*** Added as a note on Facebook on 9th April ***
A very good friend and a fellow foul weather fan of the Indian cricket team recently coined a term called AICF&M which stands for "Average Indian Cricket Fan & Media". Among many irritating qualities of the AICF&M is an extraordinarily short memory and a tendency to forget that the Indian Cricket team players are actually human beings.
The recent target of the AICF&M is Yuvraj Singh. The man who was the most critical player in the last two World Cup triumphs of the Indian cricket team had a forgettable outing in the 2014 final against Sri Lanka. He scored 11 off 21 balls at a crucial stage in the innings and deprived Virat Kohli of the strike. Now anyone who has played and watched cricket knows about its 'glorious uncertainties' as the commentators like to call it. Who knows, Virat might have got out when given the strike or MS Dhoni who scored 4 off 7 in the last 2 overs would've struggled more or India would have collapsed and scored even less. Even if India had scored 20-30 runs more, Sri Lanka were more than capable of overhauling the target.
As it turned out, Yuvi's slow innings played a hand in India losing the final. Was it as bad as Chris Gayle's 3 of 13 and Marlon Samuels' 18 off 29 in the semi final of the same tournament or Mike Gatting's reverse sweep in the 1987 World Cup final or the collective failure of the Indian bowlers in the 2003 final? Maybe, but the main question is that do we really need to punish the man so heartlessly?
No one is denying that Yuvi played badly. He had a bad tournament definitely and should be dropped from the team too. He will also be the last person in the world to ask for any kind of sympathy even though he has come back so admirably from a life threatening illness. But this is no reason for the AICF&M to ring the death knell on his career. If he does perform in the IPL and domestic tournaments, there is no reason why he cannot make yet another comeback in the team.
They say that you will never understand a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Anyone who has played team sports competitively should be able to empathize with Yuvraj. I remember two instances in my school days vividly. We were playing an inter school two day test match tournament called the Fram Irani Trophy. As is the case with domestic tournaments in India, the first innings lead was of utmost importance since there was a big chance of the match being drawn. We had batted first and hadn't scored much but our bowlers bowled magnificently. The last wicket was at the crease and both teams were trying desperately to get the vital first innings lead. I was fielding at cover when the batsman drove uppishly. I got my hands up in time but inexplicably the ball went through my fingers, triggered an over throw and we lost the vital first innings lead. I was distraught to say the least. My team mates and coach were livid and it was the most horrible day in my life ever. The second incident happened during a handball tournament. I was the goalkeeper and we were playing against a really good team with great forwards. They were really accurate and come what may I couldn't even get my hands to touch the ball let alone stop a goal. We lost by a huge margin and I was extremely depressed.
In both the matches, there were hardly any spectators on the ground. There was no press coverage whatsoever. No television and whatever came in the local newspapers was limited to a score summary with horribly misspelled names. So why did I feel so distraught? It's because in a team sport you know you have let your team mates down when you don't perform well. You know you have let yourself down when you make silly mistakes. If you have been in the same situation or somehow understand how I must have felt, just multiply that 10,000 times and you may get a sense how Yuvraj Singh must be feeling. This was a World Cup final played in front of at least 30,000 people and watched by more than a billion people around the world. Yuvi is an emotional person who plays with his heart on his sleeve. One look at his face after the match told you everything he was going through.
It is a harsh world we live in where news travels so quickly. Maybe 15 years ago Yuvi's performance would've been dissected and judgments would have been passed in prime team news and the print media the next day. People would've met the next day to discuss his future. But in this day and age the jokes started circulating around the world on Twitter and WhatsApp even before the presentation ceremony started. Some of them like the ones comparing him to Laakha in Lagaan were ridiculous. Some people who met him at the airport passed snide remarks. The most deplorable incident was the stone pelting done at his house.
There is no point in bringing up Yuvi's awesome debut against Australia, his Natwest innings, man of the series winning performances in the World Cup 2011 and his six sixes against Stuart Broad. It should not be because he played well earlier that he should be treated with respect. I wouldn't want even a debutant to go through the treatment meted out to Yuvraj right now. As a sportsman representing India, Yuvraj deserves our sportsman spirit, respect and humanity.
P.S. God was kind to me after both my disturbing incidents. In the Fram Irani Trophy, I took a simple yet crucial catch in the second innings of the match which we won outright thus negating the first innings deficit. In the succeeding handball tournament I was able to save a few goals in final match as well as the penalty shootout which gave us the championship. I hope and pray that Yuvi will also make a fantastic comeback soon!
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