Indian cricket came to the forefront in 1983 when India, underdogs back then, played like champions and lifted the coveted world cup. Since then, Indian fans got a lot to cheer for, as Indian team performed well and was the only game in which India had any international standing.
Even today, other than an exception every now and then, cricket is the only sport in which India has produced players of international repute. But with Sachin admitting that he feels too old to play in one day games, Saurav not being able to show the form he was once famous for, Dravid seemingly bent under the weight of captaincy, and there being no youngster who has shown himself capable of replacing even one of the three great players, it seems it is curtains for Indian Cricket.
Like most sports, the way cricket is played has changed over the years and across the world. And like most sports, India finds itself being left behind while the others keep improving and getting better.
If that was not enough, match fixing allegations, have rocked the cricketing circles in India. And when a match has ended closely, the fan is left in a doubt as to what he just saw was an excellent display of sportsmanship or an excellent display of stage management on the cricket field.
And even if that was not enough then the recent creation of ICL has further questioned the intentions of the people who are running the game in India. Are they in it for the love of the game or for the love of money? Needless to say that money is important for developing a game but when money begins to dominate the game, the game has no future.
I will not predict that this is the end, or even the beginning of the end, but I can’t help but wonder : is this the end of an era?
Once again, I am guilty of ignoring this blog for more than a month. I have no excuse this time, and so will plead guilty, and seek a lenient punishment from all the readers.