What's with the average Indian?

[flamy]

I find it very amusing to talk about cricket with some casual cricket watchers and their utter bemusement at how we are the World Champions and Test #1. I don't know if this is a legacy of the 90s, an era of the game I know very little about other than Rajesh Chauhan, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Tendulkar :hehe: It seems like winning, and winning comfortably is something most of my peers seem almost uncomfortable with. One of my colleagues was shocked that West Indies was 9 down so quickly. Um... doh? Who is the best team in the world again? And then there are some homos who say the entire WC was fixed by the underworld. "Dhoni didn't play anything at all, and suddenly he plays like that in the final? Don't you smell something fishy?" :WTF: I'm also reminded of some homos on here who were hoping not to face Australia in the QFs, or any of the knockouts for that matter Sure, they are not cricket fanatics like us who are so psychotic as to spend all their free time on a forum discussing the game, but as popular as cricket is with Indians, why is it still a phew! than an Mmmm-hmmm when we win?

[Holysmoke]

You need to experience the scars of the 90's to understand that. When you realize that, it will dawn on you why Goddy is Goddy.

[kabira]

Well thats how we have been for last 200 years...

[DomainK]

There is a subservient attitude in some people. They love this concept of we are good, but we are not the best because of some strange inferiority complex.

[IKnowU]

India has always been the underdog for so many years........and there are fans who supported no matter what. It now feels weird that you dont have to really get behind the team to accomplish great victories and such....... Most importantly...............ENJOY IT WHILE WE CAN once our dominance is over......we are going to be the same people reminiscing over these glory days :((

[Sooda]

Think it is legacy oif the 90's. I dont see why it should be 'hard to believe' though, this route to Ni 1 has been a gradual process and not an overnight thing. Effectively a 10 or so year process since Ganguly/Wright took charge. InshaAllah hope it contiues for a long long time

[Sachinism]

Flamy you're too young to cricket. Oldies will tell you how India were capable of losing matches from any position. Nowadays we seem capable of winning from any position. We've learnt to never celebrate prematurely and that's why you hear stuff like 'Its the 90's all over again' after Sachin's 175 vs Aus

[phaedrus]

You need to experience the scars of the 90's to understand that. When you realize that, it will dawn on you why Goddy is Goddy.

precisely. going through heartbreak after heartbreak, match after match, he used to be the only ray of hope.

[Yoda-esque]

I am in my mid 30s..Old that is on this forum :) As many of the posters have said,the late 80s and the entire 90s was a bad period for an Indian cricket fan.I have lost count of the number of times that the Indian team lost a match with something like 50-60 runs needed in the last 10 overs with 5-6 wkts in hand. Players like Sameer Dighe,Jacob Martin,Soma sunder,More,Prabhakar,Chauhan,Raju were regulars. One also has to realize that there wasnt much money in the game at that time like now. Money can bring serious attitude,security and an air of superiority (which the Indian team has now). I guess in some way it also reflects the generation mindset of Indians.Me being born in the 70s , I am much more cautious and conservative than someone who was say born post 90. Remember,One is only a product of his/her times.No one is doing anything exceptional here. :)

[jairamesh]

Sure, they are not cricket fanatics like us who are so psychotic as to spend all their free time on a forum discussing the game

I haven't eaten or p00ped for days!!:gamer3:

[Karan114]

Its definitely a hangover of the 90s. I was thinking about this, when we drew the Test series in South Africa, that we had finally completed our journey into becoming a top side away from home, as it was the only country where we hadn't won or drawn a Test series since 2000. Till then it was a gradual thing - for a start, even winning one Test away from home, then winning a Test in each country, drawing series and so on.

[vvvslaxman]

Flamy.. you are not alone. i have bumped into a couple who are convinced that INdia buys matches. I was like .. WTF.... They just point out the mistakes made by opposition. Malinga running over a boundary for instance in the final. But they conveniently forgot his fiery celebration after dismissing viru and sachin. Even his smile after getting hit for 4 was considered to be "suspicious".. He does that all the time.

[saneindian]

Too many of us always ready with an axe to grind against our own cricketers. And when we do well, that's called as so what, we beat a low ranked team, we are doing well because others have gone down, we won a world cup in India which is not saying much. I am like WTF. Give credit where its due. The worst obviously is the usual garbage about matches being fixed and thrown away. I keep telling such fans to stay away from the discussion if they have nothing poisitive to say.

[ganeshran]

There is a subservient attitude in some people. They love this concept of we are good' date=' but we are not the best because of some strange inferiority complex.[/quote'] +1 Very true.

[Cricket Tragic]

How would the average Indian cricket fan react if we became a dominant side that basically won every series for 10 years? Would many lose interest or would the game become more popular?

[veer]

i think that's because many NRIs out of touch from cricket.. and India in general.. I have been visiting India almost every for last 5-6 yrs.. and I see lot has changed when compared to even early years of this decade.. And when I come back here and talk to other friends of mine who hasnt visited for long time, they are clueless. they talk like they are talking about another country..

[Vijay.Sharma]

Cricket Tagic, I think the game would become even more popular. Coming to Flamy's OP, I grew up watching cricket since 1985. The mid 80s India had one of the best ODI sides but after the Reliance Cup we became bad even there. Through out the 90s we were at best, a mediocre test team with 2 brilliant players. And many fans would take pride in their performances..only these two guys gave us something to salvage from those battles. Personally, my expectations are more inclined towards what the younger lot feel. Maybe it's got to do with holding on to unrealistic optimism...at a time when people would turn off the TV the moment Sachin got out, I'd not lose hope even when Srinath and Prasad were at the crease and we needed some 80+ runs to win in 10 overs. In spite of having only 2 players show up regularly we would win 50% of our games. The other day I was watching the innings of Sachin against Olonga. The previous game Olonga got sachin out with a bouncer and Sachin immediately in the next game showed who is boss. What is more important is for the guys who haven't watched India in the 90s, to listen to the commentary in those games to understand what one man was capable of doing and did more often than anyone else could. from those days to today we have come full circle. So while I still have the scars from the 80s and 90s that my fellow Indians have, my unrealistic optimism and clinging on to hope has ensured that I can relate to the younger chaps' view of their team. Just imagine the scars that people from the 70s would be carrying, if the 90s fans were so wounded!

[Cricket Tragic]

Haha, I remember that Srinath-Kumble partnership in Bangalore with their mums watching in the stands! That game also had a batting collapse, Somasundar opening the batting, Azhar getting a poor LBW, crowd trouble and a Tendulkar 80 odd (88 LBW to Waugh I think).

[Vijay.Sharma]

Haha, I remember that Srinath-Kumble partnership in Bangalore with their mums watching in the stands! That game also had a batting collapse, Somasundar opening the batting, Azhar getting a poor LBW, crowd trouble and a Tendulkar 80 odd (88 LBW to Waugh I think).

Yeah! It was miracles like those that fueled my beliefs

[phaedrus]

Haha, I remember that Srinath-Kumble partnership in Bangalore with their mums watching in the stands! That game also had a batting collapse, Somasundar opening the batting, Azhar getting a poor LBW, crowd trouble and a Tendulkar 80 odd (88 LBW to Waugh I think).

yup. what a match that was! both of them smashing it at the end.