King Midas

No this is not about that mythological character, rather it is about the state that we make out of our sport. In a leading English daily the front pages had splashed the photographs of Dravid (Captain) and Tendulkar (Demi-God) with the heading ‘the king is back!’. On the inside the write up sang paeans about his return to form and how Dravid could do no wrong. This state of affairs is such a far cry from the state former incumbent Ganguly was in just a few weeks ago. Controversy dogged every move and machination of team India… the men in blue were beset with many a woe…

Things seem to have changed overnight for the unit. There is lavish praise being heaped and there is all the rejoicing that comes with success. What makes me sad is that the very media that glorifies these men as immortals today will tomorrow just as easily flay them. They are merely selling their copy. The problem lies therein that, not only do they at times form public opinion and give it a direction, but often fan sentiments and not always in a pretty way.

The Maharaja seemed to do no wrong months ago. He was admired for his aggressiveness, the team’s fine showing at the world cup was roundly applauded and even his shirt baring at the Lord’s after a hard fought victory taken as a sign of the new breed of “fighters till the end”—a truly rare species in Indian cricket! All that was forgotten with one controversy after the other dogging him and the squad. The none to pleasant skeletons tumbling out at regular intervals and malicious stories doing the rounds didn't help the cause at all. Wasn’t it the media that came up with these “scoops” and didn't they bring to light all those “leaks” always looking to report the “breaking news”. What is bemusing is that these very blokes will eloquently write the obituary and perform post-mortems in the not so distant future. They’ll prescribe pills for the ills and know exactly where others are going wrong. Midas will end up as pauper in rags and the king left with nothing but tatters. Why must the deify sportsmen and then bring them crashing down as fashion suits them or is it just their fancy? The pen might be mightier that the sword but they should remember that it is a wholly different ball game out there on the field… easier said than done mate!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg… after all its only about cricket…

And then cricket is just a game...