Today, the Prince of
Calcutta takes on his erstwhile kingdom in – what is being called – the most
anticipated match in this year’s IPL. Calcuttans and Bengalis the world over
have chosen this match to teach Shah Rukh Khan a lesson for treating our Prince
badly.
Today, I am in a minority among
Bengalis (and Indians) as I support KKR – like I have done for the last five
years.
I hate Sharad Pawar.
I hate N Srinivasan. I hate whoever the Chairman of selectors is. But I don’t support
Australia when they play India. I have a million
grouses against the way Indian cricket is run but I still scream my lungs out
when Dhoni plays the helicopter shot to hit a six. And I share this hate-love
emotion with a billion Indians. I cannot think of a single Indian – except
probably Srikkanth – who loves BCCI.
Strangely, Bengalis
and Calcuttans have chosen to do the opposite. Probably because IPL is not real
cricket and more of a carnival. I am sure if Sourav goes on to coach, say, New
Zealand, the same people will not cheer for them when they play India.
Since the grouse is
against the owner and not against the city, the anger should also be directed
that way.
Don’t buy KKR jerseys.
Don’t buy the products SRK endorses. Boycott brands which sponsor KKR. Most importantly,
don’t buy the stadium tickets. By paying big bucks to go to Eden Gardens (and
cheer for Pune), you are actually strengthening the franchise (and thereby
reducing the chance of someone else buying it out).
Support Kolkata, not
SRK.
I love Sourav
Ganguly. But not more than I love Calcutta.
This is my city and
my team. And I will not let a stammering ham take it away from me.
Go Kolkata!
Comments
2. "Stammering ham". :D
I am sorry to say that one of the most shameful events i have had to endure as a Kolkatan was not the 1996 semifinal or 1999 Indo Pak Test match. It was a one day match against SA in 2006 or was it 2005. When Ganguly had been sacked from the team and Dravid was the captain. The people in the stadium booed the indian team and supported SA. I am sure you would agree that it was a real cricket match. I dont think that nowhere in the world has such a shameful thing happened. It was humiliating. Their ire was against Mr. Chappell (without going into his skills as a coach, it was forgotten that it is the selection committee and then the senior board officials who decide on sacking of such influential players).
I have spent my entire life in Kolkata except for 4-5 years when i studied and worked in Bangalore and Mumbai. They have had their icons in Dravid, Kumble, Tendulkar in the modern era. But the people there have never made them larger than the team itself, larger than the sport itself.
And that is why we come under a lot of ridicule from the rest of the country.
PWI seem more like a calcutta team what wt subrato roy owning it and sourav ganguly captaining it :)
So somehow this time round dont feel the "taan" for KKR,somehow....though as a team they are playing wonderfully well!!!
"Probably because IPL is not real cricket and more of a carnival. I am sure if Sourav goes on to coach, say, New Zealand, the same people will not cheer for them when they play India." True that, it is a carnival. Tell me honestly, do you for that matter watch IPL for great cricket like we all do while watching the ICC World Cup?
Take Mahendra Singh Dhoni and put him out. There will be an uproar amongst the Indians. Take an Indian who plays good cricket and make him sit a match out and put people who're not Indians in that team. Irritating, right? Similarly, take a Bangaali out of Kolkata's team and have everybody else in it. Ouch.
Very obviously, over New Zealand, we will choose India, because we are Indians. But that India is unified by regions, ethos, cultures and languages. A team named after Calcutta, playing in Calcutta without Calcutta's ace cricketer in it? Well, that does sound wrong, doesn't it?