Why do we watch cricket?

After spending an eternity of watching cricket, today I had an epiphany: Why do I watch cricket? Why does anyone watch cricket at all? Why waste the precious time of  our lives on some silly game? The game where someone keeps on hitting a piece of leather with a stick. I mean what kind of game is that? Hitting things with a piece of wood, two players playing and rest others watching, a guy in funny hat making strange gestures. No. No. We need to stop this madness. This doesn't make any sense.

All sports are absurd in some sense. Take Football for example. 22 guys are crazy for one ball to go into some rectangular net. They could have been doing million other things at that time. Like reading and writing letters to their loved ones,  taking a world-tour, eating pizzas etc. But, they would rather spend those hours of life kicking a round thing. what is the fun in that?

Take another example. Tennis. Two guys are hitting a ball back and forth across a netted-wall till one guy dozes off to sleep or decides to sneak a peek to surroundings. Why can't they do something else with their time? Why can't they stop the madness and be sane like rest of us?

Sports has an enormous wide spectrum in things-to-do. In some sports, animals race for their masters, in some sports, people actually run on animals, in some sports, people run for no reason, in some sports, you have to do some stunts. Some sports are played with hands, some with legs, some with both. Some sports are played on land, some in water, some in air. There is no fixed standard. It seems like Sports is idiotic after all.

But, cricket has got to be the oddest of all sports. It involves ridiculous number of rules, idiosyncrasies, inexplicable rules, inconsistent and weirdly long hours and worst of all, two players having fun and rest of them thinking about dinner. So, why do we watch this mindless game at all? Why? Do we choose cricket? Or Does cricket choose us? Let us investigate a little further.

Every time I ask any fellow, "Why do they watch cricket?" They call me a "buffoon". They love the game, but they don't seem to have the answer. But, I reckon there are at least 42 reasons to watch cricket. I can't list them all down here. Nevertheless I will provide a glimpse of possible rationale:

Is it because of excellence?: There is no doubt that cricket admires and appreciates excellence. Some sportspersons are freakishly good at what they do. Same is true in cricket. Batsmen like Bradman, Tendulkar, DeVilliers, Ponting, Lara, Sobers etc. inspire millions and people are often in awe of them. There is nothing more motivational to human soul than watching a fellow being excel at something. When people watch their heroes shine, it stirs them up to be the best in their respective fields. Cricket helps in this.

Because of an outlet from real life?: There is no denying that normal life can be boring and dull as hell sometimes. The ennui and despair of life can be daunting at times, that's for sure. Cricket provides a perfect outlet. People watch cricket to refresh themselves. Adolescent people are often so worried about the future and they succumb to weltschmerz of life. Cricket comes as a perfect rescue. It nourishes the spirit and tells that it ain't all that bad and gloomy.

Is it because it is simulation of real life?: Cricket is as close as it gets to a simulation of real life. Someone once said, "The way you bat, reflects your character as a person". I hardly agreed with any other surmise more than that. Batsman come, play, entertain and leave the field like we do in life. Someone out there is always there to get you out. You have to take calculated risks and keep the scoreboard ticking along. Isn't it a lot like real life? Cricket, however is often better than life. Life often is cruel and unfair. It demands us to take perfect decisions based on incomplete and imperfect information. Cricket will let you decide for yourself and you alone are responsible for the consequences. There is no hiding in cricket. Transparent.

Is it because it is sacred, unadulterated version of things?: Cricket is holy. Cricket is sacred. Cricket is pure. It is gentleman's game for no other reason. Things are so crisp and absolute in cricket. Whatever is out there against you, you just swallow. It irks me a lot that there are corruption, match-fixing etc. cases coming up in cricket. It breaks my heart. But, I am sure things will turn out to be okay in grand scheme. To me, There is no better sight in the world than someone using his feet, coming down the track and flicking the ball off his legs. MAGIC. Silence. Purity. There you go.

Is it because of drama and uncertainty, or Is it because of fun?: Might it be possible that we watch cricket because of enormous drama and uncertainly it provides? Things are not done till they are done. It ain't over, till it is over. I have been riled by a number of teams losing unlosable games and what has pleased me on a number of occasions when some team snatches a win against astronomical odds. Who can forget the drama of 1999 world cup when South Africa couldn't get a run in 4 balls and crashed out of tournament after a tie or when India defeated the mighty Australians after coming back from a follow-on? What about Botham's magic at Headingley, 81? What about T20, 2016 world cup cup final over? Or those heart-stopper super-overs? Very recently, IPL 10 finale?

Cricket: We choose you. No questions asked. Men may come and men may go, but cricket goes on forever. Endlessly. Full of joy. Full of spirit. Come. Join. Rejoice. Celebrate.

To Cricket,
Yours....
Apparently forever,
Pawan.

The curious case of Shikhar Dhawan

I just opened the cricinfo profile of Shikhar Dhawan. It is smiling back at me. Mustache, beard, little hair. He is sort of a cricketer, not easy to forget.

But, he is also one of the most hated cricket players in India. Let me inspect the anatomy of Shikhar Dhawan's cricket career.

Debut: His ODI debut was a horror when he was bowled off the second ball on a duck by Client McKay.  On the other hand, his test debut was a fairy tale, when he smashed the fastest hundred by a debutant against Australia off 85 balls. He absolutely hammered the Aussies all around the park. He was finally dismissed on 185 in his debut innings. In the words of Ed Cowan, "He was batting as good as Don Bradman that day". It was an absolute gem of a knock and his stamp of authority on the world cricket of his second arrival. Carrying the momentum gained from that match, he played quite a lot of great knocks in the coming months and finally got a berth in India's champions trophy 2013 squad.

CT'13: Shikhar Dhawan won the ICC champions trophy for India. He averaged more than 90 with two hundreds at better than run-a-ball in English conditions. He was the difference between India and other teams. It was not only the amount of runs he scored, it was the way he got them. Completely annihilating the bowlers and the opposition. Stepping out against quickies and punching through covers, getting back on back-foot and lifting over third-man, sweeping the spinners over long-leg for maximum. They were the trade-mark shots and it really made him special. Everyone chanted the name "Dhawan". Even in my family, my father often asked me if Shikhar was still batting. He was one of the most liked Indian cricketers those days.

Slump in form: But, the wrath of time. Ah! Haven't we all seen it? Good things don't last. What lasts is the fickle memory of good things. A slump in the form was imminent. When you are at absolute top, the only way is down. Shikhar Dhawan got a string of poor scores in test cricket on some very tough tours of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He was first axed from the test squad. He was doing okay in ODIs for now. Many people said that he has a very limited scoring options and not the first choice in T20. It was reasonable as he didn't get good scores in World T20 2014, which India finished as runner-ups. He was dropped in the finals. Who knows, had he played, India might have got more than a puny 130. This is a kind of butterfly effect which none of us will ever know. Dhawan was put under tremendous pressure time-to-time. It was like every time he went to bat after that, he was being evaluated. Coaches, assistant coaches and billion people: all were out with a notebook and grading his shots, laughing over his inside-edges and secretly praying for his failures. Public memory is short after all. They were the same people who once rejoiced his batting prowess and now they wanted someone else. Sports can be cruel, at times. Only the rising sun is saluted.

Stats: He has 3090 ODI runs at an average of 42.91 and strike rate of 90.9. He has got 9 ODI hundreds and 17 ODI fifties. Only of his 100 has come in losing cause (That was a horror show indeed. India needed 40 odd runs in 8 overs with 8 wickets in hand and a collapse happened). Yet, People have a problem with him in ODI side. Strange, isn't it? I have hardly seen any batsman whose runs matter so much and yet he is constantly abused by everyone. It is hard to be Shikhar, it seems. His test stats aren't exactly remarkable. He averages around 38 with the bat in 23 tests with 4 hundreds. But, to put that in perspective, Murali Vijay averages, in spite of all the hype around him as a test cricketer, averages a mere fraction more, 39. Hard to notice, but FACT.

The lone warrior: When Shikhar gets going, the team hardly needs to do anything. He won games on his own. At least stats say so. Have a look at his ODI hundreds in winning cause. Look at it. 8 out of 9. That is really freaky stuff. Last 100 in losing cause was a brain-fade by Indian team. (Kohli-Dhawan special) None of his test hundreds have come in losing cause. Not many people notice that the runs of Shikhar Dhawan matter than most. Have a look at the centuries he has made and you will observe that when he does well, it is not in a losing cause. When he gets going, the opposition gets deflated, and hammered. When he makes runs at the top, hardly anyone is needed to do the job. It is very easy to shrug his runs off as a consequence of good pitch, poor opposition, a lot of luck etc. But, he has made hard runs, some very hard runs.

Fun-loving Guy: He is one of the funniest guy you will meet off the field. Always trying to make everyone laugh around him. I remember once his bowling action was brought into scrutiny by ICC. (He was less than a part-timer anyway). He announced his bowling retirement in style. By removing his cap and presenting to the camera. It was indeed fun.

Converting limitations into strengths: Shikhar Dhawan is kind of batsman you will feel that you can plan against him and trap him. He knows that. He has not got full range of shots. He can't hit the balls 360 degrees. The best part is he will make runs in the areas where he is supposed to. You can't put fielders at all the places. He will find a way. He always has. Till today. He is mostly conventional batsman when it comes down to batting. Not much switch-hit or scoop. Just pure use of feet to carve through covers, flick over square-leg, square cut through backward-point etc. Simple. He got more than 4500 runs doing that.

Scapegoat number 1: In spite of all the good things he has done, every time he goes out, people have prayed for his failures so that he can be pushed aside. There are more jokes and trolls of him than Donald Trump followers. Dhawan seems to bear the wrath of all cricket fans who belong to Tendulkar-Sehwag era. He is often the most hated person in playing XI. Every time something goes wrong and Shikhar Dhawan is in the team, it is his fault. It must be. We won't lose a game, if he ain't there. He is the country's number one scapegoat. People are licking their lips to see him fail and once he does that, BAM. He goes out. I will say this: He was amazing, so he got a chance. Now when he was no good, so he was out. Still, people consider giving him a chance as poor decision and his sacking a bright one. That is irrational and unjustified.

Reason of hatred: One of the reasons why most of the people loathe him, but don't want to talk about it is : He actually replaced Virender Sehwag when he first came into the team. What people don't realize is this: Shikhar Dhawan was part of India's Under-19 world cup in 2004.  He kept on waiting for his chance endlessly years after years. Everyone else, but him got a chance. He didn't lose hope and kept on making runs for a living. And when he got the opportunity, he made it count. It is not his fault that his good form coincided with poor form of Sehwag.

I have a number of friends who stopped watching cricket once Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, Sourav, Laxman retired. They can't let go of them. It is hard for them to watch someone else in the same jersey and do well. They will have to compare the present with the past. It is tough. Mentally and spiritually. They think of Shikhar Dhawan as the starting point of that transition. He came into the team as opener. Played fearlessly. It reminded them of Sehwag. Only left-handed. But, they couldn't move past Sehwag. They had a feeling that if he had failed at that time, maybe, maybe Sehwag could have come back. They can't forgive Shikhar Dhawan for that.  Therefore, Sehwag fans hate him. I can't fathom logic here much. There is hardly anything to say. Still, it must be understood that Sports is so dynamic and fast-moving. The game is and will always be bigger than one player. They seem to forget the very basic nature of sports and life itself. Nothing in sports and life is irreplaceable. Good things must make way for great things. That is the way it has always been. It is the essence of life, of cricket. If only people understood that. Players come and go. The game stays. 

Okay. I think I have made my point. Love him or hate him. But you can't ignore him. You can't write him off. Because if you write him off, he will come back at you with the bat. Well, most of the times.