What Cup?
It just shows how fickle minded most Indians are when it comes to the World Cup. As soon as India packs its bags and leaves, gigantic companies are talking of doom and gloom in the marketing department (and it's about time too I say, after having brainwashed mindless Indians for 10 years on the trot, now Sachin's Boost "Energy Food" doesn't make you that good does it?) most Indians now don't watch the world cup or follow it in certain manner.
When exactly did the World Cup become India v "The World"? As far as I know, never. It was always about the world playing each other, which is still precisely what is happening. It's high time people in India and around the globe realise that this is an event where everybody participates and everybody has an opportunity. But nonetheless I wouldn't blame this on Indians, I'd blame this on the companies of India whose sole duty is to brainwash the masses. Every time an ad comes on TV, why does it feature a couple of Indians, plus some white men in a yellow costume? Surely they must realise that drinking Pepsi is not going to help you win over these white men in yellow uniforms (they surely aren't Australians)?
Why is India playing 22 matches against Australia in the next year? Well that one's simple, it's so the marketers don't have to pretend that those white men in yellow clothes are Australians. Now they definitely will be Australians. It so ironic that in a world cup where India left in the early stages, matches even now have "Indian Oil" and "Hero Honda" signs all over the ground. The sad reality is no-one in India cares any more and they big corporations have one person to thank for that: themselves.
The Indian media, a great monster of an organisation does nothing more than fan the fires. When we see pictures of Indians burning effigies of Chappell and Tendulkar, who knows if that is an actual physicalisation of the hatred burning inside all Indians or whether it's a cheap shot at winning a few more points in the ratings war because surely terms like "LOC: Love of Cricket" and even more stupid terms like "Team India" don't help? (I just wonder whether in a state championship "Team Tamil Nadu" v "Team Maharashtra" will bring in the crowds?)
The BCCI have delivered a performance based pay system on top of a base retainer. That's called a pay based performance system, not the other way round. Restricting the number of ads you can do? Yep that's gonna help your batting and bowling! Bringing in Ravi Shastri and BKV Prasad as coaches? Perhaps the BCCI misunderstood, the Indian team needs a coach, not more players to coach.
But you sit down one day and wonder what's the point of it all, India will still lose more often than they win, India will still dissapoint when it counts most and Indians will still blindly believe a media so stuck up themselves that they need laptop but need a pen to write on it - oh and all this has to be on screen!
So what is the point? It's when you see performers and their traits like VVS Laxman's magical flourishes, Ganguly's sheer determination and guts, Tendulkar's genius, Dravid's relentless selflessness and Kumble's relentless enthusiasm. For the happiness they have brought to millions world over, they can be forgiven for not performing in the world cup.
Since India's no longer in it, perhaps the Indian media better rename it to something untactful like "WC: What Cup" or even better "WC: Who Cares?" Because most Indians certainly do not.
When exactly did the World Cup become India v "The World"? As far as I know, never. It was always about the world playing each other, which is still precisely what is happening. It's high time people in India and around the globe realise that this is an event where everybody participates and everybody has an opportunity. But nonetheless I wouldn't blame this on Indians, I'd blame this on the companies of India whose sole duty is to brainwash the masses. Every time an ad comes on TV, why does it feature a couple of Indians, plus some white men in a yellow costume? Surely they must realise that drinking Pepsi is not going to help you win over these white men in yellow uniforms (they surely aren't Australians)?
Why is India playing 22 matches against Australia in the next year? Well that one's simple, it's so the marketers don't have to pretend that those white men in yellow clothes are Australians. Now they definitely will be Australians. It so ironic that in a world cup where India left in the early stages, matches even now have "Indian Oil" and "Hero Honda" signs all over the ground. The sad reality is no-one in India cares any more and they big corporations have one person to thank for that: themselves.
The Indian media, a great monster of an organisation does nothing more than fan the fires. When we see pictures of Indians burning effigies of Chappell and Tendulkar, who knows if that is an actual physicalisation of the hatred burning inside all Indians or whether it's a cheap shot at winning a few more points in the ratings war because surely terms like "LOC: Love of Cricket" and even more stupid terms like "Team India" don't help? (I just wonder whether in a state championship "Team Tamil Nadu" v "Team Maharashtra" will bring in the crowds?)
The BCCI have delivered a performance based pay system on top of a base retainer. That's called a pay based performance system, not the other way round. Restricting the number of ads you can do? Yep that's gonna help your batting and bowling! Bringing in Ravi Shastri and BKV Prasad as coaches? Perhaps the BCCI misunderstood, the Indian team needs a coach, not more players to coach.
But you sit down one day and wonder what's the point of it all, India will still lose more often than they win, India will still dissapoint when it counts most and Indians will still blindly believe a media so stuck up themselves that they need laptop but need a pen to write on it - oh and all this has to be on screen!
So what is the point? It's when you see performers and their traits like VVS Laxman's magical flourishes, Ganguly's sheer determination and guts, Tendulkar's genius, Dravid's relentless selflessness and Kumble's relentless enthusiasm. For the happiness they have brought to millions world over, they can be forgiven for not performing in the world cup.
Since India's no longer in it, perhaps the Indian media better rename it to something untactful like "WC: What Cup" or even better "WC: Who Cares?" Because most Indians certainly do not.
This entry was posted by Blogpur, on
Wednesday, April 11, 2007.
You can leave your response.
2:28 PM
Call me anti-indian if you want for I believed before this wc that Indian team is unfit to play in the wc.
The entire team was hyped up and there is no real meat in the team. Just a bunch of fools who are here to make some easy money.
I certainly enjoy the cricket wc without India very much. It's a treat to watch Aussies, Lankans, Kiwis perform. I am started loving the Bangladesh team even more. Those kids have the killer instinct.
It will take ages for Indian cricket to recover, remember Indian Hockey ?
7:11 PM
Definitely wouldn't call you anti-Indian. Sorry if my message got carried away in my rhetoric. I disagree with the players point - I seriously believed that the team we took was probably the finest in terms of batting I've ever seen (at least on paper). In real world stuff, only Ganguly and Dravid were in any sort of form and Tendulkar may chip in.
The rest was serious mis-management. Why wasn't Karthik playing? Why wasn't Kumble playing? We all know that Pathan is a better batsman than Sehwag or Uthappa, so why he wasn't in the team (if not for his bowling, his batting)??
I too follow the world cup, but still a part of me cries, because I wanted to see Dravid lift the cup and do justice to the tremendous careers of the "Big 3".
Regarding Bangladesh - they may have killer instinct, but they (already) think too much of themselves and frankly we know they'll get rolled by any good team when playing properly (*cough* India *cough*).
The biggest challenge for Indian cricket now is to see how they're going to phase out the old guys and bring in new guys. The old guys are still our best bet, but 5 years down the track, they won't be doing much more than sitting at home with wife and kids.
People like Kaif sit at home whilst people like Sehwag sit in the pavillion - which is better?