Cricket is a gentleman’s game and all the actions and reactions during and after the match show the real taste of Indian cricket fans. Winning and losing should not come in the way of showing anger as the tourists are our sports ambassadors and we should treat them at par with our own cricketers. Retaliating with anger after losing a game is quite common in India and the Guwahati crowd proved their anger for Team India after losing in a key match. We are number one in World of Cricket and our actions and reactions will be observed by ICC most critically. What happened in Pakistan is still fresh in our minds, and our neighbouring country failed to establish cricket connections once again after the attack on a Sri Lankan side. Stone and bottle throwing are common in our stadiums and this time it has gone outside the ground as the security within the stadium is beefed up and there are CCTV cameras and other cameras covering the match and any violence on the ground will be seriously viewed. We still remember the 1996 World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta when the match referee Clive Llyod awarded the game to the visitors after unruly crowd disrupted the game. Attack on Aussie team bus showed our dispirit at losing but at the same time the attack should not fall on the tourists as they come to India for winning and not for losing all the games. Better council should prevail in keeping the spirit of the game in a very sporting way.
Nickhil Mani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
