Gods fail too, now and then

We all knew it, didn’t we? Inside our hearts we knew that Sri Lanka looked a much better outfit than the Indians. We just hoped that they would pick themselves up for this so important match. But, pressure got to the Indians. No devils in the pitch. In fact, India had the better of the batting conditions. At lunch, I expected India to chase successfully, ridiculed what Tony Greig had to say about India’s chances.

Talking about him, I was amused to see how he quoted some past results to substantiate his argument that India would find it difficult to chase down the target. Notes in hand, with the zeal of an MBA-aspirant trying to make his point in a group discussion, he argued that only three times in the past has any team managed to score above 250 on that ground while chasing. As if, to suggest that scores of 250 were very difficult to achieve batting second on that wicket. However, a closer look at the table shown on the screen revealed that all the three 260 plus scores were reached within the 44th over. A very healthy run rate of just under six an over. Of the rest of the seven scores, only once did the chasing team batted for the full quota of overs. A closer look at the statistics would have revealed that teams did not reach 250-plus scores because more often than not they didn’t have to. Now, Sri Lanka might be his favourite team, and he may be a great commentator, but that does not mean he can walk away with such nonsensical arguments. It was actually very reassuring to see that table at that point of time. I was smiling.

Not for long though. Unfortunately, he was right. At least his prediction was, if not the argument. India made rough weather of the achievable target yet again. Any other team probably would have achieved it. In spite of Muralitharan. Any other team which wanted to win.

But not the Indian team, which didn’t want to lose. India gave in to the fear of losing. Lose, they can’t. Because, back home, crores of fans expect them to win. Cricket, sadly, is a religion in India. And Gods are never expected to fail, are they? Defeats such as these reveal the human side of them. They, the Gods, do come off their high pedestals now and then.

In my beloved country, the average Joe, or Joydeep, if I may, sees his personal triumph in the team’s victory. An Indian win makes him smile, makes him forget that his career is heading nowhere, that he has not achieved his monthly sales target, that his boss shouted at him unnecessarily in the morning, that his wife chided him for forgetting to pick up some odd thing from the supermarket. Rahul Dravid & Co. will deal with all these worries for him. Wait till the match starts.

These eleven men have too much to handle, too many Joydeeps to satisfy. And to their credit, they don’t want to disappoint. That, unfortunately, more often than not, is their undoing. A Yuvraj, who majestically pummeled Sri Lanka into submission only a month ago, loses his mind and scurries to lose his wicket. This is what pressure of expectations does to the Indian players. Sadly, that is not going to change till we have other sports at which Indians are world class. More Gods to share the load. More Gods, till their abundance make them not so godly. For cricket is arguably the only sport at which India has consistently performed, well, relatively speaking. We have chess. We have tennis, but victories are too few and far between. And we almost always have to share them with some other country.

Yesterday was simply not their day. The fact that they tried is enough for me, they did, believe me. I could see that in the woebegone looks of Dravid, Tendulkar and Sehwag as the last Indian wicket fell. They didn’t want to lose. I am sure they must be feeling miserable enough. Let us not add to their misery by venting our misplaced frustrations. The average Joydeep will have to find a way to deal with his problems himself for some time. Only for some time though, for the Gods will find their way back to their pedestals sooner or later. And Joydeeps will smile again as they see Yuvraj smash their sorrows over the square leg boundary for six.

This Joydeep will wait for that day. For now, I just wish I could hug Dravid and say “better luck next time buddy”.