Do Indian cricketers smile at all anymore?
Santosh Desai, writing in the Times of India , examines some of the reasons that may have contributed to what he says is an "unhappy form of arrogance" on the part of Indian cricketers in recent times.
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Santosh Desai, writing in the Times of India, examines some of the reasons that may have contributed to what he says is an "unhappy form of arrogance" on the part of Indian cricketers in recent times.
Some cricketers in particular seem to possess advanced degrees in scowling, and for some reason this is seen as a sign of 'attitude', which by today's yardsticks is a good thing to have. We see a reflection of this unhappy form of arrogance both on the field and off it, in the way they respond to other teams and in their public interaction with the media and their fans.
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We put our cricketers on a pedestal as easily and frequently as we lynch them and in a short period of time we make them immune not only to our reactions but to any outside perspective at all. The cricketer learns very quickly that everyone connected with the game has an angle, and in most cases it is financial in nature.
The nobility of sport and its implicit aim to elevate us through its emphasis of purity and perfection has ceded to its need to be entertaining, popular and financially lucrative.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo