Click to play videoAs the world and cricket-crazy Indians waited with bated breath for the Caribbean Cricket Carnival to kick off, CNN-IBN fanned across the country to celebrate the spirit of the Indian cricket fan on the official network of the Indian cricket team.
The CNN-IBN crew joined cricket fans, celebrities, musicians and others as they cheered for Team India hours before the grand opening ceremony at Trelawny Stadium in Daniel Town, Jamaica.
India cheers for the ‘Men in Blue’
The first one to kick off the Cheer for India special was actor and cricket nut Rahul Bose, who is also a member of the Indian Rugby Team.
“I think its wonderful when you have people making sand sculptures of a stadium at a beach in Puri or someone collecting stamps," Bose, who spent a lot of time playing cricket in his younger days, says. He, however, disapproves of some other ways to cheer for the ‘Men in Blue’.
"But saying of prayers at pandals is the kind of nonsense that Indian cricketers or any sportsmen just don’t need,” he asserts.
The actor said everyone seems to have forgotten that this is one-day cricket.
"Bangladesh has beaten Australia. At this point, we should be cheering and praying for our team to play the best of its abilities. We have an excitingly talented team in every department of the game. Whether it is leg-spin, off-spin, swing bowling, batting or anything. All that we all should hope for is for these guys to just go out there and play to their potential. Winning and losing is not in there hands," he observes.
All the hype and cricket frenzy will perhaps put our ‘Men in Blue’ under undue pressure, feels Bose.
On being asked if there is one man in the Indian cricket team that he would like to exchange places with, Bose said, “To have the genius of Sachin Tendulkar would be an extra-terrestrial flight for me.”
Is Team India crumbling under pressure?
There have been arguments and counter-arguments about Virendra Sehwag. Captain Rahul Dravid has even come out with a statement that they are waiting for Sehwag to perform. Even though they know that he has performed in the past.
Asked if Sehwag is being pressurised too much or should he be given ample time to perform, Rahul said, "Nobody has a clue whether this man will perform again or not. Of course you can’t dismiss the amazing batting record that he has had till now. It's a question of how much faith you place in him and I think, from what the media reports have been saying, the captain does have a lot of faith in him."
Talking about Team India’s ‘Iron wall’ captain Rahul Dravid, Bose said: “Rahul (Dravid) has the potential to become one of the finest Indian captains ever."
"Even in Rugby, it’s the captain who takes the final call and in this case too, you have to go with it. The best way is to give Virendra Sehwag a chance to perform. We need to place faith, and not pressure, on him. If it was someone like Sachin (Tendulkar) or Rahul (Dravid), it would have been a different story. But here, the jury is out,” Bose says.
So everyone has to go with the captain. If he says we should wait for Virendra Sehwag to come out and perform, we have to do so.
World Cup mania spreads across the country
Faye de Souza of Hyderabad was among cheering fans with CNN-IBN’s ‘Cheer for India’ bat. She said the people in Hyderabad have been cheering very enthusiastically for the ‘Men in Blue.’
CNN-IBN’s ‘Cheer for India’ bat arrived in the city on Sunday morning. By the evening, over a hundred fans had signed their ‘good luck’ messages for team India.
Families out for their morning walk decided to stop by the bat and sign it, saying ‘Good luck’ to India. “Either Sachin Tendulkar or Dravid will be the Man of the Series,” says one fan at the Necklace Road near Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad.
India wins hands down in the general consensus on who will win the World Cup this time. Fans cheered for Ganguly as well. Clearly when it comes to cricket, the entire country feels unanimous in its support.
Asked how he is going to make time for watching some good international cricket this World Cup, Rahul Bose says, "I had booked to go for the WC matches from April 5 to 11. But right now, I’m in preparation for a movie. The deeper I go into my movie, the more I’m going to embarrass myself if I don’t work at it. So, unfortunately, I had to cancel the whole trip. Perhaps I will catch the matches on TV."
Singer Shibani Kashyap cannot stop admiring Sachin Tendulkar.
"I have always admired Tendulkar. If cricket is a religion, then Sachin is the undisputed god. I also adore Rahul Dravid. The calmness about him and the unconditional loyalty that he has towards his teammates is fabulous," she says.
‘The obsessions to win is uncalled for’
Rahul Bose says there is a difference between celebration and obsession to win.
"This whole crazy madness about winning the World Cup is uncalled for," he says, sounding a note of caution. "Tell me one sportsman who doesn’t want to win? Why people think they are not trying enough? What’s going to happen to our boys if they lose? There should be celebration and an obsession to say ‘go out there and do your best.’"
"If you score 500 runs, but lose because they scored 501 runs in 50 overs, walk out and say ‘the better team won on that day. You should be able to say ‘I played my best.’ So what if you didn’t win," Bose argues.
Clearly, it's not about winning or losing, it's about playing to your potential in the best possible way. But cricket-crazy fans simply don't want anything less than the Cup.
World Cup 2007: It’s the spirit that matters
Some fans have taken the spirit of World Cup to a new level. Sabir Baksh, a professional scuba diver, has just done a music video under water, cheering for Team India.
Asked how did he come up with the unique idea, he says, "I am a professional scuba diver. I used to go for diving once or twice a week. When I came to India, I saw how people were going crazy cheering for Team India. I thought why not join them in this campaign in my own way. I went deep into the water with a camera crew and decided to make this video," he explains.
Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani, too, says he expects India to bring home the cup this time.
"I would like to wish all my friends who are going for the WC all the very best. Needless to say, the entire country is there to support you. We hope and pray that you get us back the Cup that we had won long time ago. Keep the flag flying high and get the Cup back," he says.
Singer Shaan says the unique thing about "our Men in Blue is that whenever the pressure is high, they come out doing very well. They should take inspiration from the English team that made a great comeback after a lull. I am sure we will do very well this time."
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