HERO WORSHIPPING OF THE WORLD CHAMPIANS

All Indians are all proud to welcome the winners of the first T20 World Cup Cricket Team which was given a rousing reception on its arrival at Mumbai Airport. The team was taken to Wankhede Stadium (about 25 km away, 5 hrs drive) a top-open bus, called Vijay Rath and millions of cricket fans lined up or rather crowded everywhere on the way to the stadium. The media played its part brilliantly, which resulted in the unprecedented crowd everywhere to cheer the winning team. There were a few observations which are worth mentioning here. Lessons learnt.

1. Media overplayed the world cup win and generated this over hype which resulted in the loss of millions of man hours of work and study.
2. The players came back after a hectic schedule of matches and a long flight. When they came out viewers found only blue capped cops and suited-booted BCCI officials. One could hardly see the real heroes. It is unfair to the TV viewers.
3. In the bus meant for them, we could again see the officials more clearly than the players. In every frame, one official with suit and stripped tie could be seen.
4. There was no need to make the tired players to go all the way to Wankhede stadium, near Marine Lines. They were looking very tired and after some time, they were mechanically responding to the crowd. Unfair to the crowd again. The individual players may have to go through the torture again in their respective states within a day or two. Local politicians will try to take maximum mileage from this. The pressure seems to be too high on the players.
5. Millions of man-hours were lost and motorists were made to suffer in traffic jams due to this avoidable misadventure of procession..
6. Finally, on the stage in the front row only the Captain was seated. All other occupants were from the BCCI or state government. The real heroes were sitting in the second row and could not be seen clearly. BCCI is not the government.
7. The victory lap around the ground turned out to be a total mess with public crowding the players and the players could not be seen. Only the national flags could be seen. The police were mere spectators, could not control the crowd.
8. One of the speakers was talking about Maharashtra more than the cricket or the players and that too in Marathi. It is the Indian team and not Mumbai Team.
9. The movie Chak De, particularly the title song has really created national awareness amongst the younger generation and that has helped in amassing such a massive crowd all along the route to the stadium. Thanks to Shah Rukh Khan (SRK).
10. Sorry SRK, nobody bothers about Hockey. Recently the Indian team won the Asia Cup. So what?
11. Final verdict is the procession and the show at the stadium was more like a political meeting / mela with the party flags everywhere rather than welcoming the players who has won the world cup.

In all, I feel happy that our players have done a good job and I sincerely hope that the team sustains its tempo and continues to play as one team for the country. Let us not hero-worship the team too much, which may result in over confidence and take success for granted everytime. After all, it is cricket.