Dear Indian cricket team fans,
We all are connected, by something which is a mere sport elsewhere in the world; but a religion in our country.
And when it comes to commenting on cricket, everyone of us has an opinion.
But, we have a problem.
We want our cricketers to win. Every single time. And if we lose, we can go to the extent of blaming Virat Kohli’s girlfriend.
So after decades of futility, when we won back-to-back tests in the early 70s and then lifted the 1983 World Cup, the upset tag was removed and India became one of the premier teams of International cricket.
Even a few years back, the question often asked by cricket fans was, ‘Why are our bowlers not performing?’ or ‘Why in a country of billion people we cannot produce good bowlers.’ Â Because, it has always been Sachin-Sourav-Dravid-Laxman or the opposition who saved us.
When England beat us, our bowlers were clueless. When New Zealand demolished us, they were pointless. When Australia humiliated us, they were helpless.
Things have changed. Our bowling has improved.
We have Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and many more. We look up to them as the Starcs and Steyns of India. The performances of the Indian bowlers in the last 5 years have been something we haven’t seen in a very long time. It amazes me how Indian bowlers have performed in 2011 World Cup, 2013 Championship Trophy and World T20 Championship. Also, while drubbing Australia 4-0 at home and winning against Sri Lanka.
It is truly a joy to watch our bowlers bowl so beautifully and enjoy their cricket.
Mohammed Shami has hit the right areas, Umesh Yadav has bowled with a lot of pace, Ishant Sharma has gotten better after playing repeatedly in Test matches and ODIs. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar can swing the ball both ways and looks a much better bowler in ten overs. Consistency and constant cricket have helped Ashwin get his line and length, hence the confidence back. Mohit Sharma is not far behind and his pace combined with accuracy has done wonders. Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra have been a huge revelation for India.
The rapid rise of Indian cricket and world cricket caused everyone’s expectations to reach a point where whenever India loses, it causes an uproar on social media with disgraceful comments.
And now when our bowlers bowled exceptionally well and dismissed South Africa for a paltry 79, instead of praising Ashwin and Co, critics have started questioning the nature of the pitches.
So when we lose, it’s our fault and when we win, it’s the pitch’s credit? Hypocrite, much?
It’s very easy to criticize the pitch but let’s not. Our bowlers have bowled remarkably well and they deserve every bit of credit for it.
Cheers,
A fan of the Indian team,
For Life!