Undeniably, we are cricket-crazy fans in India. Indian cricketers are considered demi-Gods and fans have high expectations from them whenever they get down on field to play. We are proud to have great legends from our soil that is Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, V.V.S Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and many more. They have played laudable games and have earned great respect from the citizens of this country. They no longer play and have retired from all forms of cricket but always continue to share their knowledge and experience about the game as and when required by the Indian cricket team.
One can witness great fervor in the on-going World Cup series as India is the defender this time. Being world champions as it is popularly known is no easy task and it takes a lot of practice and fitness guide to be in the top 5 best teams for its current form in all aspects. Also now the Indian cricketers are under tremendous pressure to retain the title as who would like to give away the tag of being ‘world champs’ in the cricket game to the competitors. Well I must say that India played well against Pakistan and South Africa and 300 plus score was treat to the Indian fans overseas and back home here.
The atmosphere in the stadium was charged up as both the teams’ fans cheered loud for their respective country especially for the Indo-Pak match. But in some places (restaurants, bars or clubs) both teams’ fans came to blows (mainly under the influence of alcohol) as India defeated Pakistan because the cold equation between the countries goes a long way back. The World cup matches bring about all the required aggression and vigour on field as players give their best shot as the game progresses because every match played leads the respective team winner closer to the WC Final fixture.
Everyone out there is displaying the true spirit of sportsmanship and hope no player gets involved in any kind of sledging or unethical activities. (All of us do remember the IPL case). If India loses any important match, they are written off and are so badly criticised by the same fans who love them, mainly out of frustration over the loss, but wait there maybe many factors as to why they lost. They are just like us, humans; not some automatic machine to consistently perform well. So during such times, people should just let them be as in give space and not continuously put them down.
Well there are certain countries which are considered mighty and tough like Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and countries like Ireland, Scotland, UAE as ‘underdogs’ or in apna Mumbai lingo – they are ‘kaccha’ teams; anybody can defeat them. Well even once upon a time India was also considered minnows but now times have changed. With every game being played, the excitement level keeps rising. We, Indians are in the anticipation that again this time we will lift the cup for the third time. This feeling is somewhat patriotic whenever India wins any match; I still remember 2011 when Dhoni & Co. bought home the World Cup, Indian citizens ohh sorry crazy fans were celebrating all night. Hope this time history repeats itself.
