All in the game

It is India's religion. It is a force that can bring people together. It unites and makes them rise in one voice.

No prizes for guessing what that is about - Cricket. And this phenomenon is in shambles. The country witnesses the worst crisis that the game has ever been in. The board is at cross roads. The captain and the coach are at war. The vision and the very purpose behind the Board are being questioned. What's more, the 2007 World Cup is approaching fast in, you guessed it, 2007!

Hold it folks! Enough of all the hype. The issue has been getting more than its share of the media glare. Shall we get down to earth?

Cricket is a game. Period. Eleven men dress up, fight it out with another set of eleven, and either win or mostly lose - before they dress up again. They endorse brands, smile in the media, go touring round the globe, build up their egos, fight for their slots in the team - and also play. Cricket is their profession - just like Medicine, Engineering, Sales . . . you name it. Of course, no one would be prepared to watch a Doctor or an Engineer on the screen for as long as they would be, to watch these guys. Naturally, companies pour their budgets on them.

Apart from the eleven players and perhaps the coach and the Board members, cricket doesn’t decide the destiny of anyone. (It has given rise to a new breed - the Bookies - that makes money out of people and makes fools out of fans). Cricket satisfies the need for entertainment - just as Movies and soap operas do. Cricket takes up the major chunk of sponsorship - and leaves the talents of other forms of sport in the lurch.

Cricket is nothing more than a game - and what goes on at the moment is an exercise to prove that politics is omni-present. There are a few people who have their destinies tied to the game - let's leave the job to them to sort themselves out of the mess and get on with their lives.

Traditionally, there are spaces allotted in the media for sports - let's try to keep cricket where it belongs and have the front pages filled with some useful stuff instead.