Dear Editor,
I was in Trinidad for the India-Bangladesh game over the weekend. There was much disappointment in the Indian performance (including among the Guyanese who reside in or went to Trinidad to see the match) and a lot of kudos for the Bangladeshi performance. But in reading the Indian newspapers, there was shock and outrage over the Indian team’s performance.
Indian cricket fans take their cricket seriously and when the national team performs poorly, fans show their anger publicly – burning buildings and buses, etc. Fans targeted the players’ homes. There were protests in the streets of major cities and fans burned effigies of several of the cricketers including those of captain Rahul Dravid and Vice-Captain Sachin Tendulkar, both of whom fell cheaply in the match. Fans also threatened the families of wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni and reliable star batsman Yuvraj Singh, among others.
There were also sad faces all over Trinidad, not only among visitors from India but among locals as well (Afros and Indos). People were querying why Tendulkar, the game’s best batsman, was not allowed to open the batting and why Anil Kumble was not played in the match when he has had an outstanding record at the Queens Park Oval. People came to see the magic of Tendulkar’s batting but were disappointed in his struggling performance.
As one Indian paper commented in an editorial, the Indian captain underestimated his opponents while overvaluing his own side and compounded the blunder by misreading the conditions and opting to bat. It noted, “while the batting line-up is admittedly strong on paper, the hype may have ballooned into hubris and in away conditions, the team’s performances have lacked consistency”.
Following the anger of the defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, Indian fans were jubilant when India humbled Bermuda on Mon-day with a world record total for a One dayer. It was a fantastic all round performance. All of the players were praised. Indian TV showed clippings of dancing in the streets in the major cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. Guyanese in NY were also talking about the fantastic performance of the Indian batsmen and hope India qualifies for the super eight so they can see Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid in action in Guyana again.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
