the best way to solve a problem is to acknowledge there is a problem and No excuse for behavior can and should be justified.

Mr. Mukul seems to be one of those unfortunate souls still hugging onto the colonial hangover. Whatever he has said about the Indian Cricket fan aptly applies to the so-called polished British soccer fans. They are in fact even more violent than our own cricket fans. Now I am not justifying the house attacks and other acts of violence. All I am saying is that these things are expected in all sporting fraternities. There are endless examples.. the NFL , College football in US, the soccer fans of South American countries , the English soccer fans... Looks like everyone here has forgotten them. So Mr Mukul you can happily suck up to you BBC bosses and write more India bashing articles.

i saw indian praying in their temples for the victory of their team with burning oil lamps in one hand and standing on one foot and they would stand like this the whole while their team is out in the field playing,well what an emotional way of wishing luck to any team and if after standing on one foot for so many hours and still the team would slack out , then i surely donot blame the fans for their tears

India is a nation of a billion and cricket is the only sport that the entire nation look up on for national sporting glory. The last three olympics has seen only 3 medals for India, we do not excel in any other sport bar cricket. Therefore, the expectations from the viewing public is sky high. Also, almost everyone recognises the fact that Indian cricket borad is the richest in the world and that there is no lack of cricketing talent in the country. All these factors combine to cuase extreme frustrations amongst the fans and some of them take it out on the players - simply because they feel that the glory that they recieve is undeserved.

Barmy army is aware of the capabilities of their team. However, the Indian cricket team has the capability to beat every team in the world on their day and the inconsistancy factor gets to the heads of the fans. The English cricket fans maybe well behaved but the same cannot be said of the English football fans. We have witnessed Monica Seles stabbed by an irate fan and we have seen footballers killed for conceding an own goal.. therefore these incidents are not limited to indian cricket fans alone.

Although the actions of the cricket fans in our country cannot be justified, it sould come as no surprise consideriding the enormity of the cricket watching population and the varying degrees of sportsmanship and acceptance of defeat among them.

But Indians are paid the most in the world.
For that their track record and letting down the expectations of their their fans is happening too often. They are nota team. They are individual cricketers unlike the Sri Lankan lions.
Way to Lankawa kollo ...

Thank God the Indian gods with feet of clay have fallen. I shudder to think what would have happened if these morons in blue had progressed further. They come to bat with their great records and averages and they prod and poke with terror in their eyes. Why terror? Because they are afraid they will (a) lose their endorsements back home and (b) lose their place in the side and hence (a) as well. Little "Master" Sachin, who has been compared with Bradman (what a joke on someone's part), has never in the past 5-6 years ever come to the rescue of his side in a crisis. Ponting has, Lara has, but Sachin never. You can almost expect him to scratch around for 20 minutes before being clean bowled. Sehwag is a joke and Ganguly is playing only for his place in the side and does not have the technique or gumption to accelerate the scoring at will. Dravid is probably the only player who plays for the team. Unfortunately, he is too timid and his "vegetarian" approach to captaincy does not work. The bowlers are another story. Forget the spinners - they cant spin the ball. They could not even get a Bermudian batsman out and were helpless against some Bangla teenagers. Our gods don't field unless the ball comes directly to them. What can someone like Chappell do with such a bunch of no-hopers?
The fans are the worst. Bunch of juvenile delinquents. They dance in the streets when someone scores a century and they burn players' houses down when they lose. The whole corrupt edifice needs to be brought down. Start anew - please.

Hi Mukul,
Very interesting article. Another point of view why Indian Fans are Indian Fans and do what they do when Indian teams lose. I guess the fans are disappointed more by the lack of effort by players in loses than by the loss itself. No fan is disappointed if Indian players put up a fight and lose. I have noticed that players from other professional sports take their off-season very seriously, they practice, work on their game, keep themselves healthy and prepare for the regular season. I have not notices our Indian players doing much during off-season. I have heard great players from other professional sports say that winning begins during off-season.
I am not sure if Indian players are truly enjoying the game. What motivates our cricket players (people in general). Is the enjoyment of playing the game? Is it winning? Is it their place in cricketing history and to be part of the elite group of cricket legends? Is it the endorsements? As kids we play for pure enjoyment, once we move to organized sports, it is about winning the school cup, local tournaments or National/International tournament. Once good players are motivated by winning and win games, their next level of motivation is trying to be the best ever in what ever they are playing/doing. I don’t see these kinds of motivations from out Indian players.

What do you say, Mukul

I read the comments from MUKUL. Was surprised to know the feelings of mr. MUKUL. After all it sounds like a loser`s talk.Violence in anykind and shape is unaccaptable, but what Mukul forgot to mention about the fans is that it`s these fans who pay for these lazy ass players. It`s these fans in India and Pakistan who don`t make but $2/ day yet will take days off from work to cheer their players.And these are the loyal fans who support these lazy no good for nothing players even after players fill their sacks with match-fixing and other greedy acts. So Mukul guess what I believe you have heared" pahlay apnay graibaan mein dekho", so do it before you try to acquire some cheap fame on the expense of LOYAL, BRAVE, SUBINDIAN CONTINENT FANS.because fans make players, and break them too.

Mukul has articulated wonderfully the thoughts that keep going around in my head but which I have not been able to express in such clear words. Excellent!!!

We equate the performance of the Indian cricket team with how high the Indian flag ought to fly. Why??? I just read that a man hanged himself because the cricket team selected by the BCCI to represent India in the World Cup lost to a cricket team that was selected by the BCCL to represent Sri Lanka in the same tournament. Why attach so much importance to this. I guess it boils down to the fact that people derive a vicarious sense of achievement through the perfomance of the cricket team. If it loses, I have lost. If it wins, I have won. I have nothing else meaningful in my life to take pride in - ergo the cricketers owe me that pride in return for my being glued to the TV.

Get a life. There are far more interesting and meaningful things to lose/not lose sleep over than this.

Enjoyed the article Mukul, though a little perplexed that you would willingly appear on a news channel and then villify it in your post. Is there a case of 'pots calling kettles black' here? Seems to me that you're pretty much subscribing to what the Indian players do: i.e. taking the money.

Which I guess is understandable, whom among us wouldn't do the adverts if we were in the Indian players place? Frankly you can forget the 'good of the game' if someone offers you a bundle of cash to advertise suits etc. I defy anybody to argue that they would put the sanctity of the game first.

However I am delighted that India have gone out of the WC, simply because of the coverage (in which the cricket seems to be an annoying spectacle which just gets in the way of the adverts) and the fact that, from what I've observed at matches, a vast percentage of Indian 'cricket fans' aren't fans of the game at all. In England, Australia, Sri Lanka etc. when an opposing player hits a fine shot or scores a hundred etc. the fans applaud. In India they just sit and stare. There was a great quote from Michael Holding during a West Indies tour there a couple of years ago: After a West Indies batsman (sorry can't remember who) hit a boundary Mikey said - 'Don't worry everybody, nobody's died, it's not a funeral, it's just four more runs for the West Indies'.

It's this attitude which really bugs me about India, if India aren't winning a lot of Indian fans just don't care.

It's a SPORT for heaven's sake, it's entertainment. Yes the players make a lot of money, yes they do a few adverts but:

a) they are incredibly talented and hardworking (you don't 'fluke' a spot in a national side)

b) You can't blame them for taking the money (you would and I would).

In think the Indian fans need to take a long hard look at exactly why they 'love the game' and whether it's the game they love, or just Indian success.

true. very true.

5. When in doubt about what to do, as a fan or a player, simply use the above test.i.e. "Is it cricket". This last takes care of 99% of problems in modern day cricket. The other 1% will be taken care of when the West Indies returns to its glory, in good time.

Seriously, this was enough to ensure that cricket was the most morally glorious sport every played for generations. Why should it not be enough now?

the lunacy that typifies the Indian fan is further exemplified by a news article I came across recently...Sehwag and Sachin lookalikes in some town in India were hounded by the local populace because these two players performed badly in the match against Sri Lanka. Not surprisingly the pretenders were also treated as heroes when their more illustrious counterparts played well in any match...God save us from our own countrymen!!

Not for a moment am I defending the condemnable actions of the angry fans. But your sweeping classification of cricket fans is both disrespectful, condescending and not worthy of publishing. I am appalled and shocked at your biased view of the cricket fanatics in India vis-a-vis the Barmy army. Your comments about the cricketing masses are even more outrageous than the spontaneous, angry reactions of a miniscule few fans.

Your article is as shameful as the angry reactions of the fans,atleast they are rustic illiterates.Calling the nation,a nation of loosers,is absolutely disrespectful,more shameful and puts your name first in that list.

Ok so every time I read the papers,open the news, the 'intellectuals' in the Indian media and the ex cricketers are trying to point out that India's defeat was due to the over expectation of fans. Rite so from now on nobody will go to the stadiums to watch cricket, and we can all go like Sachin who? and Dravid Who? Maybe our glorious Indian team will then start winning matches. On a final note this Indian media disgusts me even more than the Indian cricket team. They make a fortune out of criticizing and ridiculing their own citizens. Shameful to say the least.

india fans should be banned for few home mathces like in football in some premier ship mathces...then crowdles stadiums and we can c how ind play without their crowd support..
Also I THINK IND SHOULS PLAY MOST MATCHES OVERSEA.THEY CAN GLORIFY THEM SELVES WINNING AT HOME (i.e. like they did with the testing SL team before WC and thought they are the best in the world...) but that will cost them dearly when it comes to real mathes....

BEST PLAN-GO OVERSEAS AND PLAY(NOT WITH LIKE BANGA TOUR).

I like readling your article since you call spade a spade as one of an earlier reader said in his post. I feel sports and politics should be treated as two different entities. Politicians should never be asked to involve in any sport for that matter, in particular cricket and team selection should not be biased and good players should be selected irrespective of the state/domestic cricket where they come from. Also under performing players should be removed regardless of the seniority. Look at Australia how they have come along so far. Steve Waugh removed from the team and finally from captaincy just because he was under performing. Also, it is ridiculous to damage one's personal property for a team's loss