Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

When cricketers make more sense than politicians

Published : Saturday, 4 March, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 203
Afsan Chowdhury
After the thrashing Australia gave to the Indian side at Pune one would have expected Kohli and company to say all kinds of stuff and blame everyone else except themselves. However, instead of that Kohli has been marvelous and stated that the pitches are not to blame but the batsmen are. "We did our worst batting in the last two years." By taking the blame unto themselves they have shown a maturity that politicians including Indian politicians rarely show.
What makes it most heartening their promise to come back strong. "We needed a reality check. We must make a proper assessment and move forward." Australian team captain Smith has also said, that they expect India to come back and hit them really hard. It sounds like two mature team captains and individuals discussing a competition. How one wishes our politicians could learn a few things from them on how to deal with political realities.
Bangladeshi fans are very well known for their extreme comments. It's not just the abusive language they sometimes use but the kind of absurd expectations and predictions they make that irk. I remember a Bangladeshi fan saying on the on the one-off Test match: "Bangladesh is certainly going to win because it will score 600 runs and then put Indians to bat and bowl them out and we shall chase down the total easily."
Okay, he is a fan and can express optimism but when it becomes absurd, it begins to reflect a deeper malady, a national one about facing reality.  Our fans are like our politicians.
Compared to our fans, our players are certainly more measured and we don't say that Bangladesh is going to beat everyone hollow. There was once a time when we would get regularly whacked by every team playing anywhere. We were a cricket world joke but we fans never gave up on Bangladesh and in the end, we began to win, once, twice till we became respectable in ODI.  We have miles to go elsewhere - Tests and T 20- but we intend to go there one day. No more and no less. And no fireworks please!!!!!.
Commentator or fan?
Our politicians also sound like cricket commentators who have no idea what they are saying as they speak. Whatever comes to their mind or the first thing that does end up being said which makes even the listeners feel stupid. Some of our commentators are incredible like the one who said, "The team which will score more runs than their opponents will win."  Another said, "Partnerships will bring runs. Longer they bat and score runs, the higher will be the total. And if the total is high enough and the bowlers can get all the wickets before the other team reaches that, a win is certain."
What makes them say this? Well partly because they have to say them anyway. They are paid to talk so they talk and by this time they also know that nobody really takes them seriously.   So they keep talking no matter if they make sense or not. Its all about killing paid time.
 So what is wrong with our politicians that they say things that make the public howl in pain and laughter even in the worst of days?  Our Home Ministers are particularly good at this. Saying that the Rana Plaza was destroyed by the vibrations from the footsteps of the marching members of the BNP will never leave public memory. To be wanted to be remembered for saying some of the silliest thing ever said surely takes a great deal of mental strength.
Cricket teams, commentators and politicians are all produced by parts of the same economics but they play different part in it. Crowds don't pay money to listen to commentators or read fan comments, but to watch the team play. They can't be irresponsible even if they want to.  They are accountable for their performance. Commentators and fans come from the same crowd because whether they make sense or not doesn't matter.  Our politicians belong to the same category. Nobody really listens to them, so what they say matters much less.r
Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist,
teacher and researcher





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