The Average Indian Cricket fan

I pity them . The average Indian cricket fan. Their mood swings are extreme ranging from exuberance at India's victory or a Sachin's century to despair and charges of match-fixing whenever we lose badly. The psyche of a fan is pretty much like that of an Indian voter.In the long run nothing stays in his mind and all is forgotten with the eternal hope of optimism.

At my workplace , we have an internal communication forum called " News & Views" . Yesterday found a lot of people cribbing about India's dismal performance and throwing allegations of match-fixing. Amusingly these were the same guys who were on top of the world last week and crowning the Sehwags & Pathans as the best cricketers around.Such swings in mood are nothing new in Indian cricket fans and could be universally found across the cross-section of the country. Stories of cardiac arrests & seizures are common during nail-biting cricket matches . I was a big fan of cricket myself earlier ( Not that crazy anymore) and hence relate to their feelings.Indians in general are very emotional people and cricket (being a religion here) has seeped deep into their psyche.

At times it has also been strangely associated with patriotism. If you either do not watch cricket or support an opponent , then you are not patriotic ! I remember Bertrand Russel's wonderful quote on Patriotism .

" Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons -- Bertrand Russel "

Cricket is a sport , please do not make it an obsession.