The Stronger, Weaker, Other XI

OK Clarifications first. This is not a cricket blog. I did not intend to start with this article either. But given the two exactly opposite games in the same world between the two exactly opposite genders of the same teams and my extreme love for the game has resulted in shifting my original first article to next week.

So after the ridiculously long sentence, I will come to the point. Multiple articles have already been written about the ineptitude of the Indian Men’s cricket team after the victory at Lords. Yesterday*, the Indian Women’s team stomped all over their English counterparts despite playing a test match after 8 years. And yet, it remains the only major Women’s team not to have centrally contracted players despite being from the richest cricket board of the world. A BCCI official when asked about this disparity once, mockingly said, “Ladkiyon ko khelta kaun dekhna chahta hai?” (Who wants to watch girls play?).  I would like to question the Mr. Random Person from the board which must not be named: ‘What exactly is the logic behind your theory?’ Putting all the obvious feminism aside, don’t you know that watching/wanting/looking at/ogling at/staring at girls is the bread and butter of us Indian men which for us comes even before the actual bread and butter? And to watch those girls play? This is like a dream come true. If the girls have their share of ‘Oohs and Aahs’ and ‘Marry Me’ for Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri (The time of our Moms, and its true), then we’ve had ours for Sania Mirza as well. Take Saina, PT Usha, Jwala, Ashwini, Koneru, Deepika, and Mary Kom (last on purpose) etc. for example. We have continuously watched and supported them, whenever the media gave us the chance to, sometimes even more than their male counterparts. Never before in our country has there been such a wide gap between the men’s and women’s team of the same sport (Don't say football, it's none of our business, it never was). The BCCI only supports the team reluctantly because it has been instructed so by the ICC.  A lack of media coverage, and the total lack of sponsorships also hamper the team‘s admirable progress. Many fans would've gladly switched the channels had the Women team's match been broadcast anywhere. 

Jibes apart though, some might argue that other boards haven’t exactly been generous to the fairer sex either.  This is true, considering the fact that even though Myrtle Maclagan, one of the earliest legends in Women’s cricket, used to play for England in the 1930s, the game has not exactly progressed even after 80 years as it should’ve for the ladies. But then, which country has single-handedly catapulted the men’s game to the global platform even though it’s majorly played by only 10 countries? There’s a reason that the Champions’ Trophy Final had more viewership than the FIFA World Cup final. Because when you remove China out of the equation, India rules the roost, which brings me back to my original point. That only when the Indian audiences gain interest in the game, will the women’s sport be popular for good.

Now following the rules of the media so that I’m not labelled a rebel, I’ll cover the women team’s news to this point only and proceed to the usual boring bashing of the Men’s team. I’m not going to feign surprise though. At the time of writing**, Gautam Gambhir has just been woefully run-out in the 2^nd innings, thereby completely ticking off all the boxes of the team not being able to bat, bowl, field or run. Perhaps the only wonder on this tour has been the victory at Lords.

We love Bollywood movies where the hero single-handedly defeats the entire system to come out victorious against all odds. Thus, we have come to expect the same in real life too, especially where we wish that the team which is hated by all countries comes out victorious in every match. But it has taken us quite a long time to realise that we are the villains over here. All the other boards hate us, mock us, and try to nitpick only because the BCCI has been bullying them throughout and has been rigid about everything -  from the angst against DRS to the angst against Pakistanis playing in the IPL. And hence, the team's failures are glorified at each increasing number. It’s not a coincidence that a neutral supporter always supports the team playing opposite India. Not very long ago, Australia was in the same position, but that was purely because of their skill and not money. Coming on to the team, I’m not at all an MS Dhoni fan. Everyone knows that he might be the luckiest cricketer ever. But a big fact is that he probably knows it too, and he respects that luck, and produces results based on it. I fail to understand the constant demand for him to voluntarily resign as the test captain though. Agreed, he is a horrible captain and a worthless tactician, but given the insane amount of money he earns from this job, I challenge that no one will do so unless forced to. But when everyone is raking in crores, what's the harm? The problems are so many that the discussions on them can go on and on and on but the fact remains; Haven’t we invested enough time and resources on just one sport? The answer may be obvious but since we have been brought up upon this game’s men division only, it’ll take a lot of time and help from different sponsors and the media.

It is at this point that I have realised that I am going nowhere with this post as this one was written out of pure emotion for the game and also because too many people have too many opinions about it. I rest my case with various open-ended theories and promise that next week onward I’ll come up with topics of wider spectrum and diversity. 

                            

* This post is a few hours late as I was busy hogging after a full day Janmashtami fast

** Refer to *