A Letter from INDIA to the Indian Cricket Team

Dear Team India,

You know that cricket is celebrated like festival in India. It runs like blood in the veins of every Indian, be it rich or poor. No Wonder the anxiety and anticipation of India-Australia cricket quarterfinals on 24^thMarch 2011 overshadowed the death anniversary of Shahid Bhagat Singh that fell on 23^rd March, 2011 (his 80^thdeath anniversary). No one for once remembered, forget paying tribute, the young man who sacrificed his life at the age of 23 for independent India. The nation was enthralled with the anticipation of witnessing Sachin’s 100th century in international cricket and his 18000 run feast. Let’s not forget how many ‘havans’ and ‘special prayers’ were done for your victory against Australia in the quarterfinals.

The martyrs of the past are now the part of history textbook but you the Indian Team are the current heroes of the Nation. We look up to you to give us something, a recognition of “sporty India”; a recognition apart from the “poor victims of corruption”.  It feels good to be titled as ‘Cricketing Nation’ than ‘Corrupt Nation’.

All the political parties and the ministers (not leaders- it is a very dignified word), whom we elected have showed us the ugly side of the game and shamed us with their dismal performance in all the fields - team(with integrity and honesty), captaincy (leadership), batting (top order- giving good guidance, middle order- providing solid growth, lower order- playing sensibly not ducking with bribes), bowling (restricting runs- restricting corruption, getting wickets- nabbing the corrupts and criminals) and fielding (containing inflation, population explosion, crime rate and unbridled construction).

So Team India in your victory we’ll find the balm for the excruciating pain that is caused to us by the 2G spectrum scam, the Commonwealth scam, the note for vote and the prevalent corruption  (We wonder why the news calls these sinister crimes as scams), which has scarred our souls and wounded our hearts badly. In your victory we’ll find the joy, the solace, the pride of being an Indian- a winner and not a corrupt.

If you, the Blue Brigade, fail us in the days to come, don’t worry, we won’t be more heartbroken and lost than we already are. We’ll gulp the news of loss in the same manner like we have gulped the poisons of n-number of scams till now just with a few noises and going silent thereafter, expecting nothing.

But remember we want to see the ‘Men in Blue’, you,  lifting the cup, we want to hear the world applauding us for being victorious and feel the glory of India- the nation of cricket lovers not the land of scams.

An Indian

** I tried my best to get it in some national english daily... missed out. Probably not a newspaper material or even the print media works on 'solid jugaad' :)