Aspi's revenge

Aspi shakes his head violently from left to right to center and then center-right again, before I lose track of his unstoppable movements. "No Sir, no cricket for so long."

Normally, the man is a walking-non-stop talking encyclopedia on the game, so his apparent ignorance about the India-Sri Lanka Test series which had just concluded, came to me as an Amazonian surprise. I have experienced him stopping the poor vehicle mid-way whenever Sachin Tendulkar is up to some fireworks, the client appointment be damned. Old-age, I surmised. Too much mutton fry. Or maybe he was caught up in the exciting whirl-wind of Abhinav Bindra's incredible, unprecedented feat at the Olympics. Either way, I was not convinced. It was time to do some market research."

So over a casual conversation, I quizzed another die-hard cricket fanatic called Radheshyam, who has the classic Omkara country-style aggression, and whose passionate running commentary with nationalistic overtones when India plays Pakistan would make Shri LK Advani appoint him as a BJP spokesperson perhaps. But that is another story.

"Radhey," I asked, with the rehearsed professionalism of a quiz-master, "Aren't you disappointed that even in the first ODI today, Dhoni's boys got humbled and hammered so easily?".

Radheshyam looked nonplussed, as if I was trying to pull a fast one on him.

"No idea, Sir. Which match?"

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As far as I am concerned, Aspi and Radheshyam are the common-folk who define the euphoric madness that is cricket in India. The fact that they were genuinely clueless about the national cricket team's whereabouts was indeed intriguing. Because not so long ago, they would religiously follow scores, evade official duty, give you quick updates, and could even come to a fist-fight if their respective favourites were even vaguely criticized. When India played any official match, the office experienced a humongous attrition. This time it just seemed extraordinarily unaffected. Too tranquil, too oblivious to be true.

May be, it is a fleeting fall-out of the Bindra effect, but I believe that it portends a subtle yet definitive, cataclysmic shift somewhere. Is it the excess of IPL-T20 slam-bam stuff which was hurriedly over-sold this Indian summer finally beginning to take it's toll? Are the meaningless and juvenile controversies between the ICC, BCCI, ECB and what-have-you finally getting one and all disillusioned with the general state of affairs? I don't really know for sure, but there seems to be a general disaffection in the air about Indian cricket. At our Board meeting the other day, the normally curious retired senior professional did not once check for mobile scores. And no one has recently sought my priceless opinions on the BCCI.

As I write, Australia has expectedly pulled out of the Champions Trophy to be held in September. Other countries will now conveniently follow suit. The so-called mini-World Cup faces a clear boycott threat. In one of my earlier columns I had explicitly suggested that ICC should simply re-locate the tournament, and work out a revenue-distribution model to placate Pakistan for financial losses. ICC obviously believes that playing cricket in Pakistan is akin to a serene walk in Hyde park. Unfortunately, some political formations don't. But I think the ICC should have had the sagacity to figure that one out.

If the Champions Trophy turns out be a damp squib or stands cancelled, rest assured, the game of cricket will take an earnest bashing.

But then maybe Lalit Modi will chuckle with sadistic ecstasy at the current disorder. Who cares a fig for the Champions Trophy when the Champions League would be round the corner, anyway? More money for less cricket -- now isn't that a great business model?

I am not so sure about that, but by then Aspi and Radeshyam might just have begun to observe traffic regulations.