His face appears on hoardings in every city, and fills the television screen in the commercial breaks. People are proud, not jealous, of how brilliant and wealthy he is. In certain English circles it is possible that Gatting and Emburey, say, have a certain cachet, but glamour? Pull the other one.Either way, the nation – or at least the authorities – will make stern sacrifices for the sake of cricket. But it is mighty persuasive.To restrained English eyes, perhaps the most telling aspect of the sub- continent’s enthusiasm for cricket is that it is fuelled partly by a love of fame and glamour. Cricketers truly are icons: Tendulkar – Sachin to his millions of would-be friends – is the most famous man in India. It is not exactly intimidating: despite the presence of thousands of policemen with sticks and guns, it does not feel hostile.
It is important to have something to wave while the television replay sorts out a stumping.You can easily feel how the mere volume of all this might affect an umpire. When opposition batsmen play and miss, there is a great whooping roar, and, crikey, it feels out Every lbw feels, for an instant, absolutely plumb. Spectators are handed the usual cards saying 4 or 6, but they also get ones that say “Out” or “Not Out”. When Courtney Browne dropped Tendulkar, there was pandemonium: flags and banners waved in the screaming stands as 40,000 fans (capacity: 30,000) jumped with glee But when he was out.. nothing.
They adore controversy, though, and the sponsors encourage them. But otherwise the opponents’ peaks are greeted with stony silence. Nice.As for applauding the opposition, well, Lara got a big shout when he given out. Stones were thrown at Ottis Gibson when he went to field on the wonderfully manicured boundary at Gwalior. Darren Gough was narrowly missed by what was officially called a “small wooden spear” (sounds like a stick to me) in Peshawar Not all the banners are tasteful, either “Tailless monkey Ambrose”, one shouted. It is tradition here to throw fruit and paper darts at the opposition, but now it seems there is something of an arms race going on. When Kambli fielded in the deep, then turned and doffed his cap, it was as if the last wicket had fallen.
Someone waved a hasty sketch: a huge pair of lips with the word “Vinod” underneath.Indians love to claim that their crowds are knowledgeable, appreciative and impartial Do not believe a word of it. When Azharuddin walked out to toss up, he was greeted with the kind of roar that elsewhere is reserved for the winning hit. But it is also because national pride plays a big role out here. In the last hour at Peshawar the “crowd”, if we can call it that, forgot about the match and sang Pakistani slogans, with the odd fierce jibe aimed at India just for fun.
But things are warming up: the match between India and the West Indies at Gwalior provided the first glimpse of the sub-continent’s passion for cricket in full cry, and it was quite a sight. This was partly because tickets were available only from banks – and the banks were closed for two days prior to the match.
