As someone who detests the manufactured jingoism of modern-day cricket commentators who seem to believe and convey that India has been divined by the Great Umpire upstairs to win against all teams all the time, it greatly pleases yours truly to read Prof Amartya Sen's recent comments on this very delicious issue.
In an anecdote in his upcoming book Identity and Violence, Prof Sen speaks of backing Pakistan against India in the 2004 one-day series. He says he did this because they were losing and he wanted to keep the game interesting.
"But then they kept winning which I thought was a little extreme," says Prof Sen in an interview with The Guardian, London, almost as if in defiance of Norman Tebbit's infamous cricket test for determining nationality.
"I am not sure how much into cricket Lord Tebbit is. If you are into cricket, then you would realise that who you are cheering for will depend on your location, your regional loyalty, and also on the nature of the game, where you are in the series and who is playing, how well, and whose playing you would like to see…."
What do you think? Is Prof Sen wrong to back Pakistan? Are we all duty-bOund to support India at all times?
What do you think? Leave a comment.
Cricket and why we should win at all times?
Because the teeming millions need some escape, some source of comfort, some psychological boost, some help to go on in life, some thing to feel nice about themselves and their lives, some sense of identity they can relate to, some thing they can quote when they talk to the rest of the world, some straw to hang on to in the midst of all the mental gloom that is so well masked inside them most of the time.
Living life in a country as we all do, in a country that doesn’t really resemble a basket of fruits!
Patriotism and its correlation to cricket-team-support is an interesting topic. There may underlying socio-economic causes why a person may not suport the country of his/her adoption or birth. [That is what Tebbit was referring to. i.e. the immigrants supporting the countries of their birth.] Amartya Sen’s support of Pakistan is arguably typical of the behavior of the Indian left that never fails to put lend a helping hand to the neighbour out yonder. :-)
My truck with Amartya Sen has to do more with his bona-fide leftist beliefs. To the extent that he whitewashes (or deliberately overlooks) the seamier side of Mughal/Arab atrocities on Hindus in an effort to show his ‘secular’ credentials and subsequently take issue with Huttington.
Me, I support India, but also cheer good cricket. But I would never seek a win for any other country when India is playing. But that’s me.
Nice topic. I too detest the jingoism associated with cricket and wholeheartedly support Amartya Sen’s right to cheering for whatever team he likes. He is not alone either. When growing up, a few friends were huge fans of Windies team and used to support them even against India (smart guys – when rest of us were licking the wounds of 3-0 defeat of ’83 series, those guys were chidking namak on our ghaav’s). There was another friend, a lodde and he was fan of only left-handers. Unfortunately for him, India at that time (late 70s) didn’t have any lefties, so he used to cheer for left-handers from India’s opponents – be it Border or Lloyd or Gower or even Wasim Raja – a hundred from any of them against India was a cause for celebration for him. My own brother had taken a liking for Sri Lankan team (mostly because they were minnows and he liked the names of their players) and used to cheer for them against India.
So, no, I don’t think Amartya Sen or anyone who supports any other team against India is a traitor. Personally, I would be much happier if people started treating it as just a cricket team rather than associating all this patriotic/nationalistic feelings with it. Even better if the structure itself is changed such that teams are no longer based on national lines. As it is, India accounts for something like 80% of the overall cricket market, and if there has to be any balance in terms of market shares of teams, there should be 3-4 test teams from India, maybe one from each zone.
Mohan
Whenever India played Pakistan at Mumbai, whole of Mumbai(naturally), would support Indian team, except at Bhendi Bazaar, one of the localities in Mumbai, would cheer Pakistan! Bal Thackery would get mad at this.
Finally,It doesn’t matter. For Instance, the whole world enjoyed when South Africa hammered Austrlai while chasing a reord one day score recently. Closer home, Kamal Akmal played a great knock from 90 for 5 and Pakistan went on to beat India in a test. The Underlying thing is :If it is played out of the skin and against all odds,that game is enjoyed by most,irrespective of, who wins.
E.R. Ramachandran
I was expecting Mohan to raise, as he has done many times before, the important issue that it is not the Indian team that takes the field, but the BCCI team. i.e. the team of a private, non-profit organization.:-)
Quizman, yes that too :-) [Is that you Arun?]
Others have their points of view & very valid reasons for that, but I personally would support namma desha in sports events. As a policy I would support the underdog but when India is playing I make an exception.
Earlier it so happened that both objectives were met :) when India was playing as they were the underdogs in most sporting events.
I would certainly appreciate and applaud other teams but would not go as far as supporting them when our team is playing them. I think there is some merit to the observations related to location & related factors while supporting a team.
Especially with our neighbors (both on the eastern & western front) an added factor is the tense relationship we have and the many disturbing incidents that happen on the borders on a regular basis. It is hard to ignore this during sports events. Maybe one day we will move on and learn not to mix sports with other issues. But as of now, I do not think we have not reached that stage yet.
Interesting Question! Jingoism is quite rampant in India, and especially so in cricket!
I believe that one should be allowed to support whatever team he or she wishes to. There is no law against it, so there is no question of one being duty-bound to support a particular team. I personally am a fan of the Indian team, largely due to the strong attachment built over the years ( and also the fact that I was deeply patriotic once upon a time ). With an increasing mix of cultures across the world, how can you define what is your team, really?
If the question is whether we MUST support India at all times at cricket, my answer is a resounding NO! The parameters of time, place, current events etc. are of paramount importance and talking of a “much-needed escape from everyday pressure” is juvenile at the best and preposterous at the worst.
In fact, it might sound cynical but the fact remains that an Indian who TRULY wants Indian emancipation in the arena of world sports SHOULD welcome an Indian debacle at cricket , so that at least the madness makes way for sense to prevail.
Just take an example… when on one hand our brave jawans were fighting the Pakistani infiltrators at Batalik, Dras and Kargil, the Indian mobs and masses, egged on by the media, were busy cheering for a Tendulkar ton.
Patriotism, for the average Indian, is now the equivalent of supporting the BCCI cricket team; such is the denigration. How do these couch-patriots even DARE raise a finger at Dr. Sen for a comment, the meaning or intellectual value of which they’ll never ever be able to penetrate?!!!