The world cup 2007 started with much fanfare and bang as expected. The initial stage matches with minnows in fray were expected to be dull affair. But thanks to Ireland and Bangladesh the world cup has become interesting from the word go. The resilience and commitment shown by Ireland is second to nothing. The first timer at the world gave an excellent example of fighting till the end and use available resources to the best. Ireland performance knocked out Pakistan out of the World Cup. Bangladesh victory gave tremors in Indian camp. Minnows good performance is good for cricket and its development.
But this article is not about this but what happened after that. Pakistan exit had great impact on the fans in Pakistan and the cricket fraternity there. But the most shocking news was demise of Coach Bob Woolmer. The reason behind his death is unknown but without doubt we can say that lost game had some role in it. Cricket is religion in Pakistan and India. It is very stressful to play, select, coach cricket teams in subcontinent. The expectation of fans is too high to match. The fans need to understand that it is just game and nothing more than that. As a avid cricket fan I also like my cricket team to win and perform to the best of there ability. But I don’t agree to come on streets at every loss and fanatically harass cricketers and there families. In Woolmer’s death we have lesson to learn that we need to differentiate between game and real life. There are far more important things in life than coming on streets and vandalism.
The other incident come to my mind is destroying Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s under construction house in Jharkhand. It is a prime example of how senseless people will target anything to vent there frustration. When India lose I also get frustrated but I don’t vent my anger by coming on to the streets. I think if same logic is applied then we should come on streets on every inefficiency in our system. Whenever a politician doesn’t perform we should come on street and burn his effigies destroy his house. If government official doesn’t perform we should do the same and if you start doing this we all know how chaotic this place can become. I am just against the idea of targeting cricketers, no body is perfect and this not a perfect world so these things happen and we should try to correct it. Hooliganism is not a answer. If people strongly feel about the cricketers, they should stop crowding the venues, stop using products endorse by the cricketers. We should start thinking it as just a game and nothing more than that. We have abundance problems all over the country to waste our time on protesting for a defeat.
I hope India would proceed to the next round and eventually win the world cup. And even if it doesn’t, it should not be life and death situation………..
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