Hmm.. ever since the T20WC, i've been following the Indian media daily on its sports analysis. And believe me, I have read every little blog, article or anything to do with Indian cricket team. The stance of the media has been pretty disgusting right from the start and has gotten desperate and ugly now that India has been washed out of the T20 world cup. I start by saying the word 'media' coz it is largely responsible for shaping up the opinions and shaking up the dressing rooms. We shall address the question 'how?' in a moment.
Firstly for starters I'd like to address those who'd say 'Arre, Dhoni ne toh paisa kama liya, usko kya farak padta hai.. ' Boss, everyone knows cricket in India is a passion, is a religion and is grossly commercialized even at the expense of other sports and sportspersons. But having said that, there is no way one can take away credit from those guys who are playing cricket in India. So, if you're jealous of the money they're getting, why don't you go play cricket? But saying that playing cricket is easy money is undermining the toil, effort and struggle gone into the making of each and every sportsperson that comes from the gullies of India. Hence, respect every sportsperson, be it a cricketer or someone else. I follow cricket, so here I'm writing about it.
Now, what the hell was everyone expecting from Team India? I mean for god's sake, these blokes have been proving themselves for a long time now.. All I remember from last few series is only wins and draws.. hardly any loses! And all of this within a period of months!! How the hell can you thrust matches after matches on them and keep expecting them to win everything under the sun? Many might say, they dint win when it mattered the most. I'm saying, it's alright.. Chill! They still remain one of the topmost teams to beat, a team that every other cricketing nation fears.. and till the time that hasn't changed, I don't see why the support given to MSD and the Team India should.
Talking about Dhoni, the poor guy has undergone a hell lot of a grind. Yes, so he had his differences with Sehwag, which the media, very kindly blew out of proportion. Believe it or not, this was a big distraction for team India fans, forget the Team India itself! I am not saying media shouldn't have reported this, but the way this analysis, of Dhoni's every statement went on was pretty much 'i-got-fodder-for-next-10-days' matter. Secondly, the only few mistakes he made were in the crucial game against England. Yes, those were bloody stupid and crappy mistakes.. and probably political too? Who knows? But the guy admitted having made those mistakes, took full responsibility of the same and pledged improvement. What more can he do? (even assuming 'usko promise karne mai kya jaata hai', still, what more can he do?). Suddenly media comes up with dubious headlines like 'Dhoni's dream run is over?' 'Captain cool is uncool?' I mean what bull shit! I believe Dhoni and his team's dream run is very much on! I tell you why? The guy is someone who's come up the hard way. He has taken up captancy under very tense circumstances and has built this younger team (and even lead it to win T20 worldcup) without any Tendulkar-like record breaking match winning players at disposal. In fact, he himself remains the No.1 batsman on ICC rankings due to his ability to finish matches. Dhoni is a kind of person who learns from mistakes and rectifies them. He is the kind of player who will experiment against majority. And when you take risks, it's either rewards or brickbats.
I think it's too early to write off this Indian Team. I have full faith in each and every player. In fact im appalled at the thought that they've got a series coming up in the next 10 days!!! I just hope the boys go out there and shut up these useless experts who (expectedly) crown you the moment you win and drown you the moment you lose! Go get em!
