Out of the Box

Yesterday, I got a chance to attend a very interesting event. It was about a game that I, as a Rock singer/ Voice trainer have really little to do with but probably occupies the maximum space in the leisure time of most Indians. I am talking about Cricket, a game that has millions of dedicated fans in this country. The banquet Hall of the Taj Land’s End was swarming with some of the greatest icons of the game and the occasion was the book launch of Harsha Bhogle’s “Out of the Box”, a book about Cricket in changing times.

Sachin Tendulkar launched the book in the presence of an audience that comprised of Lalit Modi, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Rajdeep Sardesai along with stalwarts of other Indian games like Dhanraj Pillai, Michael Ferreira etc. There were also a sprinkling of film stars, page 3 celebrities besides the dozens of photographers and Press professionals.

In the panel discussion that followed the book launch, the subject of the losing popularity of Test cricket to 20/20 cricket seemed to become the main topic. Lalit Modi, as CEO of 20/20 and BCCI official, was roundly criticized by Rajdeep Sardesai for the shoddy and uneven development of the game while Lalit Modi defended his position with the argument that the consumer was king. It was also interesting to see Cricket players and officials discuss the development of other sports and games in the country although the declining fate of Cricket in the rest of the world was also loudly lamented!

As usual, the discussion was great entertainment and food for thought etc. but the ‘take home’ was sadly missing! Except maybe for what somebody, who was not a part of the panel discussion, said when he was asked about his suggestions to increase the popularity of Test cricket. It was the little genius, Sachin Tendulkar himself! Taking a leaf from his own experience, he remembered the time when, as an eight year old school boy he went to watch the India v/s West Indies Test match in Mumbai. It was an experience, the memory of which was forever etched in his mind and it ignited his passion to start him on a journey that would lead him to finally become of the greatest cricketers of all times!

If only BCCI allowed school children to watch Test Cricket free on certain days, it could lead them to become Test fans for the rest of their lives. Just a 10% success rate would be enough to guarantee the proliferation of Cricket for generations to come!