india lost. india. lost. india lost. india lost.

have you got it yet ?
i met people who were depressed after yesterday’s match. i’m not ridiculing them, there was a time when such things would have affected me as badly, if not worse. indeed, even sampling the days’ indian newspapers laments the debacle that is indian cricket today.

we have all grown up worshipping the game of cricket. despite who any of us may like, the indian team playing out there – being heralded as one of the best teams in the world, and we puff and preen. i have jumped in the air when india hit that final winning run, off that final delivery. i have left the house, and found the streets agog with happiness that ‘india won the match!‘. i have been frustrated at the defeats that i have seen.. when india was sure to win.

somehow, somewhere during leaving india, and living away from that madness.. perspective was attained. or maybe cynicism took over. wins and losses of those eleven men seemed a tad pointless. chappell was made coach. dravid ousted ganguly. tendulkar lost the god-status. sreesanth blew away the west indies. india went to the world cup.

somehow, that last thing never really charged me, the way it seemed to charge so many people. this is not me trying to say ‘i told you so’. i was never really charged. i followed it, but more to keep in sync with the crowd. given the performances i read about, given the results i kept tabs on vaguely, the state of the team was apparent.

we wanted to believe that india had a chance. we needed to feel that this team would make the magic from 24 years ago repeat itself. i remember the 2003 world cup, the excitement, the exultation when india hit that final seeming a whole lot stronger than the eventual winners.

none of that accompanied this one. partially due to my own growing disinterest in following a game that india played with none of the panache that they seemed to display once upon a time. and yet, my country stayed in the belief that an old team, with a below-par statistic would somehow win the premier sporting event in cricket. consistency, as with any other sport, is a large indicator.

is the result really worth our tears ? can any of us honestly analyze the indian team’s recent performances and say that this team can eventually win the world cup ? even now, we depend on one minnow beating another, for giving us a chance to enter the next round. millions of indians are probably praying. people can point out winning world cup campaigns mounted by australia and pakistan in the past to their hearts content.

india does not have a cricket team that has the ability that justifies the amount of heartbreak we undergo with every result. and too many changes are needed for that to change. harsh reality.

the point is that there is none. no hope. no point. no use.