Most Indians do not really care about cricket. Deluding ourselves into believing that cricket is akin to a religion in India is just not worth it. I doubt that the Blue Billion is really a notion except in some ad campaign manager's imagination. More realistically, the really avid fans comprise a few (hundred) million, at best. Among these few million, the actual cricket fans are even fewer. If Indians really cared about cricket the Ranji trophy would be played in front of packed houses and people like Yashpal Singh would be household names.
No, most Indian cricket fans are just followers of cricketers, most of them spoonfed by the media (click here for Amit Verma's take on this). And even within the cricket team, the glamour boys are the Indian batsmen. That's it. Anil Kumble is shunted in and out of the team but no one even murmurs that the greatest wicket-taker in Indian cricket history - ODI or Tests - has been given a raw deal. But drop a Virender Sehwag and people will remind you of the glorious 309 he hit to defeat our arch-rivals.
But to say that Indians are the only ones who are like this would be a mistake. Today, when a bowler gives less than 50 runs in a 10 over spell he is considered to have done his job. That should tell you a lot about the priorities of the ICC in terms of making sporting wickets. People want to see sixers and fours, they say. Really? I think they have made people believe that they want to see fours and sixers.
Sunil Gavaskar would not have been able to maintain his place for long in the current set up. He would have been considered too slow. Ironically, Bapu Nadkarni would have been revered as a hero, even though he is a bowler.
Ah! If you do not know why Bapu Nadkarni would have been revered but do know who Gavaskar is then you probably have been following cricket spoonfed to you in this "golden age of batting".
I rest my case.
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