The 7 stages of being a cricket fan

[CSK Fan]

Stage 1 : The starry eyed newbie

You know cricket is more than a religion in India. You know that everyone from your dad to the local rickshaw wallah, from the uber rich neighbour you envy to the maid's son, are cricket crazy. But you are only 9 (or a girl, or have lived outsided India for most your life) and wonder whats the big deal. So you decide to give the game a try. Maybe your friends force you, or your dad and his friends are all watching an important cricket match at your place while Pokemon is going on, much to your chagrin So your eyes are glued to the only thing on the TV, a stupid match. But before you know, you are sucked in. You realise that the ball crossing that rope is a good thing and you cheer with everyone else. And its an awesome sight to see the ball hit such a long way over into the crowds. When the wickets fly, you give the batsmen the middle finger along with the bowler. The passion of the crowd on TV and those around you are contagious and without realising whats going on, the context, or even who is winning or losing, you want to be a part of something which can cause so much passion in a human being. and thus, is a lifetime association with the greatest game ever, born

Stage 2 : - Blind belief in one's team and the casual fan

Now you are a die-hard cricket fan. But you are still in it only for the entertainement and because its whats others around you do. You want to be a part of the entertainement with a group or people you want to impress. You enjoy it best in the company of other people or in a stadium crowd. You show off in front of people, you support your club and your national team relentessly but only if their is an audience. If there is no one to watch, you may just switch over to another channel showing a soap opera even though you ensure that you catch the final score so that you can discuss it with your friends the next day. It is strongly advised to stay away from tests and stick to the shorter versions at this stage This is also the stage when you believe your team to be the best regardless of how they play and you support them blindly

Stage 3: The showoff and the blind belief in one's own cricketing prowess

You have been following the game for a while now. And you have discovered cricinfo's statsguru option. So now is the time for you to showoff in front of you friends. Do they even know who Hobbs is? Or Sutcliffe? Do they know the history of the game they blindly follow? What was the golden era in cricket? Do they know that the current era has some of the most average cricketers and we weren't lucky enough to be born in the golden era of the greats? And so on and so forth This is also the time when you decide to give cricket a go yourself. It doesnt look so hard on TV. And it pays better than any blue-collared job. You recognise the hidden talent in yourself and enroll yourself in the nearest coaching center. But soon it turns out that your talent is so well hidden that the coach and the academy fail to find it even after multiple attempts. You resign yourself to your fate and consider it one of the biggest loss to India after the Kohinoor diamond

Stage 4: The disillusioned and the pessimestic fan

One thing life teaches you is not to be too passionate about anything. You go crazy for a girl, she breaks your heart. You fall in love with an art form and it frusturates you. And you follow your team in sports and they wipe your face in mud the first chance they get. After investing countless hours in front of TV and some more preparing those posters and garnering support for your team among friends and foes, your team ends up near the bottom. Should you be blamed for feeling as you do? Of course every player is a fixer out for only money and your team is out to get you. God knows why you spend so much time following this loser of a team.

Stage 5 : Falling in love all over again

Finally after multiple stages of see-sawing between hope and despair, bitterness and joy, blind optimism and equally pie-eyed pessimism, you see what the game is all about. This is the stage you start appreciating a good shot even from a batsman of the opposing team. You still root for your team but the passion is now tempered. You would rather see a great contest between the two teams than a one-sided affair favouring your side. You can also objectively state where your team stands and praise the players you hate

Stage 6 : The connoisseur

Frankly speaking, no such creature exists, though pretenders abound. This is fanmanship at its purest form. When you follow the game because you love the game. When you transcend all boundaries of nationlism and pride, and enjoy every shot and ball for what it is and not in the context of the game. So when you see Misbah offering a perfect forward defense when the required run rate is over 10, you laud his technical perfection. Or praise Bradman or Sachin just because they exisisted. Congrats, you just proved your eligibilty for an old age home. Just hope they have cable with Star Cricket on it

[CSK Fan]

Some Mod please change the title to six stages instead of 7 please

[Mariyam]

Nice read. You write really well. From my understanding, initiation into (watching)cricket is always for one of the two reasons 1) Acceptance into a larger friends circle or trying to align your interests with those of your family/friends so that there is more common ground for conversation. 2) A sense of belonging to a nation/ city. Supporting a cricket team makes you feel Indian, though it shouldn't. Personally I haven't encountered anybody who started following cricket because of curiosity or interest in the finer aspects of the game. That interest is acquired later. Over the course of watching a few games. But that is not the initial driver of interest in the game.

[akshayxyz]

Very well put. :hatsoff:

[Roshanrocks]

Well written.... Please move to article section MODS, if MTC agrees i.e

[Shrimal]

hik.

[IKnowU]

I think we need another phase..........life without a cricket forum to express their feelings. :regularsmile:

[cricketlover]

articles been written before but a indian twist has been added to it good effort annd a nicce read.. good job