HSK: The Romance of Indian Cricket

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Today, while browsing through the shelves in my personal library, I pulled out a book called “The Romance of Indian Cricket” written by Sujit Mukherjee, the existence of which book in my library, I had entirely forgotten. Soon followed some more books on cricket and other subjects, books by K. A. Abbas and others. Do I really own all these books, I wondered. “The Romance of Indian Cricket”, for example, was lying there almost since 1968 when I had bought it. I do not subscribe to the idea of “beg, borrow or steal”. The book makes interesting reading and I faintly remembered having read it as soon as I bought it (If you keep the books without reading, they hibernate!)

Cricket as culture:
As soon as I began to read the first sentence in the book, it suddenly flashed in my memory. The opening sentences are very scintillating. He says, “Among the comparatively few elements of modern Indian culture that cannot be traced back to Emperor Ashok is cricket. Pundits may not approve of including cricket as an item of culture, but any form of human activity which commands such tremendous mass participation as cricket does today (1968) in India must be considered part of this country's loving culture. Already cricket is more than a 100 years old in India and there is every sign that it will endure.”

As I was reading these opening sentences, memories and faces of some of our great cricketers appeared before my mind's eye — Nari Contractor, Vijay Merchant, Lala Amarnath, Pataudi, Mankad, Hazare et al. What a memorable parade of all times, I thought. Sujit, the author, had his romance with it. He is quite modest in saying that he has enjoyed playing and watching cricket and writing about it. The book is dedicated to “Meenakshi”, his permanent choice as wicket - keeper (what a lucky guy! I have lost my wicket - keeper).

I closed the book and also my eyes. I went through, in my mind, the long history of the evolution of cricket. Cricketers of the present generation also are having a long romance with cricket, and they are sumptuously paid for it. Who would grudge paying for their game?

Things have undergone a great deal of change in the world of cricket and some of the old pundits of the game feel sad that cricket today has become a big business and even Bollywood is enamoured of it. A writer quotes a French phrase which says that the more things change, they remain the same. Some others say that cricket has changed very much and in spite of their great efforts to make a complete change, they have not succeeded in two things: They have not changed the size of the ball, or shortened the stumps! Be that as it may, cricket has supplied plenty of materials to skillful writers to create great literature about the game. The behaviour of the masses, the pleasures of playing, comparing it with life's situations — these are all very interesting pastime.

Two hundred and fifty years of world cricket is full of many episodes. Professional teams in coloured clothing, riding horse - back and stage coach, the first match in a prize money of 10 pounds offered, bookies, match - fixing, the laying down of several rules to make the game of cricket more disciplined and dignified, Test matches galore running over three days and then gradually extended to five days, and yet not decisive, but quite fascinating, providing enough food for thought and so on.

One - Day show:
Then came Kerry Packer with his pack containing many trump cards, reducing the whole show to one day. It was feared that ODIs would out shadow Test cricket. One - Day affairs happened to be quite a success. With the advent of big business and the electronic media, cricket was no longer the same again. Everything big. Those who had the time, inclination and money, as well as personally witnessing opportunity would take the trouble of travelling over long distances to see the long - winding matches. And the One - Dayers did stay indeed. The long and short of it was that cricket had taken strong roots in the minds of millions of people all round the world; and they would sit rooted in their easy chairs enjoying the game from vantage points.

Big business companies, national and multinational, saw that there was big money in cricket and swooped to conquer! Conquer, they did! It became a matter of prestige to sponsor international tournaments. If winter comes, can spring be far behind? But never was there, in cricket, the winter of discontent — for the sponsoring companies, for those who watched the game at the stadium, and for TV viewers. Big money, huge crowds, excitement, vandalism, betting, match-fixing, etc., brought to the fore big cricket control organisations, national and international. In the name of regulating the whole sprawling activities, they converted themselves into money - spinners. Cricket was no longer a gentleman's game. It became a profession in the garb of being amateurish. The players came to be dragged by the nose - strings and the players did not mind the treatment, as it all was for the good of the game and for hefty payments as well as international reputation.

Temple of cricket:
In South Asian countries another temple was erected — the temple of cricket. The players were living idols—worshipped or hooted down as the case may be. Success made them heroes overnight. Failure meant smuggling themselves into their homelands through the back door. What a shame! It is all for the game (and money)! There is a saying that old order changes, yielding place to new. The rule was applied to cricket also. The old order did change, but it did not yield place to new. Both old and new began to co-exist. In the age of globalisation both co-operation and competition have to make strange bedfellows.

Towards the end of the last decade suddenly entered Madhav Rao Scindia who dreamt of league matches. His life was cut short. Others entered the arena. Players drawn from several countries forming themselves into assorted teams, and fighting among themselves not on the basis of region or nation. The game was limited to twenty overs for each side. Hit out or get out! Play like dare - devils. Amass runs and walk back to the pavilion with bat on the shoulder. Cheer girls and others provide a lot of entertainment. Entertainment – cum -cricket! Matinee shows. Thrill, romance, dream. Big business magnates and Hollywood buffs are seeing money in it. The players are but hirelings. They are auctioned, some say; others do not agree. Let the show go on!

HSK
Courtesy: Star of Mysore