When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer

Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship?

Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru, the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu.

How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj, especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his occasional failures like missing a catch. He was asked on social media why he didn’t leave cricket and go to drive his father’s autorickshaw. He was insulted time and again merely because of his religion.

Even the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar applauded Siraj’s achievements and said that Siraj played a crucial role in India’s victory against England. Tendulkar also added that Siraj was not extended the laurels he deserved.

I am no fan of cricket. In fact, I think of the game as a lazy person’s way of spending time in the sun during winters. I know the game evolved much from those lassitudinous 5-day tests to one -day shows and even better 20-twenties. Gentlemen supposedly played for honour back then, and now gladiators play for sponsors. The cricketers in India are now commodities auctioned in the market run by a corporate nexus which is led by a politician’s son (who doesn’t seem to have a brain). I find the entire thing as ridiculous as it ever was in my imagination right from my childhood.

I have written in this space repeatedly that the most deleterious disservice that the Modi Inc. has done to India is the communal hatred they [the right wing] injected into the country’s veins. Now, even our cricketers are infected! What a pity!

They ceased to be cricketers the moment they let such venom of hatred enter their hearts. I understand that they were instructed by their country’s government not to shake hands with their Pak counterparts. There you are: your government is responsible for the toxin that your heroes spewed in Dubai today.

I am against that government. Because of the hatred it keeps pumping into the country’s bloodstream year after year. By a 75-year-old man and his criminal gang. At 75, you’d expect a MODIcum of wisdom from human beings. But then, you can’t expect wisdom from brutes, said Nietzsche in a moment of brilliant insanity.

A Malayalam weekly celebrating Siraj's contributions