Cricket in India has done its bit....Its been too many things...An insight...Coutesy T2

BYE BYE

INDIAN

CRICKET

• It has contributed a bouquet of sports channels that are doing brisk business. They have generated many jobs and perked up the Indian economy that is on the Right Track with 8% growth, unlike Indian cricket that has been waylaid by Bangladeshis…

• It has made cricketers the brand ambassadors of the nation as well as of various colas, cars, colas, cars and sometimes shampoo, soap or polio vaccine and have been able to reach these products to the remotest corners of the country thereby bringing in development and hugely boosting the sale of batteries for TVs sets in villages that don’t have electricity……

• It has give us Mandira Bedi .It has given us Navjot Singh Sidhu.It has given us Sehwag ki Ma.

• It has given a new lease of life to ex- Ranji players who always dreamed of making it to the Test team but never could, but are now employed as coaches in cricket camps in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, and Bangalore and are often invited to appear on regional television channels…

• It has led to a huge boom in the sports goods industry, including tracksuits, caps, Sourav-style banyans…

• It has done wonders to Indian tricolour T-shirts industry. It has become a business that needs to be bought over by BCCI or may be Mittal.

• It has given the country a pantheon of commentators and experts also household gods like the cricketers. After it was confirmed that Bob Woolmer did not die of natural causes in his hotel room but was killed, an Indian television channel asked Srikkanth whether he thought it was the darkest day of international cricket. Srikkanth replied that looking at it from the other way, it was also one of the biggest days in international cricket because India was taking on Sri Lanka on that day and could be knocked out of world Cup. Can the blue billion be blamed for overdoing their enthusiasm? Can Jadeja help it if Sidhu makes him look like the ultimate word in sophistication and wisdom…?

• It has given us a huge big scandal that made international headlines with the match fixing controversy. It also led to the unforgettable image of Kapil Dev being interviewed on BBC by Karan Thapar.It was a shock to see the big man breaking into sobs, but it was a greater shock to see that he was wearing shorts when the camera happened to dip below the table. Azharuddin, Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were pronounced guilty. Azharuddin and Jadeja have been rehabilitate into public life; Prabhakar is a gone case.

• It has contributed its share to murky waters of Indian Politics with the last BCCI elections.The run up to and the aftermath of the elections have been so long-drawn and so boring that they may not be repeated here. It would have been slightly better to watch if the main characters Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar , had worn some make up…

• It has given us a host of cricket movies from Awwal No. to “Lagaan” to “Iqbal” to Stumped to the latest Hat-Trick., which has Usha Uthup for the first time in a kaftan and a wig . Then there’s Say Salaam India released yesterday(poor producer) And ‘Mirabai Not Out’ featuring Mandira Bedi as a mad fan of Anil Kumble. Lets pray for her(and him). Kapil Dev has acted in no less than three films including recent ‘‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’’…where he eggs Salman Khan on to propose to Priyanka Chopra.

• It has given us a host of cricket writers from Sunny(Days) Gavaskar to Boria Majumdar. They rhyme(without reason)..

• It has given rise to the phrase “Ooh Aah India” which will come in Handy for jingoistic Indian fans who have kept the illusion of Kargil Alive every time India and Pakistan meet, eight years after the war ha ended.

• It has led to the launch of diamond studded cricket ball by actress Mahima Chaudhary on behalf of a jewelry house…

• It has not allowed any other game in India a level playing field.

• It has seen India being kicked out of the World Cup.

• It has killed Bob Woolmer.