Cricinfo - Blogs - Men in White

I've read your article on bbc sport, and maybe if you took a more unbiased stance I would not have been offended!

For example,
'The probable elimination of India and Pakistan will leave the World Cup in the West Indies a happier, less toxic tournament'. I am a UK based Pakistani, and believe me, this is not the kind of statement which will reduce international animosity towards an already increasingly marginalised society!

You as reporters have a duty to write the truth, but you also have a wider responsibility to educate people,and modify opinions through your words. This is a great privilege, please refrain from abusing it.

I also found parts of your argument weak due to your generalisation of the corruption issue. Yes, corruption is the cancer of South Asia, but the fact that Cronje and co. were involved suggests to me a much wider problem within world cricket, and not just the South Asian teams. My point is, if Cronje could be involved, is it not possible that many other individuals from all over the world could also have been involved, but are just plain smarter than the ones who were caught?

This is not meant to be an inflammatory post, but I just thought I should let you know my opinion, and intelligent people like yourself are open to criticism (I hope!). Otherwise, I have thoroughly enjoyed your articles, and please continue the good work.
Regards.

Blame the public ! Learn to treat Cricket as a sport first.... it's equally disgusting to see the public go overboard with celebrations when the team wins even an inconsequential match and then to act silly when the team loses. The hype that surrounds Indian Cricket can't be attributed to the Cricketers alone, the main reason for this is the money-hungry Cricket Board and the fanatic public. And last but not the least, the media who are always in a win-win situation. The media puts words into the mouths of cricketers and sometimes make them dance according to their whims and fancies. Shame on you the Indian Public and the Media !!

Yes, I'm equally disappointed as anyone else with our team's performance .... was even angry with the players , but when I sat back and thought long and hard I realized that the players aren't to be blamed entirely.

srilanka really deserved to win such a match. the only problem with india was when wickets started occuring at regular intervals, but still, SRILANKA WON!!

You're right about the commercial implications of this, but don't for a moment suggest that the Indian players have allowed the amount of money they have to get to their heads or something. I don't see them as arrogant or anything, on the contrary, they have always been pretty humble.

I quite agree. In the light of the Woolmer murder, the whole way in which cricket is approached in India and Pakistan needs to be looked at. If there is indeed a culture of micro-match fixing and close relationships between players and gangsters, ALL the rest of the teams in the world should boycott these two countries until they get their acts together. The sight of Indian "fans" burning effigies of their players today, oblivious to how tasteless that is in the light of what happened to Bob Woolmer, disgusted me. No one can get away with saying this is just a "different cricket culture". It is an unhealthy level of obsession, which is starting to kill people. England, Australia, Sri Lanka and all the rest of the sane cricketing countries should have nothing more to do with it.

Yes Mr.Kesavan you are right. But, why cricket loving fans should support the teams only when they winning? Why dont people just realize it is a sport and the probability of winning losing 50%. If Indian and Pakistani fans refuse to watch matches after their country teams early exists. I dont think these fans love their countries. Just look at England, they invented the game and they yet to win a world cup. Are the british refusing to support cricket team? or are they react in the manner how Indian fans reacting? We asians have so much value to our lifes but we dont have value and we forget all our good things when there is a defeat.
Remember, India lost to south asians, ideally back other south asians to win the world cup. Cricket is sport and the defeat is not end of the country.

What I don't understand is that India has a population of around a billion, yet Cricinfo has selected someone who contributes a blog entry once every blue moon, almost always from another source.

If we wish to read a column from another media organisation, we can log on there.

I love Cricinfo, but I just cannot understand this - especially as the writing is poor.

Yeah! Good riddance. Cricket will benefit if the sub-continental sides are kicked out for a few years.

well feel bad for the Indian fans.

Its a pity to Sachin to go out that way...
But time to do some sole searching.Think what india need is new blood.
But theres a issue.Imagine India has the best young batsman in the world and he's in the reserves and relatively unknown.He ll be the best upcomming talent.But will he have a place in the side...
WIll he get a chance to prove his worth with all the colosal figures ,SACHIN,GANGULY,DRAVID,SINGH,..the biggest names with the biggest sponsors...
Tink some old guy should step down for a while and let 17,19 yr players come in.Thats what happening in Banga....
Youth rotation' ll be the next key thing in future sucess for countries....
(well am not an indian, and may b am wrong)

Sobering thoughts there and very well put! Cricket is better off without the deranged fans and bookies which are a hallmark of Indian and Pakistani cricket. If the ignominious exits of these two paper tigers will shut the faces of the ignoramuses who call themselves fans and dim the interest of bookies then let us whole-heartedly thank Ireland and Bangladesh.

wow,
nice match,sorry about the ind fans.sorry guys.i know the feeling..
I was also feeling the same way when sanath got out.Was depressed when we lost the toss, cause Vaas would have loved to bowl first with that movement...
SL had some worst of the conditions,so i gave up...What the hell,let them win this."..Heck,,we will go in with India to super 8.will sleep now."
Went to sleep 9.30 pm local time ..And when i woke up in Saturday...talk about a nice wake up call....

Switching to test cricket - give me a break. Besides guys like you who make a living covering cricket, the rest of us don't have the time. Besides the last thing we need is a tremendous drain on the nation's productivity wasting 5 days on matches. Don't lament about the commercialization - without it you wouldn't be making a living blogging, writing books.

Mukul, I wholeheartedly agree. The question that is on my mind, and one that others are noodling as well, is whether this effortless defeat will bring about any wholesome changes in the way players are motivated and trained.

Our players play with caution, fear, and a certain self-consciousness that is at best distracting, and at worst a potion that guarantees failure when the stakes matter most. India's batting performance is characteristic of this phenomenon. Against Bermuda we score like we are masters of the universe. Against Sri Lanka we are unable to cross 200 (not to mention Bangladesh). Australia on the other hand don't display that performance volatility whether they play the minnows or the more serious competition.

The Indian team cannot be considered bullies, but they are very easily bullied by any form of adversity. It has not always been the case, but the current team is almost transparently honest in portraying this tendency.

Here's hoping for a future for Indian cricket with more of a backbone. Cheers!

hey ,

There was a nice post much earlier for Mukuls blog of "Martian Picks Sri lanka"..
if i remember the posted guy,,Ind "Anand Sharma ",was talking about SL making Ind camplacent by not playing their 2 best bowlers in recent ind tour...Actually i was laughing my HEAD off after reading those theories,thinkig this guy must be having some fantacies....
But now, tink Mr.Sharma was spot on with his predictions from day 1.
cheers....

Interesting point Mukul , while your insight in to the psyche of the subcontinent is entirely plausable.I fail to see the rationale behind some horrendous fan behaviour, Cricket is afterall a sport victory and defeat are part and parcel of any sport. What gives the people the license to cause harm to a players property or burn effegies of players ? passion by spectators is fine but this is way out of line.

u said the words.they played worse than the underdogs of this tournament and had an intention 2 win it.lol!!!.i m an ardent cricket fan and i have grown above myself supporting other nations.i hate 2 say this,indian cricket is nothing but a money spinning-wheel.did u know icc had lost 300 crores bcoz india failed 2 the next round.my personal tragedy was the azlan shah hockey tournament when india lost badly and never rose again.

Bring it on, I like test cricket better.

Actually, if money is not why other countries are driven to play, then a Pak/Ind series shouldn't undermine the world cup, should it?
Bring it on...

well, the teams who deserve to be there have got there.

Have we considered the possibility that the media and commercial pressure on Indian cricket is beginning to take its toll. Going by statistics , these are really world class players . the best 11 humans in pool of a billion. But I think we are crippling their minds by the irrational madness and pressure on them . The media must own up to its share of the blame. "Match ka mujrim" culture has to go. The Bishen Bedis of the world should be ashamed to call themselves sportsmen. If we instill the fear of failure in the hearts and minds of our players to this extent , how can we expect them to deliver results.

It will also be good for Indian cricket if Ganguly , tendulkar and dravid can retire and do fans a big favor and let people move on. I feel they have scored enough runs to feel satisfied for the rest of their lives.The selectors should have the guts to drop these people . They are past their expiry date and all they do is add cheap runs to their effed up records.
It will be good to see some promising youngster show good energy on the field trying his best.
What is the point in thrashing teams in 2 team tournaments,cheating themselves about preparing for the WC.
If you are only good enough to beat Bermuda in a WC, thats says a lot about our cricket, the way it is followed and played.

hi all ,nice article.i agree its good that we came out early,we have a power shortage in maharashtra ,we needed to save electricity and sachin knew it hence the duck.but will this defeat really help india?no.people will still stand on the road watchin dhoni hit sixes on lifeless pitches.as regards peolple playin the game ...not many in india play it.so dont expect the couch potatoes to do anything about it....we have a sick sportin culture..one game culture.i hope people wake up to this fact and play other sports,tennis for example is awesome,but like most indians i did not get to play it in bombay as its too expensive.i got a chance to play it in nashik ,i grabbed it..and trust me guys its addicting.the point i am makin is that cricket was urban which has now become rural.once we have tennis and other sports goin the same way,life will be different .so cheers to other sports,death to cricket hero worship.its a game and thats it!

Mr. Kesavan

Congratulations on a well written piece. Any mature cricket fan will agree with most of what you have said. Maybe this unfortunate turn of circumstances for the Indian fan will lead to a much less commercialized brand of cricket.

But I have two issues to pick with you.

Firstly, your assessment of the South Asian audience as caring almost exclusively for one day cricket, albeit true, lacks a bit of insight. When doordarshan created the pan-indian network, did they broadcast test matches? I dont think so. It wasn't the audience being DRAWN towards ODI cricket. The audience was SHEPHERDED towards it. The cricket loving people of india are not simply dumbed down robots programmed to appreciate only ODI cricket. Good test cricket attracts as well. I can remember packed houses in nearly every stadium during good series, like the Australia tour of 2001. Who can forget that shot of one lakh people leaping up in joy in Kolkata when McGrath fell LBW to Harbhajan to give us the win?

Secondly, the portrayal of Indian and Pakistani cricket as 'toxic' due to the influence of bookies. Now, seriously, how many matches that India plays do you think are fixed? If they were fixed, wouldn't India have won a lot many more matches than it has? Would the betting 'industry' have allowed India and Pakistan to crash so unceremoniously out of the world cup with so much money riding from them (fuelled, as you say, by 'sullen, thin skinned nationalism')? Seriously, illegal betting and matchfixing may be more common in our part of the world, but I think you've overestimated the extent of their influence on how professional cricketers play their cricket.

What Balderdash!! In my opinion a defeat of australia will do more good for cricket than any indian elimination. And what has all that passion and craziness got to do with cricket being played on the screen anyway?

Most football playing countries have even more fanatical fans. In fact a player was even killed for a self-goal. Are you suggesting they stop playing football completely?

In a country of a billion people a few bad apples are inevitable. To paint the whole subcontinent this way, and to look down upon mre than 75% of the game's followers is just hypocritical !!

You are saying the fans in india are not discerning based on the actions of a few people??? What about the billion other people who are just disappointed, but turn up to watch a cricket match again the next time?

Aren't you being as jingostic as george bush, in blaming the subcontinent fans for defiling the 'oh so pure' game. Get over it, and stop being so jealous (con't think of any other word) about the subcontinent domination of cricket economics.

We all know how the English and Australians trated 'coloured people' when they dominated the economics of the game (and still do actually).

Mukul, I disagree.
I'm a Sri Lankan and a true supporter of the Sri Lankan team, and was delighted to see the way our boys played the game against India.
But I can't simply see how it is good for the World Cup to have the Indians out. South Asians may be representing the power house of World Cricket Administration, but that's got nothing to do with India's performance. Besides, it may not be such a bad thing for the South Asians to have some power after all.
I mean no disrespect for the Bangaladeshis, but if you believe they'll be able to threaten those big guns in the Super 8, I think that'd be a too much of an ask. Hats off for the Bangladeshis for the courage they showed against the Indians, but it's very unlikely that those events would be repeated in the Super 8.
But if you had India go through, they would have been a force to reckon with. And, it simply would have increased the competitiveness of the tournament.
So, though I am a Sri Lankan, I'm really disappointed to see India not getting through. And if this would be Great Sachin's last World Cup, what a sore sight to see him leave with a zero to his name in the last game he played. I felt really sad for them. The looks on their faces after the defeat said it all!

When India's top five batsmen fail to score it is a sign that the party is over. Loosing to Bangladesh was no bad luck. Tendulkar has lost his marbles and if he is so shameless to continue someone has to get him to the door. He is a deadweight that the team has to carry on its shoulders and run. He is blocking the rise of India and the time has come to change it. Dravid was never a captain material. Greg Chappel made sure India does not rise above mediocrity. His mission is accomplished. He is the one to bring Dravid to the fore and he knew the walls do not move and any poster can be stuck to them. Dravid is not a leader he is a labourer who should be commanded. We need Dada back at the helm of affairs and give him the team he wants not a dead Tendulkar. Gavasker, Agarker, Vengsarker, Tendulkar should all go and leave the Indian cricket to resruface.

Mukul - Test cricket yes. But this defeat also should result in the cleansing of Pakistan and Indian teams. People like Sachin Tendulkar who have been around for the past 5-6 years in the team without contributing when the team needs hin the most, need to retire. Look at Inzy. He resigned. IMHO hes a much better match winner than Sachin. Inzy won the world cup for Pakistan in 1992 and has single handedly won many matches for Pak in Test and ODI's. Sachins last match winning innings in ODI's was THAT series in Sharjah against Australia. He has never been the same Sachin the past 5-6 years.

Bring on the young guns.

I think the reason for our loss is the total lack of the temperamnt to do well in crunch situations. Like it or not, we lack the killer instinct. Be it Vijay Amritrajin the 5th set or the indian Hockey team in the big matches vs Pakistanor the crick team. We tend to go in with defeat writ on our faces. Even when we opened against bermuda our approach against a univ level attack was of caution and hesitancy. Thank God Sehvag got a few in the middle of his batand got going. Here I am watching SA 171/1 in 27 overs after they were set 378 to win. They dared to play thier shots and will probably give a good fight if not win. WE have great talent but welack the mind to back it up. No coach has been able to change that. And I wonder if it can be done unless it is instilled in the early years at school.Even an all time great like ST has gone into a shell when the win is in sight. We win when our talent flowers or the oppsition is a bit generous/foolish.

I really loved the thought of ridding this tournament of its toxic, rather venomous elements - India and Pakistan; what a wonderful idea. And, in addition to cricket fans in other countries getting to enjoy their teams play their cricket, it might just give people in India, and Pakistan, who understand the game, cherish it, enjoy it, a real chance to enjoy cricket without the voluminous din of incessant nationalism and chauvinism.

While i am from bangladesh, I personally still believe that bangladesh has very little chance to make it to the semis. At the same time i don feel that it wud hurt the tournament if they represent south Asia in the second round. With the young guns in the team, this will only make them more matured and help to establish this team as a major contender for WC2011. Best of luck to srilanka, i think this bunch are a better team than 1996 Srilankan team. as for india and pakistan i would urge the fan to understand the simple fact that this is only a game and WC is just another tournament. Please don get disheartened.

I am more ashamed by the reaction of Indian public than the humiliating defeat of India. Pakistanis have shown greater sense of maturity. indians should learn from their neighbours.

well what can one say abt team india and thier wonderful performance...its time now for the people of india to restore its pride ...by not supporting the endorsements the team does...they are fit to play countries like bermuda, zim,kenya,scotland etc ...

Ironic how you english bash the indian cricket team for being over-hyped, yet in football, all England is hype, and no substance... so, let's not be calling the kettle black, shall we?

Actually the loss makes good for indian cricket. Indian selection system is flawed. They keep selecting non athletic players to team and also very tiny players. Tiny players lack strength and stamina to play under pressure. It is funny that people keep saying this is the best indian XI. what a crock. DO not tell me you can't find 50 61/2 feet big kids in india out of 1 billion population. I really think the problem is with BCCI structure and state boards controlled by Upper caste people respective states. They have no accountability.

What india need is a commerical domestic cricket league comparable to MLB in america. Ban all these cricket boards and creat 24 cricket clubs and everyone can be part owners buying its stocks. Then youw ill see dramatic change in performance and talent. New ranking system for players playing in the league.

Hi Muk,

I am living in US currently but not so long ago was in India. Like everyone else in our country I also am caught up in the frezy of world cup 2007.
I remember the last time in 2003 when India lost in the finals all of us were angry and hurt. Not because we lost but cos' the manner we got defeated was like puncturing the soul of the cricket team. I heard dada saying do not worry we have 2007 to come. In these 4 years everything changed, I moved from my college to an MNC and cricket team moved from John Wright- Ganguly to Chappell- Dravid. What has not changed is the passion of following cricket from the ranji trophy finals to the International series between all the test nations in the world and not just restricted to India.
I have seen crass commercialization of the news networks in India from the noodle straps of a TV starlet to the Match ka Mujrim's of our previous cricketers.
Do we ever realize all this madness is due to us ( the public). The adverts have Dhoni, Sachin, Dravid cos' we want them to be in an Ad. When we loose to Australia on a grassy pitch in Nagpur we blame the curator, talk about home advantage. When we drop Dada from the team we say he was a causing unrest and divisions in the team.
We put our heros on the pedestal and then stamp on their faces when they fail.
When the news came that India lost courtsey cricinfo ticker on my office computer i instantly logged into a streaming live broadcase and caught a glimpse of Dravid Crying. I have never seen Dravid cry, believe me i was in anger and rage till that point but as soon as i saw his face it hit me that the players are humans they know what has happenned, They understand it better than all the nation combined. Their CVs post retirment for Kumble, Dravid, Sachin , Ganguly will read No world cup and an ignomious exit.
Cricket is one of the toughest sports cos' it does not get over in 2 hours like football but the shortest form of it is also spanning 7 hours.
There are many twists in the game at any point.
An playing cricket at my school and university level i understand the complexity of the game. I agree completly with most of the comments posted above but i want to bring out a small fact that cricket base has shifted to rural india and people who have never played a game and have achieved moderate success in life wnat these players to win. Cos' it gives them hope.
Due to the media's circus Cricket has become like the silver screen and people in India believe that every story has a happy ending. Sports though is very real and there are no happy endings everytime. Dhoni got out yesterday to a Murali doosra. instead of blaming Dhoni, we should have the courage of supporting him cos' he has come to a national team purely on his tenacity.
He has a decent technique but no great one and whatever he has achieved it is still a success.
We all are not fit to be in those 15 men that is why we are the fans and as a fan we should support our team in every situation.
Yes we did badly , yes it is a shame and yes we do not deserve to go to the next round at the expense of bangladesh.
So to achieve this we have to remove the hyped commertialization, we need to let our players breathe, let them play for themselves and not for a billion hungry fans baying for their blood.
These players are not gladiators, they are humans like us and in moments even the toughest among them break down like Dravid did.
So lets pray that the money hungry people in BCCI mend their ways and the newz frenzy decreases.
We need grit and determination in this hour and one thing that we Indians have is a positive outlook no matter what whether it is a natural calamity or a sporting disaster.
So this time lets also work towards it cohesively cos we are a billion strong nation, lets truly make it a blue billion support for a men in blues.

Regards,
Saurabh

Well, well, well. Kirsten's comment on South Asian countries being eliminated for few years rings a bell with a racial resonance. Furture of Cricket depend on Subcontinental financial power.So they will be around for some time whether you like it or not. It is a good idea for Kirsten to get used to it.

"Mainly, though, the balance of power in world cricket has shifted from England and Australia towards the sub-continent for commercial reasons: the dawning realisation that India owns the only mass audience there is for the game."

Quoting the above sentence, it is true that the balance has shifted from england to Sub continent, more so to India because of financial muscle.

Before the dawn of television, though england was the centre of cricket, how many world cups had they won?

And regarding match fixing, till date only cricketers from South Africa(Cronje, Gibbs et al) and Australia ( Shane Warne and Mark Waugh) have accepted publicly that they have taken money from bookies. None of the sub continent players have been proved so why is this prejudice against sub continent teams when it comes to match fixing.

How people are so sure that Bob Woolmer has nothing to do with match fixing, when he himself was the coach of S.Africa when Cronje was involved in match fixing.

Whenever I read blogs by South Asian writers, they are highly prejudiced against sub continent teams for be it, match fixing or financial muscle.

well i am ardent indian supporter and i have been shatered with such results.well i am amazed that the once dreaded indian spinners are now just a piece of cake for the opposition to gallop and secondly i am amazed with SACHIN's
attitude :i may recall the 3rd karachi test,the 3rd test of our recent sa tour...simple situations
made inexplicably tough.on my personal opinion with goin out of india and pak ,WC 2007 will miss the flair and spice of the subcontinent.with only hardcore mechanical cricket left to be played ,with aussies ruling the roost.

Although I'm not very heartbroken by the Indian performance(because I feel they deserve it for the way they played), I feel sad for a couple of players in the Indian side who really were shining and seemed like they could make a difference. Two of them are Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh..I must say they seemed more prepared for the tournament than any of the remaining players, but then again..cricket is a team game and individual performances do not always win matches.
India has world class players..sum of the best in their respective areas. They should aim for consistency in performance more than anything else.

it is sad that india had to go out and i am crushed. but their level of performance was dismal and they should have prepared better. at the same time we fans are getting used to the team not performing under pressure. goodluck to bangladesh and here is hoping that would spring more surprises. they are the perfect example that cricket is a team game and not that of superstars alone!

By telling that ouster of India and Pakistan is going to make the tournament toxic free, makes it hard for me to accept that Mr. Keshavan have tried to analyze the issue at all or he took this opportunity to show that the dark side of society, which many a social scientist conjures as reality and makes a living out of such analysis.

If the public memory is not so poor, we can very well recall that Australia & South Africa also were involved in match fixing and betting. As a cricket follower it is not hard to figure out that the charm of the world cup has lost half its shine with ouster and India and Pakistan. Well, now the author will certainly be finding a duel between Bangladesh & Ireland, instead of India and Pakistan.

At the first place, why Cricinfo should would pick up analysis of a social scientist from another source to talk about cricket at this juncture. I would love to read this kind of article in non-cricketing session or part of social science book. Not here.

What is happening to cricket maybe, what has happened to Hockey? We, India and Pakistan are not a sporting society and toughness is not our forte and one day cricket nowadays is more about toughness, physical and mental. We need a sport specialist to analyze the issue.

The atmosphere would have electrifying if we had India and Pakistan in the Super 8 and not toxic. It’s money that is toxic not the tremendous passion that is generated by Cricket in India and Pakistan. For the fans, they are what the media made them out to be. It raised their expectation and if they react like this after the high expectations set, then are they only to be blamed? And they are the people for which these articles are written.

i keep reading all over how the indian team let india down when this was a team offering so much!i just cant understand that. just take a look at india's achievements over the past year. they got thrashed in south africa, they couldnt make it past the initial stage in the champions trophy in their own backyard, they lost the oneday series in the west indies 3-1. they beat west indies in india, but it was not a full strenght team, same goes to the sri lanka series without murali or vaas! sri lanka wanted to only finetune their team before the world cup and didnt really care about winning the series while india beat this undermanned team and covered themselves in glory and actually thought they were better than they really were!! india even pulled out of the new zealand tour at the end of the year as they didnt want to be beaten and go in to the world cup with the taste of defeat.it happened before the 2003 world cup and they didnt want to repeat it. It was this series that sri lanka substituted and went to new zealand and fine-tuned their game and also discovered chamara silva. this was all in the past 12 months. and at the end of it they were ranked 6th, better than only westindies and bangladesh! so why was the hype made that this team had so much to offer and even win the cup when their track recored clearly stated otherwise. i think it was very unfair to the indian players to to have been put under those expecations. Also the game of cricket has evolved over the last 10 years and india has not caught on. india still has teams like in the 1070s, 80s and early 90s; still going with six or seven talented batsmen and expect them to win matches while their fielding is awful, while carrying excess body fat and looks nowhere near the athlestes who form cricket teams today. the game today revolves around specialist fielders who can bat and/or bowl.

So India lost against SL. Did people really think that the chances of India winning against SL was anything more than 50:50.
It is very disappointing that we lost but not super surprised. It is bad to castigate the team and the players. Despite all the other issues I think they contributed all. It works on certain days and not some other days.Unfortunately yesterday happened to be one of the bad days.
I hope Dravid and Tendulkar (if possible Saurav) do end up playing the next WC too (If lara, inzamam, vaas,mcgrath... can play at 37 ) why not these guys.
The only change I would like to see is Yuvraj beng made the captain since we need to build another team (with or without the big 3). Yuvraj needs to be supported just like Graheme smith has been in SA.

It will be intersesting to see how things turn out in the next few days.

total rubbish. you must be ashamed to write such an article in a world class newspaper BBC. As always Brits love to read abt the bashing of Asians...the only reason your article got thru. huh.. FYI betting and match fixing was wholly invented by the Britishers during the initial stages of the game itself, due to teh advancement in technology and media, it gets more coverae these days and we hae to face the brunt...just think before you write...as always, Indian reporters are known for sensationalising any cricket news...and you just became one among them

This article sounds like it comes from a self loathing Indian. We should NEVER apologise for our commercial domination of the game. There was a time when the colonialists- (australia & england)ran the game and treated us with contempt. They still do in some ways and racism from them is never far from the surface. It is not a good thing that Pakistan & India have exited so quickly. It would be nice to see Australia lose(They just beat SA AGAIN!-joint equal chokers with India)but at the moment I cant see it.

The only good thing about this exit will be (hopefully)the purge that follows. Chappell HAS to go. He has destabilised the team and wrecked their confidence with his 'experimentation'.Dravid has to step down as captain, sachin, harbajan,ganguly, kumble, agarkar should be shown the door.

well, i just want to tell Mr Men in white that match fixing,bookies came from english nations and it started first in soccer than come in cricket.Blamming south asia for this is wrong....

Any cricket team should be mentally strong enough to be consistent in winning. India lacks that and they are not deserved to go to second round. Only Australia, South africa are more consistent compared to other teams. But in cricket Anything can happen!!! So as an asian I want srilanka to win this world cup.

Forget about India and Pakistan performance, but dont forget contribution by South Asians to the cricket. Because of poor South Asians these so called Champions are in limelight and making some money.

Corruption is part and parcel of money else we would have not seen wars and terrorsit activities all over the world.
Please dont blame South Aisas aleady the people you are talking about have taken enough disadvantage of South Asians.

P. S. If Indian Cricket follows Hocky Path then I am sure no one will ask you to write after 20 years no matter which Countries Citizen you are though your name is very much Indian.

God bless you.

Digjam

I am so fed up of cricket. Just not because of Indias elimination. But I somehow sense that gangerene in set into the game in the form of money. I feel disgusted with the way the press posed the indian coach with inflamatory questions. The questions where so shameful. Yes, I can understand the disappointment, but then the press is trained to be professional, just like the players. It seems that no lessons were learned from what happened to Bob.

I am sad about Indias performance, but then I know that India did not deserve a place in the Super8. I agree with Greg Chappel, it is not possible to make a team of world beaters in 18-24 months. I feel he should be allowed to continue and frankly speaking I dont think one would a better coach.

Finally one last word to the so called greats of cricket. None of you even during your halcyon days couldnt conjure up a consistent team. I am fed of hearing your detailed analyses about team tactics and strategies. None of you can bring a difference to the team individually. I am convinced about this since I have seen how you have played (may be individually good) as a team. So I accept, it is your bread and butter, but then I smell the stink every time you open your mouth. Constructive crticism is good. Try to be with the players during their tough times, try to guide them!

The problem lies beyond the team. It lies in the system as such and that includes all of US!

Leave the team alone!

Augi, Germany

Your article is a mixture of self loathing and arrogance. Some of your statements are pretty inflammatory and some are plain ridiculous. And the way you clump Pakistani and indian cricket is also not correct. And accusing Indian fans of being bad is also very petty. There will always be a percentage of unruly fans- in India the numbers are larger because of the huge population. But to paint everybody with the same brush is very unfair. As for effigy burning and protests that happens with everything not just cricket, and I see that in USA also. Overall your thoughts are pretty "toxic" and abrasive. India reached the final of the last tournament, was that tournament "toxic"?
With regards to betting many people dont understand that betting occurs in the so called "developed" world also, the only difference is that it is legal there and illegal in India. Even cricinfo advertises a betting site, but in India betting on sport is illegal. Does that make Cricinfo corrupt in India?
Dont hate yourself and your countrymen so much, just because of a few bad apples dont say that the whole orchard is infected!!

This is either a brilliant psychiatric cure for the "sickening popularity" (sic) that Indian stars have brought to this game, or a sincere cricket fan going through denial, or just an opportunistic soap boxing that all our articulate bloggers are trying to climb on. I can't know for sure what the author here fits, but I'm seeing enough of a wave in sport authors in the last few days who seem to all want to fall over each other in climbing onto this 'blame the fan' or 'india's loss is good for cricket' soapbox.
Isn't the reason for existence for these writers and the current site exactly these two "beasts" they have been rearing but want to now curb? It somehow reminds of the demagogues nay the lion tamers at the circus who want to rally up passions just so high that they can milk it, never too much, never too little. How comfortable if a fan's psyche can be controlled via our keyboards.

Pray tell me exactly how removing Brazil from soccer would help Brazil or Soccer?
Or, would you rather that unlike our generation which saw Kapil's boys lift the world cup, the new generation shall be deprived of a wonderous success from a STILL AWESOME team just because some hooligans attack Dhoni's house or because of a miserable failure against Bangladesh?

I agree that India was not likely to meet the over-expectations that the media and fans have created around them, but one can't say our boys didn't deserve to be go to the next round.

I suggest something less drastic and more constructive for the next world cup: Let's have groups of 6 instead of 4. A single bad day should not dim the hopes of a billion people nor deprive the whole cricket community of a Good team like India.
At the end of the day, I'd enjoy another day of the masters of the game (whether wearing blue or not). Isn't that what all of us fans really want?

So, please, let's calm down and see how to a) control the mob hysteria, b) improve our team, c) a better structure of the first round so that good teams can surface up despite one bad day.

peace and let's sit back and enjoy the rest of the world cup!
PS: the ONLY good thing about India's exit - less tension and red-eyed days all around for us billion suckers :)

Mukul,

Agree Indian slip is good for Indian cricket b'se will lead to some soul serching and probably a little more professionalism in cricket management. Some spring cleaning with India team will also help young talent with exposure. Well on Indian fans - agree with your observation but won't judge by your yardstick. In football South American fans react differently than Northern European fans ,but that's the flavour which comes with globalisation of the sport.

Power shift in ICC is bound to happen even if India doesn't perform well b'se of pure economics Sub-continent will coninue to drink Kingfisher and cricketers will continue to promote it for the love of money.

Think game will be better served if it managed professionaly by expereienced administrators around the world - inclusively...

Down with tendulkar.
I totally agree with Satish Pareek. current indian batsman (except Gangully) are spineless and only perform when the conditions are perfect for batting. they dont have the spirit to dig deep and work hard towards a win in pressure situations. They let the fear of defeat affect the way they play thier shots. the 'big 3' have not performed well together for a long time now and it is clear that their skills have now expired.
SACHIN IS OVER-RATED.MOST OF HIS RECORD BREAKING WORLD CUP RUNS HAVE BEEN SCORED AGAINST MINNOWS AND WEAKER TEAMS

There are over one billion Indian fans Praying to Lord Krishna for Bermuda to win. HE won't let them down.
KRISHNA

I think the super 8's should now be called the Supers 6's. With all due respect Ireland and Bangladesh deserve to be there through the fault of Ind/Pak alone. However, they will be dismantled without doubt by other more professional and ruthless opposition. As Jayawaredene said ' The world Cup has lost it's Sheen' without Ind/Pak in the Super 6's (I mean Super 8's).

Regarding the comment made by: Sanjeev 2 hours, 22 minutes ago. For some reason you have targeted the Mumbai players, past and present. As for SR Tendulkar being a 'deadweight', Over 50 international 100's says it all. In addition he is arguably the Greatest World Cup PLAYER. The World cup is the biggest cricketing occasion and he has brought his 'A Game' to every tournament bar this one. Although he was unlucky (2 inside edges in two innings).Yes he didn't perform on the day but there are 6 other batsmen. I thought the 90's had passed us by, the days when Sachin out meant automatic match lost.

This seems an article not for the knowledgeable cricket loving Indians but for the lacking goras (hence the BBC link).

Toxic article Mukul!

Big Talk but check your facts. The countries which took the biggest step of finding match fixing were not Australia/South Africa. It was India and Pakistan which banned players. It was Delhi police which found that Hansie Cronje was the most corruping influence on cricket than any bookie. Shane Warne got away with nothing and Lillie/Marsh were praised for making money out of a test loss bit but never punished.

By justifying this elimination astoxic and writing at BBC you may be pleasing your Western masters but not millions of fans who were looking forward to India/Pak clash in April.

What Bangaladesh and Ireland would do against rest of team would not be as fun to watch than India and Pakistan games against them

In another way am I not glad that I did not spend $200 for Direct TV. Cricket's commerical loss Mr. Kesavan. And ever wonder about those Australian/England supremacy in Cricket boardrooms. It was this INDIAN MONEY which challenged those snooty lords.

Still I love to read yours and Kamran Abbassi. Keep it up.

Please do not lump Pakistan with India on the commercialism aspect. There is absolutely no comparison. India leads by miles and miles and miles. Pakistan's issue is lack of systemized training. Its like Hockey, where Pakistan was on top and lost out as the game became more mechanical and surgical, moving away from its classic artistic blends. Corruption is everywhere not just South Asia. There is no doubt that there is plenty of talent in India and Pakistan. Consistency, confidence and creativity is missing - the three c's

Hi Mukul, This is probably the worst blog that I have ever read. Your wide generalizations about India's fan culture and match-fixing are highly inflamatory. In a country of one billion, there are bound to be a handful of hot heads who are looking to create trouble at the slightest opportunity. Unfortunately it is they who make the news! It might also be that the protesters and effigy burners are a handful of desparte gamblers who have actually lost money on cricket betting. To generalize and bring down the whole cricket loving public of south asia is unfair. I am a Cricket Fan based in Ireland, originally from India and I refuse to be branded a nationalist freak! You might be based else where but I can tell you are of Indian origin and you have no right to put your self above everybody else and make such remarks! Coming to match-fixing, although illegal cricket betting is mainly a sub continental problem, it is unfair to suggest with out solid proof that the current teams are some how involved in match-fixing. We are all saddened by Bob Woolmer's death but if he really had inside information on match-fixing, why did he not approach the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit earlier? Being a coach of international repute he should be well aware of the ICC's efforts to root out corruption and of the various procedures in place. Being a Britisher himself he could have directly contacted Lord Paul Condon! Speculation is fine but I find it hard to believe that some one in his position would have behaved so irresponsibly, wating to finish his stint with Pakistan and then writing a book about it. It might emerge in the end that his death indeed had to do with match-fixing but until there is concrete proof, people like you should refrain from making irresponsible statements.

Are you a INDIAN or a Srilankan?...We all agree that Indians buckled under immense pressure,but you seem to be happy and suggesting Srilankans are more talented than indians?.

Agreeed that they are good fielders but remember they are not playing under the same pressure as indians plus they have already qualified which made ahuge difference.

At the end of the day you are not an INDIAN.

The fans like us deserved it. I believe the biggest culprits are Sahara, Pepsi, Hutch etc who endorse these players in their ads. I guess as a responsible citizen we should boycott any product endorsed by players. The players want to make easy money and after all they are human beings. Secondly, I think media overdose to much of cricket like what kind od food the cricketers like to their favorite movies. Thirdly, we should find something better than expecting miracles from Indian team. I mean how many of us really think before this World Cup that they are better than Australia or South Africa. Be honest to yourself!

I totally disagree with the author on this one, although I generally like Mukul's articles.
These phenomena are not limited to India nor to cricket.
1. Look at the English footbal fans. The hooligans go on the rampage whenever their team is defeated. There have been deaths too, during fighting with opposing fans (e.g.: In Turkey).
2. The hype and the money driven culture is prevalent in football too - Murdock's media joint is well known for creating gods out of the mediocre English football team to make money, and then shoot it down - for a little bit more blood money.
3. That chauvinism is a peculiar South Asian characteristic is utterly false. I am not saying that we are not. But what about the English? They too have inherent superiority complexes.
In conclusion, it is dangerous to find fault purely with South Asians, when others show the same characteristics, albeit in different contexts.

Mukul,
Nice article. Just three points here-
1. Did anyone seriously expect India to win this world cup? In fact, I will go far enough to say that they played true to their history. In other words- 1987- semi finals (in India) 1992- flopped in Australia 1996- Semi finals in India- 1999- flopped in the super sixes stage 2003- Final in South Africa 2007- flopped at the first stage itself. Since the next World Cup is in the sub-continent, expect India and Pakistan to do well and then talk about some "improvements". The reality is that India are like a tennis player who plays well only on certain surfaces. We could learn quite a few things from our neighbor, Sri Lanka.
2. The players, public and the media are all equally at fault. The players must be the most pampered and consistently over-rated lot in the history of any sport when all they do is play well in their own backyard and snatch a few victories through individual brilliance. The media wastes no time praising or burying someone even if it is someone like Rahul Dravid, a true leader and gentleman. The Indian public just seems too stupid to understand that we cannot be world beaters because we just do not want to learn from our past history- so these mistakes will be repeated again and again.Unlike Sri Lanka, where the players play to win and not for individual records, our players only play to prolong their records. Sachin is already thinking of playing in the 2011 cup!!! Probably the media will try and make sure that Mr. Saurav SUPER-SELFISH Ganguly will get a grand farewell at Eden Gardens- never mind if we lose the game! People like Ganguly are a disgrace to our system and for me, they are a cruel reminder of how good people become self-serving persons when they make it big. Till we start making tough decisions and improve our pathetic administrative setup, we will be faced with such failure. I do not even think that this time will be different (hope I am wrong here). For all we know, Sachin will become captain and Mr. Selfish Ganguly will become the vice-captain even though there are some young players awaiting their turn at the highest level.
3. I think it is ver unfair to point at the sub-ccontinent only as the center of corruption. Yes, these things are a shame to right-minded people here. But they go on in other countries too. Cronje was one example. There are others in England and other countries, but they will never want to own up to this- which is the biggest problem. Betting is a global problem and as long as countries put themsellves before the interests of this game, this will go on.
Congratulations to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh- I only hope that Bangladesh does not get hammered by everyone else in the super 8s, if they beat us to get there!

The Indian cricket team should be punished for such bad performance. A big shake up is needed.
1. The entire team should be sacked without exception.
2. No one from this team should be permitted to play an international match for at least one year.
3. If any player from the current team plays at least 80% of domestic matches for the next one year and performs well consistently, then they should be considered for inclusion.
4. The coach should be sacked and a new coach should be put in place at the earliest.
5. The entire selection committee and the president of the board should resign.

Too much money and star status are spoiling our players.
1. Payments by the board should be based on performance (at least 70% of the money paid).
2. The player's contract with the board should restrict a player from endorsing any product for the first 4 years of their international career.
3. All endorsements should be handled by the board and this money must go toward improving the game and retirement benefits of domestic & international players.
4. The above two rules must be applied to player's interaction with media.
5. The general public should be encouraged to boycott products endorsed by our current set of cricketers.

Management
1. Professional team should be bought in to manage the affair of BCCI.
2. Emphasis should be put in to standardise processes as far as possible and eliminate arbitrary decision making.
3. Transparency should be introduced into the management of the board. Minutes of each meeting, including selection committee meeting should be published on the board's web site.
4. Nationa team selection committee members should be paid as a full time job.
5. Selectors must have had at least 6 years on domestic cricket experience or 3 years of international cricket experience.

Performance improvement measures & improving bench strength
1. After every three matches, it should be made mandatory to drop the lowest 2 performers (Captain excluded). These dropped players should not be included in the team at least for the next 3 matches. This rule must not be enforced if the team has won all the three matches.
2. After every loss, it should be made mandatory to drop the lowest 2 performers (Captain excluded). Performance in this case should be measured against the lost match and the previous 2 matches, giving 40% weightage to the lost match. These dropped players should not be included in the team at least for the next 3 matches.
3. Additional expenses incurred in implementing the above two rules must be borne by BCCI. i.e. replacing players in the midst of a series.
4. BCCI must have on its roles a set of 25 paid players. These players must be made to play 2 matches (BCCI internal matches) every 15 days. Performance in these matches must be noted.
5. Once a player is dropped using rule 1 and 2, they must get back to the team only by being the top performer in the BCCI internal matches.
6. BCCI internal matches should continue even when the national team is on a tour. During this period BCCI should hold matches with each zone on a rotational basis.
7. The performance of BCCI players should be assessed every year and the lowest 5 performers should be replaced.
8. Special attention should be given to bring up players from under 19 team.

I only partially agree with mukul,I think the fans of India and Pakistan should learn to lose graciously,and after every loss the way we ridicule our heros is disgusting and does no good to our cricket,I dont think that an early exit of Pakistan and India will do any good to the cricket
as modern day Cricket financially thrives on these
two countries,as far as match fixing and bookie culture is concerned lately all the players who have been caught were from SA or Australia,we should not simply blame every loss on betting,
subconciously we think our players are invincible
and after every loss we start looking for the reasons and start speculating,which is completely wrong.
India's early exit from World cup was totally unexpected to me I think they took bangladesh too easily,India needs to improve in the bowling department,and one thing which is common in Pakistan and India is a lot of players over extend their careers,the failure of indian and Pakistani batting against mediocre teams can be attributed to this factor and in Pakistans case some of the blame goes to ICC who specially designed those green bouncy pitches for Pakistan,but still I think our batting should have shown some metal.
South Africa and Australia have taken ODI to a new level,both India and Pakistan have to make a lot of changes in their domestic cricket if they want to reach that level,both the teams should retain their old players for Test cricket whereas new talent should be inducted in ODI teams and older players should not play ODI cricket anymore.
As their form and fitness is not consistent.
Future Planning should be done a head of the curve not at the end of the curve.

How come ICC put 3 South Asian Team in a gourp. They need to make a system where all groups have some sort of balance. Its not fair that south asian are playing with each other in initial stage of world cup. Also I think its time for Sachin to retire as Inzi, we all know that he is the best player in the world but if best players dont perform, give chance to new guys, may be India will find another young Sachin. Srilanka and Bangladesh are playing with some young guys and they are all making their efforts.

Well, the team members themselves are not entirely at fault! The team's miserable performance is also a result of the ridiculous hype and media pressure. Think about it! These guys are told they are bhagvan-samaan for 50 weeks a year, and they imagine they can score centuries by just twirling their bats because they succomb to all the hyperbole and don't criticise the myth. We saw how they played against Bangladesh! So arrogantly - as if playing a Ranji trophy match against a weak side......... it's tragic anyway, and I'm feeling all empty! I'll enjoy the rest of the cricket, but the keen emotional rush is out! That'll take a while to return!

It is hard to come across any piece of writing, leave alone opinion, that has almost unanimous approval, yet this article has that level of acceptance. The reasons for this are pretty clear: two of the most substandard teams have been eliminated and the World Cup is truly a spectacle of team work, athleticism and professionalism. I do not know how far Bangladesh or Ireland cricket will progress, given their entry to the Super 8s; however, the fact remains that these teams are in the next round because - at some stage, when it mattered - they showed the gumption for a fight and a professional attitude that put the Indian and Pakistani team to shame.

We - India and Pakistan - represent the largest fan base for the game; however, our knowledge of what cricket is does not seem to have developed a lot. To put things in perspective, here's what Wikipedia has to say "Cricket is a bat and ball sport played between two teams, usually of eleven players each". Our fans and our players forget that it is a team game and our administrators forget that it's played with a bat and ball, not money. India and Pakistan, at the moment, represent the two most hypocritical, money-minded, individualistic and incoherent cricketing cultures. It is only fair that these two teams have been dubbed 'the venom' of cricket and the World Cup has rightly been cleansed of it. The quality of batting and fielding seen in the Aus vs SA game has never been, and cannot possibly ever be, matched by the two subcontinental giants. Our players are lethargic, use cricket as a side business with endorsements and have the audacity to override team motives with personal agendas. I am not aware what Islam has to say about it, but the Hindu tradition has always been to defer to the teacher or coach. I read about Shoaib's spat with Woolmer and I know for a fact that both John Wright and Chappell have been at the receiving end. There is only one reason that explains why the World Cup this year is richer by our exit, and it is because in these two teams, the individual has taken the game for granted. The day Sehwag learns that the game is not his servant, the day Dhoni learns that modeling is a by-product of cricket and not the other way round, the days Shoaib learns that he needs the game and not the other way round, the day these two teams learn that the only way forward is by following a regimen of fitness and perfection, India and Pakistan will be a boon and not a venom for the game.

Till such time, if ever, let's enjoy the purest World Cup of cricket in a long, long time!!

Pakistan & India's elimination from the tournament is certainly good for the tournament - because frankly these two teams did not deserve to advance given their performance. India's fall against Bangladesh could be attributed to a bad day - but against Sri Lanka, there is no excuse at all. A lot of things went India's way - we just were'nt good enough. Indian Fans - this is the reality, deal with it!!! If you a true Cricket fan, then you should be happy with the result because a much more cohesive & talented TEAM, Sri Lanka (and Bangladesh to some extent) are moving forward.

That said, if Bermuda were to beat Bangladesh, and India were to move forward, I would certainly be disappointed b/c that would let us Indian's ignore the current state of affairs. India needed this outcome badly to force the Indian Fans/Media/Managers to really dissect the current situation in Cricket. If India move forward in the tournament - firstly a team that doesn't deserve to move forward will be rewarded (bad for Cricket as a game), and secondly, no one will care to scrutinize what's wrong with Indian cricket.

I agree with most of the comments. I am an ardent fan of Cricket living in the USA, and was very sad to see India lose. However, in a few hours, I had started to get over it and the next day, I actually thought it'sa good thing for India to exit. Money has ripped talent and determination right out of the heart of the Indian cricket. Selectors do their part to play favourites, bookies their part to stifle whatever genuine talent there might be left after that.
I am an Indian,but let me say good riddance to India, the team that they are at the moment. We hancied our chances against the AUssies? After watching their game against RSA today, I'd hate to say - India will never have a prayer until politics and money spinners are taken out of the cricket in India.

One thing about this all drams saying India didn't pay well and blah blah, shouldn't you guys give more respect to the oponent ? Bangaladesh and Sri lanka both out played India thoug they have the best line up on paper. The problem is in Indian cricket is tha, they think they are on top of the world, that they are the best. That goes for the team as well as for the Fans.

Another thing I have noticed about India is that, there are superior players and just players. It should not be like that, it should just a team sport. I've seen Attapattu from SL bringing the water for the batsmen sometimes, but never seen Sachin or Ganguly do that. India team looks like bunch of contracted players who players because they are being paid. But if you look at SL they play as a group who wants to have fun and win it for the country.. Be it for the 22 year old tharanga or 37 year old Sanath, they are all the same in the team. Just a player. In indian team i think the new players must be getting intimidated by the Great players, at least that's how it looks.

I may be wrong, but this is how I see it.

Indians should realize this is just a game, losing is a part of the game. Live with it.

it's a good thing that both india and pakistan are out of the world cup so early, because it will teach the fans of both countries not to take the game so seriously. cricket is just a game and should be looked upon as a game. its not worth being angry or depressed about your team's loss, that you burn the players' effiges or attack their homes. at the end of the day, its just cricket.

To reduce the pressure on players and improve performances, we need to do two things: invest more money into other sports, because we have plenty of talented sportsmen in all these sports who should be just as proud to represent their country.
Secondly, make younger players captains of our team...that is the only way an Indian captain can produce results given the amount of pressure he is under. Nothing against Dravid: he is a great player, and he would have been a better captain of say, a team like England, where the pressure is less. The reason Ganguly was successful because he was made captain 4 years after his Test debut, so as a young man he didn't allow the pressures of Indian cricket politics and other things to affect him. That is why the Indian team came up with such great performances under him.

Again, we fail yet this time it's not at the last hurdle it's the first! Our team doesn't have the mental strength or determination to win, In fact I'd say they are lazy, as soon as it looks like it's going our way they sit back & relax hoping someone else will do it for them. I always felt there was to much back room bias and media hype for us to have the right team - as a nation we put certain people on a pedistal & don't realise that the pedistal has moved on. Too much player 'celebration' has made certain players think they are untouchable, they're more concerned with adverts then cricket and the selectors aren't immune from that either! Unfortunately we do not have the 'killer' instinict to finish a team off and Dravid is too soft & inflexible when it comes to a match. Look at the Aussie's they go all out for a win if someone doesn't preform they're out but we stick with it cos it's whats expected and then moan cos we lost. The team & the selectors even more so are living on past glory (& media praise) and have lost sight of the ball. We have Good players yet we don't use them. Our future can be bright but only if we change our attitude & praise those how deserve to wear an India cricket shirt and not those who look good !

India can't even think of the way australians play.

SACHIN is best and forever. Why you guys poor sachin for defeat. If you look at the history and cut back all runs he contributed to team, it will change the results of all game and we may have loss all matches. Whatever we have achieve in cricket in last 15 years, Sachin has big hand. Even in last World cup in S. Africa. INDIA Reached to FINAL due to SACHIN only. He was player of the tournament. Evem in this worldcup 2007, we have just palyed three matches and in winning against Bumuda, SACHIN has great contribution of 57 runs. Just failing in two matches make him bad player? Are you people crazy, or gone mad? Your expectation is way beyond reality. God bless SACHIN for his serive to country. You misrable people are SUCKS!

Your suggestions about test cricket are arcane and quite frankly ludicrous. In this day and age of instant gratification you would lose whatever mass appeal there is to it.

Also I feel as a writer its your duty to educate the public. However you seem to take an attitude of "I shall criticize from my perch, all day and all I want, and generalize as much as I want" To say that corruption bookies or otherwise is endemic in South Asia is ok, but to imply that the rest of the world is purer than snow is quite something else.

I read your articles with interest but this one was a put off. I felt you took the easy route when it came to analysis. Rather than offering constructive suggestions, your article foments and ascribes ignorant and seemingly obvious conclusions

Keep up the good writing otherwise!

Indians played very badly.From the beginning there was no planning to chase.Out of the six professonal batsman as the players claim any two oombinaion would have stayed and played good cricket.None of the players are serious in playing.So much money and time has been spent which has been spoiled by these Indian cricketers by not performing well.At least in sports there should not be corruption of any sort.Very sad to hear these things go in sport.The players have to be serious.They all get their money in some other manner.That is the reason they are not bothered to perform well in the game.All the players have to be disciplined first, they have to sense themselves if they don't perform they will be dropped from the team.Further the board has to schedule more domestic cricket and it is the boards responsibility to train all the players as it is a public funded body.The players have to earn all the finance from only playing.If this happens they wll get themselves serious.Loosing this way against Bangladesh which is not experienced compared to India is not execusable.
There has to be change for the good of Indian cricket.

How about an ODI series between India and Pakistan because the angry fans can have some sheer entertainment while the World Cup will continue without these super giants. I personally believe India and Pakistan are very good sides and while Indians tried hard, I can not accept Pakistan losing to Ireland without any players being bribed. While my intent is not to question any player's credibility lets not forget Azhar Mahmood is well known to Ireland and his dismissal does raise eyebrows. He was injured by a lifting a delivery and decided to throw his wicket away. But Pakistan & India are both capable teams and on their day they can beat any other teams. Its unfortunate that South Africa were vulnerable against part time spinner B. Hogg and i hope Srilanka wins the world cup because they deserve to play Australia in the final. Again we can foresee a repeat of 96 world cup final. Bangladesh should be able to beat Ireland, West Indies and possibly England. We have an aggressive batting line up with Tamim Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed and they are both from my hometown. While the former is a by product of Chittagong's mushrooming English medium School the latter attended the same school as i did. The problem with this BD team is we are not happy to see off 50 overs and post a respectable total and we play to win the match and thus taking more risks than any other BD teams of the past. It was this strategy that won us the match against India and I sincerely believe its this attitude alone that can bring further surprises to the global cricketing audience when we player NZ, WI, Ireland and England. Australia and Srilanka are the best two teams for me and South Africa seems destined for another semi-final exit. For Bangladesh though, in spite of the outcome of all our Super 8 games, we need to cherish the opportunity to play these big teams because ICC failed to organise mutual trips for Bangladesh for them to be able to play other top teams which would prepare us better for these big matches. India's exit has only 1 positive and that is it offers Bangladesh team ample opportunities to showcase our talent and also we will be able to measure our progress against these teams as beating NZ and India are not the only two victories we are capable of.

Hello there! Just to remind everybody, Bangladesh still has not qualified for the Super 8's. While I wholeheartedly support Bangladesh, we have been dissapointed before on several occasions. So I'll believe it when BD actaully go through.

Indian cricket fans are loontics maybe becouse thats the only sport they are competive in. billion people and only 11 athlets bad ones at that. They need to take the money that they earn from cricket and devolop other sports. Maybe then the people will eventually have other sports to cheer about.

I totally disagree with your comments about the departure of Pakistan and India (likely dep.) adding tonic to the tournament. Lets just wait and see the interest Ireland and Bangladesh adds to the Super 8s round before jumping on to conclusions. I wouldn't like to take anything away from Bangladesh as they played superbly in the game against India but their performance against Srilanka was no better then India's.
Wanted to write a few other things but it seems those points are already addressed by some of the other people.
Lastly, this is the first time I read your article but I hope your next one will not be as biased as this one and will be based on some good research.

Its disappointing to see india loose, but ppl should learn to taste defeat. Everyone is responsible for this, the ppl who have hyped the players, the players who do not see their responsibilities. If ppl are that crazy then why in country of 1 billion ppl there is no fast bowler? Also they should stop playing outside the country, just like in US football, play within states, Make teams privately owned. Now this will serve two purpose the players can make their money, since private they will be thrown if no perfomance. And the best thing ppl will learn to take defeats, since they cannot accept defeate to smaller countries.

Why does every one here think it's just the Indian's and Pakistani cricket thats involved in match fixing and all that? I mean isn't it possible that there are players from other countries that are involved? some ones already mentioned above that Mr. Cronje was involved he got caught too. Lets not sit and berate teams from south Asia without proper facts. Theres corruption wherever theres money, and match fixing is not just limited to just cricket, you guys must have heard of the recent happenings in football in the la liga. And as an Indian cricket fan i am disappointed with their loss but hey it's sport and it happens, lets just let the team be and regroup i'm sure they will do us proud sooner rather than later.

I'm sorry if you believe for one minute that the tournament will benefit from the early exit of either or both of these teams. Even if bookmakers endured heavy loses, do you really think the exit of these teams will put an end to such activities for the rest of the tournament? Even if a proportionate decrease occurs for the short term, it would be naive to think betting and match fixing shall end with this. The losses as far as I can see, outweigh the benefits. As for passionate fans, which is worse, burning of effigies or drunk fans of certain nations slugging it out during and after matches, in and out of the grounds? Perhaps neither is worse, but the contribution of these passionate fans to keeping cricket alive in the 1990s must not be ignored, on the contrary it should be appreciated.

In the 1990s cricket was almost dead in England, if it wasn't for the capital generated from the south asian nations, you have to wonder where cricket would be today. Perhaps some marketing genius will suggest Five-5 matches in a few years, when the twenty-20 fad fails in England. What does need to happen is this big machine that churns out ludicrous levels of revenue should be re-assessed, overkill has already begun to take its toll. A lot can and should be read into the sad decision of the bidding and handing of the 2011 world cup to the subcontinent, it does not bode well for the future of cricket. Sustainability does not seem to have been properly addressed, and hopefully the impact of India and Pakistan's exits will encourage this outlook.

If there is any good to come out of the early exit of India and Pakistan, it can only come if the systems in both countries are carefully examined. It is a disgrace that there is such heavy political influence in both boards. Neither Musharraf nor Pawar have the credentials or credibility to be involved in their current capacities in cricket boards. It is hard to see an honest man ever leading the BCCI. Unfortunately the way elections are run, you must commandeer significant influence, this is usually achieved with political muscle. There has been too much infighting and settling of personal scores, too much mismanagement, and now too much money-grabbing. Unfortunately the only thing I see coming out of India and Pakistan's exits, is that unfair punishments shall be meted out to protect the unworthy and appease the masses.

Mukul, in an earlier blog you said a West Indian victory would not be good for cricket. Now you have said, it is better for the world cup that India and Pakistan are out. You are however in complete favor of Sri Lanka winning the world cup. Apart from the fact that their board is as corrupt as any other, and that they have stubbornly backed a bowler that the majority of the world considers a chucker, and finally that most of the matches they host draw poor crowds, I suppose their victory does bode well for cricket! I stand by all my assertions, that you have no business talking about contemporary cricket.