Cricket – a new Avtaar

Cricket - A gentleman’s game has seen many avtaars in recent past. From an ever-lasting & most exhilarating beginning of One Day Internationals & Tests to avant-garde Hong-kong sixes and Twenty-twenty matches in Premier League & Cricket leagues. The game is in all forms of evolution and is slowly working as a great business proposition, or to be rightly stated as young tycoons’ game instead of gentleman’s game or the gentlemen’s game played on business lines, the metaphors can go on endlessly. If it did not matter till today about the number of spectators vying for cricket in all forms and at all places, and the amount of mullah it carried over years, for the Olympics, it certainly would matter in coming times owing to its ever-evolving Avtaars. Till recent past, it has been argued for inclusion of games like Football, Cricket etc. in Olympics which are played widely in entire world and watched over by zillions of people. Even if the proposition arises, how do Olympics authorities take cricket into consideration? Simply, by its new Business Avtaar, where this game can become an individual’s take to prove his mettle in coliseum of sports arena. This would be a format where eleven diverse individuals, that is, from different cricket playing countries would play a match for the same time duration as duration of an ODI. This would make every individual to fight for self, or more apt description would be to fight for his country. The game would involve 55 over’s match (nearly longer than 20-20 format) with each player given 5 over’s to play for. No runners involved, but every man for himself. The format would be scoring maximum points at the end of the match by scoring maximum runs out of eleven players, best fielding, taking maximum wickets, and maximum number of catches & finally for being the wicket keeper on relative grading scale(higher points for being the only wicket keeper in a match). Rest 10 players would field & bowl and the only objective would be to get each batsman out as soon as possible. As soon as one is out, one of the fielders (in predefined order before commencement as per past relative performances) would grab the armor to score maximum and exiting batsman would take the covers of the field. The wicket-keeper would be the last person to bat, but would already have few points to start with for being the only keeper in the match. The burden on cricket community would decrease all the more by having just one umpire, the 3^rd umpire watching every movement from the control room. As every player, fights for his cause, it would be a game of just & fair play with no wrong signage’s to be seen. Taking maximum wickets and scoring runs would be the biggest determining factors for overall points tally. Diverse companies, sponsors from all across the participating nations can chip in for sponsorships and tournament holdings. This would generate more revenue both for the players, companies, cricket world, with gargantuan increase in viewership and a better reach to the sport for non-cricket playing nations. It would come handy as a tournament where a number of matches are played with all players (an exhaustive list) playing league & subsequent matches as per their ranking (similar to Lawn-tennis tournaments like US Open etc) and then proceeding to tougher and testing levels.

There is exponential money riding on game of cricket, yet untapped, and unfazed. The money involved in this sport would one day incorporate this game into Olympics for sure, but can that day be the one when cricket would enter this sporting arena on basis of its viewership, demand & a platform to search the best athletes in the world?? Any prospective takers?

A Paradigm shift in thinking

Apropos to the latest incidents happening in India ranging from bomb blasts that started in Jaipur, & moved on to Bangalore, Ahmadabad and then to Delhi; to the communal rights creating an inferno in states like Orissa owing to death of Swami Laxmananda; from Raj Thackeray party playing a mockery of Indian's glorified freedom given to every individual, to non-happening of Nano project in Singur; from huge unrest amongst the farmers in land compensation in north, to havoc of conversions & re-conversions in Karnataka, Kerala; Is India on the verge of an internal blow-up? Answer: No, not really. This is the time for India and people to consolidate as a unit to combat all levels of evilness in the society. As our agencies like Intelligence Bureau etc. gear up to fight against the terrorism and its uncanny plans, rather then calling it an hour of the need, we as responsible citizens should delve into greater cooperation and brotherhood amongst each other and fight for a much larger cause like eradicating poverty, pollution, global warming, corruption etc. than fighting amongst ourselves those so called communal or holy or islamist or naxal wars. Many of us would call this option as a futile and fruitless drive, but realize the fact; it is still the next best thing to think of as no other means do work out in long run. Joining a militant group, killing innocents, causing disturbance sounds exciting but do they ignite the passion within you to fight for the cause? Ask yourself, answer lies within your soul. As Dan Brown, author of Angels & Demons quotes in his book, the most universal language in world is not the language of religion or science, but of numbers, logic & rationale, that is the language of mathematics. We must understand that Adam & Eve belonged to no religion, Jesus never taught to fight for the hatred amongst each others, and there was no bifurcation on basis of religion in one of the greatest epics ever, Mahabharata. Rather than condemning an individual (Shivraj Patil) for no timely action to uproot terrorism, it is time for us to castigate ourselves for the same. Think of it as an unfortunate person in those streets of Gaffar Market, Karol Bagh just before the blow-ups, wouldn't you ever want to save everyone out there if you knew that something terrible was about to happen? Would you really look into menial details of knowing the religion and ethnicity of an individual first before extending hand in times of grief & pain? Would you be able to judge the difference in blood and skin splattered & splintered around on seeing all brothers & sisters lying dead on the road? The answer is a clear no. Then what are we fighting for if not fighting for helping each other? We must learn that the outfits, militants only become strong when they are highly motivated to fight for their defined cause as they lack the experience of witnessing the world as they would want to see it in their vision & existence, but we have experienced for ages in different generations the world we always wanted to live in, so we don't even need an external motivation, as they do. We don't need to become radical to fight for a noble cause, but to fight!!! The whole concept lies in bringing harmony, peace and love for each other out there. 

The movie Matrix clearly explains the power of 'One', the mighty powers of Neo to fight against the programs of virtual world deceiving humans of their energy; philosophically & realistically speaking, this world is a Matrix, we need to unite as One to break its code. It is high time; the media agencies become highly proactive in spreading the word of brotherhood, camaraderie and love as a message to fight for a cause of long run on daily basis. The parties like BJP takes stricter actions to refrain their prodigies(Bajrang Dal) from rather fighting for petty things at hand to contest for elections, it should be glorifying people at time when they are not in power. Raj Thackeray who can act like a representative & responsible ambassador for entire state should set an example rather then carping on personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan who belong to no state or territory but to one state of film industry brethren. One need to realize that progress made by few people who have won accolades for the country need not unnecessarily be hampered as they are the ones who generate employment for a millions out there & give realistic-unrealistic heroic hopes to trillions out there in their own direct-indirect ways to fight for a greater cause and to fight within. Police should shun the lackadaisical image it has always carried amongst masses and proper campaigns & awareness needs to be imbibed in every facet of society. Thus we would have a safe place to live in for future.