I have been seeing Reliance’s “Yeh Indian ka cricket hai” TV commercial featuring a number of kids, for a few days now. And I must admit that it evokes conflicting emotions in me. As a writer, I love the ad. It’s great copy. Even the presentation is excellent – much better than the asinine “we will play on buses in Mumbai traffic” ad from Nike. It’s great fun.
But as a cricket follower, I am a bit appalled. You see, the ad implies, that “India ka cricket” is basically all about winning. The copy implies that cricket in India involves:
Being delighted on getting a wicket, being abusive when the bowler gets hit
Celebrating if you take a catch, cursing if the catch is dropped
Showering wealth and praise on a team that wins, and derision and contempt on one that loses
You may accuse me of reading too much into an ad, but the fact is that all these sentiments are rather disturbing. They go against every concept of fair play and sportsman spirit. They are just not, well, cricket.
The ad in fact represents the new breed of the Indian cricket fan – one who does not really care about the nuances or spirit of the game but only cares about results. We saw this new fan on display yesterday in the India-Pakistan ODI at Jairpur when immaculate strokes by the opposition were greeted by stony silence, while outside edges from Indians that went for boundaries were wildly applauded. Of course, there was the usual chorus of boos when India lost the match. The same people would have celebrated wildly had India won. It’s interesting to note that a defeat for India always seems to result in anger, rather than sadness. The Indian cricket fan seems to have more in common with a Roman spectator watching the gladiators at the Circus Maximus, rather than a person who has simply come to enjoy a good game of cricket.
And then we accuse our cricketers of playing only for money! Well, of course they would. Who would want to play for a bunch of fans who are only fair-weather friends?
After all, yeh India ka cricket hai!
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