Do we take nothing more than a glorified club championship a little too seriously and do we let narrow parochial and sectarian interests ride roughshod over our love for the nation and our beloved motherland???well, the answers to both these questions is a resounding yes if the deplorable behaviour of the Mumbai Indian fans who had gathered in their thousands to watch the Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Mumbai Indians clash at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium last evening.......
It is sad but true, the Indian Premier League has ended up doing more harm than good to the spirit of nationalism and patriotism that was beginning to rule the roost once again; narrow sectarian interests have begun ruling the roost once again and people of a state/region have begun according their club/IPL side pride of place rather than India or Bharat.......
The over the top reaction of the Mumbai crowd to what was an inadvertent accident at best was not only way over the top and totally uncalled for; but also left a bitter after taste in one's mouth and wondering what the rigmarole was all about.....
What happened was simply this Royal Challengers Bangalore medium pacer Ranganath Vinay Kumar unceremoniously bumped into Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu in his effort towards backing up a throw made from the extra cover/mid off region by his skipper Virat Kohli........
Ambati Rayudu found himself short of the safe confines of the crease as a result of this inadvertent collision and taking the long walk back to the pavilion as a result; the umpire at the concerned end Asad Rauf ruled the batsman out as per the rules of the game as the batsman was not consciously impeded by the bowler and should have made an effort to extricate his bat and drag the same into the crease instead of making a cursory effort towards plonking his bat into the crease from between the bowler's feet like he did......
Virat Kohli was well his rights and did the right thing by not recalling the batsman as the umpire was the concerned decision making authority empowered to make the right decision on the spot and he had ruled the batsman out in his infinite wisdom leaving one shaking one's head in consternation at the over reaction that followed......
Let me say once and for all that Virat Kohli is anything but a cheat; yes he does the play the game hard without asking for any quarters or giving any; but he plays the game fairly and squarely, well within the rules and does not need to resort to sleight of hand and subterfuge in order to win a game as he is eminently capable of winning a game on his own.......
What really got my goat was the fact that none of the Mumbai Indians players even made a cursory effort towards pacifying the crowd and cooling incensed tempers they turned a blind eye and deaf ear towards the resonating cries of cheater resounding around the ground and also made no effort to stem the din that reached a crescendo when Virat was asked to make his customary post match deposition during the post match presentation.......
The Mumbai crowd needs to realise that cricket is nothing more than a game after all; it is all about two teams stretching every limb and sinew in an effort to outwit and beat the other, but not about baying for one's blood; you have only insulted the motherland by branding one of her most illustrious and favourite sons a cheat......
Come on Mumbaikars, wake up and smell the coffee, cricket is a game to be enjoyed and celebrated not sullied by cheater chants that were far from fair, grace a cricket match only if you have a thorough understanding of the rules, tenets and precedents of this glorious game; otherwise hold your largely ignorant tongues and stop tarnishing the name of this fair game.......
It is sad but true, the Indian Premier League has ended up doing more harm than good to the spirit of nationalism and patriotism that was beginning to rule the roost once again; narrow sectarian interests have begun ruling the roost once again and people of a state/region have begun according their club/IPL side pride of place rather than India or Bharat.......
The over the top reaction of the Mumbai crowd to what was an inadvertent accident at best was not only way over the top and totally uncalled for; but also left a bitter after taste in one's mouth and wondering what the rigmarole was all about.....
What happened was simply this Royal Challengers Bangalore medium pacer Ranganath Vinay Kumar unceremoniously bumped into Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu in his effort towards backing up a throw made from the extra cover/mid off region by his skipper Virat Kohli........
Ambati Rayudu found himself short of the safe confines of the crease as a result of this inadvertent collision and taking the long walk back to the pavilion as a result; the umpire at the concerned end Asad Rauf ruled the batsman out as per the rules of the game as the batsman was not consciously impeded by the bowler and should have made an effort to extricate his bat and drag the same into the crease instead of making a cursory effort towards plonking his bat into the crease from between the bowler's feet like he did......
Virat Kohli was well his rights and did the right thing by not recalling the batsman as the umpire was the concerned decision making authority empowered to make the right decision on the spot and he had ruled the batsman out in his infinite wisdom leaving one shaking one's head in consternation at the over reaction that followed......
Let me say once and for all that Virat Kohli is anything but a cheat; yes he does the play the game hard without asking for any quarters or giving any; but he plays the game fairly and squarely, well within the rules and does not need to resort to sleight of hand and subterfuge in order to win a game as he is eminently capable of winning a game on his own.......
What really got my goat was the fact that none of the Mumbai Indians players even made a cursory effort towards pacifying the crowd and cooling incensed tempers they turned a blind eye and deaf ear towards the resonating cries of cheater resounding around the ground and also made no effort to stem the din that reached a crescendo when Virat was asked to make his customary post match deposition during the post match presentation.......
The Mumbai crowd needs to realise that cricket is nothing more than a game after all; it is all about two teams stretching every limb and sinew in an effort to outwit and beat the other, but not about baying for one's blood; you have only insulted the motherland by branding one of her most illustrious and favourite sons a cheat......
Come on Mumbaikars, wake up and smell the coffee, cricket is a game to be enjoyed and celebrated not sullied by cheater chants that were far from fair, grace a cricket match only if you have a thorough understanding of the rules, tenets and precedents of this glorious game; otherwise hold your largely ignorant tongues and stop tarnishing the name of this fair game.......
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