An outsider’s view on cricket in India

Indian cricket – An outsider’s view

Ask any other individual around the world (besides an American) to name one thing that India loves and they’ll say cricket. There is no denying that India is hopelessly in love with cricket and it’ll take an eternity for that to change.

What may seem as an added bonus is India’s success in the cricketing world; they have won numerous ICC events and have maintained their spot in the top five in all the three formats (Tests, ODI and T20).

But do the boys from the sub-continent mean anything to the rest of the cricketing world?

Well, this can be debated about on various angles. Here are a view snippets, and I’d like to add that this is an opinion piece. It is my opinion so either look at it from my viewpoint or don’t look at all.

The Indian cricket team

No one can deny that whenever an opposition plays India, it is a spectacle to watch on its own. The Indians have one of the best batting line-ups that the world has ever seen. No matter, if it is India’s second-rate team; they still have the batting power to rip an opposing team to shreds. On the other hand, their bowling has little to talk about. Don’t get me wrong, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma and now the new-comer Mohammad Shami have provided some restlessness but aren’t seen as frightening or difficult bowlers to face as opposed to their spinners. The Indians spinners however are one of the most frightening in the world. From Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh to Ravichandran Ashwin, they have made batters life a misery especially in the sub-continent.

BCCI is the boss

I think any cricket fan will know a little about the controlling nature of the BCCI. I’m sure that the Indian fan base will acknowledge the fact that the BCCI controls the game of cricket more than the ICC. The BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world and one of the richest around the world of sport in general. However, I feel that whatever the BCCI do they cannot be silenced, whether its on the DRS System, cutting down tours or scheduling matches to suit the Indian squad. Everything seems to helplessly point to the BCCI. I don’t know I am just an observer, but one thing I know is that if the BCCI says ‘yes’, there’s no way convincing them to turn their decision around… maybe some capital could help?

The God of cricket

Now, this is something that I can agree upon. Sachin Tendulkar deserves to be praised, he’s one of the best batsmen that this era will ever see and know. When he retired last year, I shed a tear; he deserved all the accolades and recognition. He is the best ambassador to cricket; he is a humble human being despite his worldwide fame. But I can’t help but notice that people keep on comparing him to others. He cannot be compared because he is a legend in his own right, his records will never be overridden and his class cannot be compared to any soul in the world. Just like extraordinary players such as Sir Don Bradman, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kapil Dev, Gary Sobers and Imran Khan need to be classed on their own and not on players who haven’t played in their generation.

They are everywhere

One more point is I have realised that Indian fans are EVERYWHERE. I remember wanting to write about the South Africa vs. India series and 10 articles were released in those few weeks almost every day on Sportskeeda. I know Indians are very loyal about their team but there comes a time when you are like: “Come on”. I ‘Like’ TrollCricket on Facebook and whenever I see the comments of a picture for example on The Ashes, there will always be someone commenting on Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar. And totally unrelated to the general topic called ‘The Ashes’, but there will always be a comment like ‘Sir Ravindra Jadeja is the best batsman’ and I would think, “What the hell?” and what makes it weirder is that the comment will get 81 likes.

I do not hate these Indian fan clubs, but it is hard to not see anything related to cricket without seeing an Indian influence. All major cricket websites are made for the Indian community but it is understandable, they are the ones who actually click on it more anyway.

I think that’s it. Maybe India is cricket. I can’t imagine a world without Indian cricket and I doubt that it will be for the good because I can’t imagine watching a match in the sub-continent without a sold-out stadium or someone holding a ‘Sachin, Sachin’ poster. You can’t deny the passion that exists there and for that I’d like to thank the Indian community for not only loving this game but being obsessed with it, because cricket is a beautiful sport that I just cannot refute.