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Yeh Dil Maange Less... |
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The persistent rumours that these MNCs play a role in the selection of the Indian team may be exaggerated. But the latest brainwave of the marketing whiz kids - a contest whereby a lucky winner gets to serve a particular brand of soft drink to the cricketers on the field during the drinks break -- is in utter bad taste. Earlier, we had the spectacle of contest winners on the already overcrowded podiums handing over the Man of the Match award at the end of the game. As it is, this scenario had become farcical with every two-bit local politician and cricket official wanting to push his or her face onto the television screens and hear their names mentioned on air. There is an air of utter chaos and complete lack of dignity surrounding these awards functions. That was the thin edge of the wedge. Now for Cola companies to allow those lucky few winners to enter the game's arena during the course of a match violates one its sanctum sanctorum.  The playing arena while a match is on belongs to the players, the umpires and any other authorised match or security personnel. It is not meant to be a stage for Cola companies to display the clout they have gained over cricket in India. At this rate, will we next see fans allowed to walk into the dressing room to meet their favourite players and hand over their favoured Colas, with TV cameras in tow naturally? And after that maybe their hotel rooms too. Back in 1980 Pakistan 12th man Mohsin Khan leading little Rohan Gavaskar by the hand onto the field during one of the drinks breaks in the final Test at Calcutta. Rohan, now captain of the Bengal Ranji team, was dressed all in white and the crowd was delighted at the sight. There were a few murmurs of protests though and it never happened again. Kerry Packer tried to introduce that extra bit of glamour during the two years of World Series Cricket in Australia in the late 70s with girls clad in t-shirts and hot pants serving drinks. It did not go down well with cricket fans and we never saw it again once WSC was disbanded. Sadly, cricket is India has been reduced to a tamasha. It is no longer a sporting occasion, it is merely a bandwagon on which all and sundry want to hitch a ride. Remember those Hindi movie videos with 'crawlies' at the top and bottom of the picture, obscuring the screen? Now we have pop-ups proclaiming 'Talk to me' and 'Close shave' every now and then during telecasts. It's all pretty teeth grinding. But then, who cares? We've been told time and again that cricket is a religion in India. Indeed, it may be the one binding force in a country that has so much diversity and not enough unity. Its bad enough that the captain of the Indian cricket team who is struggling for runs makes himself a national laughing stock with dance moves that look like a skinny, constipated spider in action. Anyone has the right to make a fool of themselves - after all we live in a free society. Of course, it helps if the price is right. But must cricket be reduced to a nasha? Cricket moved some years back from the sports back pages of newspapers to the front page. That was quite an elevation. Now it has been reduced to the execrable Page Three sections of papers and the glitterati columns of magazines. Its also in the business section-a cricketer has to play just a few One-day Internationals and he is snapped up to endorse some product or the other, usually one of the two Cola giants. The money he is paid and the glamour that is attached to him often goes to the head of a young player. There have been some recent examples of this. Glamour is part and parcel of cricket in India. It always has been. But there comes a time when one has to draw the line. The Cola wars have just crossed that line, or boundary if you wish. RECENTLY ON JAAL: Valentine's Daze The God Of Fried Things Kabhi Mushy, Kabhi Rough The Worst Of 2001 Omni-Laden The New ISI Chief Is A Pathan!! 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