Some things never change

Namaste London

Fears about any erosion in the brand equity of Indian cricket following everything that has happened over the past 12 months could be unfounded if the reaction of supporters here is any indication.

Friday morning, SUV-loads of Indian fans arrived at the Sevil Road ground hours in advance, chanting the names of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Zaheer. “This one we are going to win, and the five after that too,” said a youngster with the tricolour painted across his cheeks.

Considering that India had been badly thumped in the first match at the Rose Bowl in Southampton the other day, this would have seemed a trifle presumptuous. “But we have faith in these guys,’’ countered another guy from the group, wearing a smile instead of the war-paint on his face.

I have never ceased to be impressed and bewildered by the support the Indian team receives, and more particularly overseas. In 30 years of covering cricket, I have only seen it grown, defeats and setbacks notwithstanding.

“Apart from films, this is the one thing which brings all us expats together,’’ says Ashok Sheth, a certified accountant who has lived in England for more than three decades, but is originally from Kandivali and had studied in HR College at Churchgate.

“When the Indian team is here, we give up all other preoccupations and follow them.’’

Sheth was at the Nevil Road ground with his wife Ila, cheering Rahul Dravid lustily when he went out for the toss. “I was to go to the West Indies too for the World Cup and booked tickets worth 800 pounds, but cancelled the tour after India lost,’’ he says.

Did he then feel despair about Indian cricket? “For not more than a week,’’ says Sheth. “These things happen. But this is our team and this is our game. We cannot stop supporting them.’’

Where the team is concerned, Sheth’s made a statement of fact, but where the game is concerned?

I think chasing fact in this case is inconsequential. As Ashis Nandy writes in his book the Tao of Cricket, this is an Indian game invented by the English.

Doosra life
Must confess this one had me stumped. I mean, it is well known that many cricketers pursue dramatically different vocations after finishing with the game (Sandeep Patil was once an actor, Mike Brearley is a psychoanalyst, Shane Bond was a police constable till recently), but who would have thought that Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister of Pakistan and currently making international headlines, has also been a first class cricketer!

The Daily Telegraph, inspired by England’s best batting hope-who-wasn’t Mark Ramprakash’s decision to become a professional dancer (he appeared recently on a show, Strictly Come Dancing) put out an excellent feature on cricketers with a ‘doosra’ life, if you get what I mean, and Nawaz Sharif prominent amongst them.

For the record, Sharif played only one first class match — for Railways against Pakistan International Airlines in 1973 — and made a duck. He is hardly likely to forget that, but Railways won the match by an innings, so it is reasonable to believe that Sharif must have had some important role to play.

After that, of course, he gave up cricket for politics and went on to serve two terms as Prime Minister, before being ousted in a bloodless coup by Parvez Musharraf. By a quirk of destiny, and a historic order from the Pakistan judiciary, Sharif is ready take fresh guard again. His motivation and hair both seem restored, but it remains to be seen how he scores in the political game this time.

PS: Other prominent non-cricketers who dabbled in the game of flannelled fools includes Arthur Conan Doyle, Samuel Beckett and my personal favourite PG Woodehouse. Anybody who knows what’s common between literateurs and cricket, please write in to this column.

Becks & Steve under fire
Irate fans have been scathing in their criticism of England soccer coach Steve McLaren, and his predilection to play free-kick superstar David Beckham in the deafeat against a second string German side earlier this week.

A letter by ‘Robert’ in the reader’s corner of a prominent newspaper goes: “You were left praying that David Beckham would get out of the way and allow the young and mobile Micah Richards to penetrate the German defence again. It’s at times like that you realize just how limited Beckham is at the highest level and why he failed across five international tournaments to justify his ludicrously overblown reputation.’’

What do I think of these harsh words? Read my lips.