British ruled over a thousand years, they came and left with many things…. Clothes, machines, revolution in factories, jobs like serving them for a long time, one thing that Indian people are proud what they left was a sport which later became a tradition, a religion, CRICKET.
A sport where twenty two players play in a circular field with just six stumps, one bat made of wood and a ball.
When I tell what this sport is, they giggle, they laugh, and they say, it is just where someone throws the ball, the other guy hits it someplace else. They don’t know that hitting the ball someplace has brought joy and wonders in a nation. It has brought pride in form of trophies like World Cup, Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup, Asia Cup and Ashes. Getting wickets at the start and at the crucial times has brought rankings up and above made people legends. The moment when a ball misses the bat and hits the wicket and the bails fall or worse, the wicket gets uprooted from the ground, the joy on the face of the bowler is delightful.
Every one of the billions population of the world believes in a sport, for U.S.A., there is N.F.L., for U.K. is football, For India, there is Hockey and Cricket. When any one sport fails, the face turns to the other one. This happens in all formats in all countries. Recently, when India lost to Pakistan in the finals, fans rotated their decision to Hockey match where the result was vice versa. Why, people wanted to see the joy of India beating their Asian rivals, that day, that time, that moment.
However, there is a question, why I am writing this, I am also a fan.
I played, lived Cricket.
There are more books like these where they tell you the importance of a sport in a person’s life, what it did to him, made him and loved it even more.
At the start of our lives, we see our parents, when someone sees us and ask us, what will when you get older? We have fewer options, we look at our parents, we say, I want to be them. Cool and happy. As in profession, someone asks, we say, doctor, lawyer, engineer. But when we see Sachin Tendulkar raising his bat and playing wonderful cover and straight drives, we say, ‘I want a career in Cricket.’
People take efforts to get their dreams true and find ways to do it. When it comes to sports, they play tournaments for their schools, colleges and universities, clubs, City, State and then India, or the Country they belong too.
I.P.L. (Indian Premier League) has given B.C.C.I. a new way of finding players like Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Abdulla, etc. sooner or later, they get a chance and they represent India.
Sometimes, sports make you forget everything, the tension, problems, worries, and what have been through that day. When your nation, your favourite players start to boil and take wickets and win matches, the joy is different. Students take holidays from schools and colleges and watch the matches. Clubs and pub launch huge screens for their guests and customers to watch. Me and my friends, watched in Burger Barn, it is a burger joint in Pune, India, Rohit Sharma’s 264 against Sri Lanka. It was awesome… I also watched India versus Pakistan and the final between India and Sri Lanka in the World Cup in such club, cheering sounds made me forget what had happened, it was terrible though.
But when it comes to playing, it is always fun. Making teams and using tennis and rubber balls, contributing money for them. On Sundays, when we come to know we have team competition, we play a match against them. Calling people who we know so they could play from our sides. Last minute addition and deletion of the people in the team. Setting the bats and balls on the bikes and heading to the ground. Grounds like Fergusson College and BMCC filled with people of all age groups playing and enjoying the sport. All that fun is because we love this sport, we respect it, it is one of the reasons of loving our native land.
Whatever you do, defines you, whatever you achieve, people know you by that, legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, M.S. Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Graeme Smith, Pollock, Donald, Jonty Rhodes, Gayle, Brian Lara, Shahid Afridi, Akthar, Akram, Hayden, Brett Lee, Ponting, McGrath, Warne, Mccullum, these are legends because, they have worked on their dreams to become one of the most decorated players in Cricket. The nation have their heroes, in all forms, Politics, sports, religion, Bollywood, we choose them because of the impact and what they have achieved for their country.