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Azhar's No-ball
Azhar's No-ball
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Times
of India
Date: June 19, 2000
What had been simmering
under the surface has finally erupted, and it is none other than Mohammad
Azharuddin who has brought it out into the open. Azhar says he is being
targeted because he belongs to a minority community. With this he has opened
up a dangerous can of worms; moreover, and the `minority card' Azhar is
playing may turn out to be a loser's hand. After all, he would have to
explain why -- if his allegations of being made a victim of minority-bashing
is valid -- he was made the captain and kept on as skipper for so long.
If the world of cricket is really that communal, how can he explain the
fan following he has among cricket lovers all across the country? How will
he explain the fact that he was built up as a star by these very people
at whom he is now wagging an accusatory finger? Perhaps, Azhar could say
that his talent was too prodigious for even the most communal of his foes
to keep under wraps; but neither his batting average nor his leadership
skills would support such as assertion. Notwithstanding his elegance and
his silken touch, there have been many others who've done as well as Azhar.
Navjyot Singh Siddhu is the most obvious example. Then there was the wily
cricketing brain Ravi Shastri. Neither of them have had as much of a free
reign as Azharuddin. Indeed, Ravi Shastri, who is one of those Azhar has
threatened to sue has always supported Azhar, at least in his television
commentaries. So it is sad that Azharuddin should now react to locker-room
comments made by people -- comments which were never supposed to reach
his ears, in the first place.
But is Azharuddin really
to blame for taking such an extreme step? Regrettable and cowardly as it
is, there is perhaps some truth in his outburst. And that truth need not
be about those who he has named. It is an accusation that holds more water
when it is aimed at a wider public domain, where snide comments about Azhar's
loyalties and his religious beliefs have become part and parcel of everyday
roadside cricket punditry. How many times have cricket buffs participated
in post-match conversations where the coroner's report has `proved' beyond
doubt that the `perfidious' Azharuddin has sold out to the enemy? When
Cricketgate first hit the headlines everyone was sure it was Azharuddin.
If there is speculation that there is a Dawood Ibrahim plant in the cricket
team the immediate candidate for popular vilification is Azharuddin. Till
now this had remained within the confines of private conversations, but
when the murmurs become a resonant chorus it is as good as being a public
indictment. It is not a simple problem which has easy solutions: For every
verbal stone thrown at Azhar there is also real love and admiration --
often residing in the same cricket fanatic. Azhar should have understood
this paradox, this complex relation between cricket, nationalism and hero-worship.
Just as it is the positive aspects of national passions that made him a
hero, its reprehensible slide into jingoism paints him as a `traitor'.
If he reacts to public prejudice he will have to pay the price of losing
public affection -- and his image of heroic patriotism.
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