Come on guys ... "It's only a game"

Any guess which game I am talking about? If you are from India, then you'd have no second thoughts reg. the game I am talking about - "Cricket". Plzzzzzzzzzzz, will someone tell me why do people here treat cricket like THE MOST IMPORTANT thing of our country? I've gone nuts trying to understand this. After all it is just a game. So enjoy it. Get involved. Be passionate. It is as simple as that.

Over the past one month, I've heard of people gathering together to conduct mass prayers because the great Sachin Tendulkar and Munaf Patel are going to play a CRICKET match =)) =)). I wonder if anyone ever conducted such mass prayers when Indian soldiers were out on the battlefield in Kargil.

And what happens if these players fail? Any guesses? Ok ... here are your options - 1. Burn their effigies 2. Break their homes 3. Try to harm them and their families 4. All the above. Alright you get no points on this one ... I guess all of us are aware of the correct option :).

In India, cricketers fall into only two categories - God and Beast. I guess we tend to forget that even they are human. And this is what I observed with many young players. First they perform well. Indians take them to the worshiping level. Then they probably get over-confident or complacent or feel extremely pressurized. Eventually their performance falls. And all of us are ready to blame them and disgrace them.

And like I read somewhere this is going to go far ahead. This issue is going to be raised in the parliament. There would probably be a few murder threats to the players and/or their families. The news and sports channels knowing that this is a perfect opportunity to lure the audience would have an endless number of shows discussing things like "Why did India fail?", "Was it a right decision of the BCC to appoint Chappel as a coach?", "Do you think it is right for Dhoni to come in so many advertisements?", "Should Dravid be dropped as a captain?" and the list goes on.

I've just gone through this article It's only a game and I can't agree more with Sambit Bal. For those of you who have similar views as mine, I'd highly recommend reading the article. Seriously, I think it is time we stop showing so much importance to cricket. While we can can continue to be passionate about it, I think it is time we treat the game as a game!!