Cricket, the sport

(My article that made it to a US newspaper)

India versus Pakistan. It doesn’t get bigger than this. No, its not war time again, the nations are well and truly on the path to peaceful co-existence. It is the cricket series between these neighboring nations that makes the news. Cricket? ‘It is just like baseball’ is what we tell most people who cannot differentiate between cricket, the sport from cricket, the insect. (In fact, my word editor underlined the word cricket here, saying it should be crickets! Cricket lovers in Microsoft, something to work on guys)

Yes there are similarities in cricket and baseball, a ball that is there to be hit, a bat to do so, and the team with ending up with more runs wins. I believe there is one more similarity, the passion shared by cricket and baseball fans alike, cheering for that extra run, or crying after a dropped catch. However cricket is much different with two ends separated by 22 yards, and one has to bowl over-arm, and the batsman does not leave after scoring a run… so on. Moreover cricket has much more runs scored in a game which also takes much longer (It has many versions, the popular ones being One-Day Internationals lasting 8 hours and Test matches lasting 5 days). I would not like to waste time and space by going into the intricacies, which you can find easily by searching online.

Coming to US after living cricket in India for 22 years was different (Although my main purpose of landing here remains further education and career, cricket comes built-in). The usual sports channels and media coverage have no mention of this international sport. But thanks to the freedom of internet, we are not deprived, and life goes on. (However, if you can read this article, I think IDS is quite sensitive to cricket, the sport!!).

Ashes was a hugely hyped series last year. Played between Australia and England, the nomenclature has a very interesting history. England lost on home soil for the first time, and the following day, a mock obituary ran in the Sporting Times "in affectionate remembrance of English cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." In the year 2005, with the same weird name, the England-Australia series has become a commercial bonanza for many companies. However, the India-Pakistan series starting on 13th Jan is perhaps the biggest cricket series of 2006. Traditional rivalry combined with patriotic fervor makes it even more awe-inspiring. The scene in India (and perhaps Pakistan as well) is barren streets, low productivity in offices, and loss of business for shopping malls and cinemas. We have to take the added burden of different time zones. So if you see a cricket crazy guy going to work with red and swollen eyes, safely conclude that there was some interesting cricket being played last night that just cannot be missed.

May the best team win