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February 21, 2008
Chak De India ! Or Not ...
It was a crazy 24 hours for an Indian sports fan yesterday. While the economy in the rest of the world was slowing down, there seemed to be a gold rush at the bidding for players for the Indian Premier League. While players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni were "sold" for a million and a half US dollars, veterans like Glenn McGrath had to wait in the reserves to get picked. I guess getting 563 wickets in test cricket and being the best in the game did not count that much. What was important was the "star power", which ofcourse generates the big moolah. No wonder the youngster Ishant Sharma was bought for 925,000 USD as opposed to VVS Laxman's 375,000 USD. There's even news that Ponting was unhappy with his price tag.
So are we really talking about cricket here? I got lost for a while in all the money talk. But looks like everyone in India did too. The big headlines yesterday was how Preity Zinta and Gauri Khan looked while the teams were being announced. How Andrew Symonds was bought for more money than Bhajji. And how everyone in and outside the cricketing community think this is good for the game. But to me it just seems a wasteful expenditure. Spending crores of rupees first in bidding for the teams and then for the players while the rest of country lives in slums doesn't sit well with me. I don't question the love we Indians have for cricket, but this goes beyond hero-worship and that is where the problem lies. If Shah Rukh or Ness Wadia would have used the same money to buy clothes for street kids in Mumbai..well now I am getting into fairytales and real life is certainly not one.
So much gung-ho for cricket and nothing for other sports. With the Olympics coming up, I am sure other sports could have used that money a lot. And I don't think that it would have affected the already super rich cricketing world in any way. But that would mean switching our faith from cricket "divine" to other things (undivine) and that is definitely a crime.
I am sure the Indian women's hockey team will like to ask Shah Rukh--"Chak Diya Shah Rukh or Not? "
Posted by Anuj at February 21, 2008 01:43 PM