THE AURA OF CRICKET..

Some ten years ago, there used to be a popular Close-up ad, where Ajay Jadeja, the most popular cricketer of his time, tried to get close to a gal, and finally was able to get close to her with his 'close-up confidence'. I still remember the conversation in that ad-
Ajay-Hi, I am Ajay
Gal-Cricket fan toh nahin?
A-Nah. Cricket?? Silly game. Ek choti sa game aur uske peeche bais deewane
G-Aur uske peeche?
A-Baais laakh expert!!!!

Now, here Ajay clearly mis-stated the figure. It has to be in Crores..Cricket Expert is the most available specis in India, back then and even now. And the question is how come the number of cricket lovers (read experts) is not going down?? Are the new innovations the tool to keep the business of cricket ticking?? Is it an effect of Twenty-20?? Or simply the passion associated with the very name of the game-the gentlemen's game-Cricket??
When we talk about cricket from the perspective of a viewer, we have to keep in mind that no one watches anything for nothing. We watch a movie for enjoyment (no doubts here, even if you say you watched Legend of Bhagat Singh because you are a patriot, and Elizabeth because you love history!), news for selfish resons of expanding our knowledge base, and WWE to satify our Mr. Hydes. But cricket? A game that can run up to five days and still produce no results? Or finish in just over an hour with a slice of luck turning the match in someone's favour?? A game, to watch which we spend 400 bucks a month on our Tata Sky or Dish TV?? A game the micro-mini format of which costs us a 1000 bucks for a single ticket (the price of 5 movies, three whiskey bottles or a visit to your nearest amusement park; whatever you like)?? Then why would anyone watch cricket leaving aside all his alternative choices of entertainment???

The answer is ' I don't know'. I really don't know. As you can see, I myself know I have so many alternate options of entertainment, but I cant skip a cricket match. Not even when India plays Hong-Kong in some stupidly organised tournament. This is something I call the aura of Cricket. It is, alongwith Bollywood, the greatest leveller India has ever seen. I took extra care not to say Sports here, as at this point of time, cricket is the only game where India produces world class (however small a world it might be) players, and no other sport can take away its credit. Cricket is the only game which is accepted with equal ease and affection on all its formats, it is only sport that produces a man who earns more than a Bollywood star. The aura of cricket is so mindblowing that when we think about Indo-Pak cricket, we remeber a certain Kanitkar who hit a boundary of the second last ball to give us an emphatic win. We remeber a Prasad blowing up the defences of a certain Sohail. We celebrate the only world cup victory even after 25 years, with a week-long schedule.
This is awesome! This is incredible. This is extraordinary. This is Cricket!

Hail Cricket!!!