1. Home
2. Editorial

For the love of game

Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/23/2017 1:53:55 PM

Hyper-nationalism associated with cricket is misplaced and reduces the value of the sport

The response to the fantastic victory of Pakistan in the finals of International Cricket Championship (ICC) trophy on Sunday within the sub-continent was as usual something that eluded sportsman spirit. While Pakistanis went euphoric with celebration, some firing shot in air in maddening frenzy, injuring children; in India even the media went into deep mourning with the news of the match reduced to a corner of the page and Indian victory in hockey, which is not as popular a game, dominating the pages. In Kashmir, young boys burst crackers to rejoice the defeat of the Indian cricket team and raised slogans to irritate the security and para-military forces. While cricket is raised to the highest pedestal of patriotism, the game itself is reduced to war which defies the spirit of sports. One of the most popular sports in the sub-continent, in recent years, has become the symbol of misplaced nationalistic pride and honour. Cricketing teams have been either raised to lofty heights in their countries after their victories or booed and jeered at, even abused, after they lost. Amidst all the competitive honour, the passion for the game, the sporting acumen and skills, are completely lost or diluted. Besides, the shrillness of the discourse allows people to either look up to their cricketing idols as some kind of demi-gods, if they have performed well, or as punching bags to be abused and accused, if they have not played well. This is irrespective of the multiple cricket scandals in which the same players may be involved or accused of; also irrespective of the corporate cash that goes into organizing the championships that keep masses on tenterhooks of frenzied passions of hyper-nationalism. The passion of ultra-nationalism and jingoism now associated with cricket completely defies any logic and the trend is uniform across South Asia.
Amidst all this madness the sane words of Bangladeshi cricket team captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, come as a whiff of fresh air. He questioned the sense of misplaced patriotism attached with cricket, and minced no words in stating that cricketers were just like performers who get paid to play and nothing more. He drew comparisons between a cricketer and a doctor, elaborating that while a doctor can save many lives but still never gets cheered, the cricketer can only swing a bat. He also invoked the Bangladesh liberation war heroes and said that they didn’t face bullets “to get money on winning” and that while cricket was about romanticism, not bravery. His profane words of advice to cricket fans caught in the frenzy of cricket patriotism were that it would be more patriotic an act if they decide not to drop banana peels on roads, spit on streets or adhere to traffic rules. Such words, however, get lost in the din of intolerant euphoria and extreme passions that cricket is now associated with. The spirit behind cricket war does not sprout in vacuum. It is instead an extension of the hostile political climate among neighbouring countries in the region. Similar hyper-nationalism is far more reduced and muted if the South Asian teams are playing with teams like Australia, England or West Indies. It may also be recalled that cricket diplomacy of 2004 between India and Pakistan amidst the best phase of peace process created a completely different sporting atmosphere where political bonhomie found reflections of cheering crowds disenfranchised of their patriotic fervour. That bonhomie was missing in 2011’s attempt to re-create that magic in Mohali with another bout of cricket diplomacy because by then peace process was long over and hawkish political discourse had reached a crescendo. While the political peace process is long over-due and needed, it is not necessary to wait for politics to dictate the discourse of sports events. The glamour associated with hyper-nationalism that cricket has now become a symbol of must be deflated for the game to survive and for some good cricket that can be enjoyed without the ugly and jarring notes. Let cricket victories and defeats not vitiate the atmosphere more than it is already vitiated.