Me, Myself & Cricket

Those who have been around me for some time now know very well about this deviation of mine from the average and rather common inclination to love this game amongst the nearly one billion Indians, but for those who are not aware, let me play a scene that has been very common in my life...
X: (to me) Yaar, do you know the score?
Me: Of what?
X: (surprised) Of the cricket match dude!!
Me: (inquisitively) who is playing?
X: (shocked) India and someone yaar! Don't you watch cricket?
Me: Nah, I don't like it!
X unbelievingly walks away!
Now, let me try to explain my reasons for not liking the game!
I think it is the most unfair game there can ever be and this stems primarily from the fact that at any point in time, different teams are doing different things. One is batting while the other is bowling and fielding. In games that I like, there is a sense in having both teams do the same thing at any point in time. Like in football, both the teams are running after the ball at any second; in tennis, both the players are hitting the ball... in these games, it's not like one is hitting balls at the wall while other is dancing, is it? If I try to find another game like cricket in this regard, the only game that comes to my mind is baseball, which is really just another form of cricket to me. However, since I don't know much about baseball, I will limit my thoughts to cricket only.
I can't think of any other game where the toss can change the game so drastically! Generally, the toss decides who will serve first, or which side will one choose, but even that changes after half-time or something like that. There is an attempt to nullify the effects of the toss. It's not like the person who wins the toss in tennis will ONLY serve if he chooses to, or the team who wins the toss in football will not change sides after half-time. I remember, in waterpolo, when I used to take a decision after having won a toss, I would think of where east and west was, because I did not want my guys to be staring into a setting sun while playing. But I know that it was only our magnificient Kharagpur that had an East-West facing waterpolo pool. Our coach used to say that nowhere in the world is waterpolo played in an outdoor pool, let alone an east-west facing one! The point is that winning should be dependant more on calibre and less on lady luck. In cricket, with a toss, a team can decide to bowl on a dew covered pitch which will not be there when the other team comes out to bat; a team can choose to have the other team field under the floodlights, while it fields under the sun! With a toss, sometimes, a Captain can have the match in his bag even before the first balls are bowled!
Even the Rain Gods can change the course of a match in a way unimaginable in any other game. My decision to put my thoughts regarding cricket into this blog came after such an incident yesterday. Delhi Daredevils were on a blazing start, scoring at close to 11 runs an over with 9 wickets in hand till the end of 8 overs in a crucial Twenty20 match between Delhi Daredevils and Punjab Kings XI, when the downpour started. After half an hour of rain and a lot of complicated mathematics, they were told that they now had only 3 more overs to post their final score. So, the Delhi team, which had thought that it had to conserve its wickets for 20 overs suddenly found itself with a lot of wickets to spare but too few overs left to throw the bat around, like one does towards the end of a Twenty20 match. And then it was the turn of Punjab King's XI to bat, knowing the total and also knowing very well that the bowlers of Delhi Daredevils had only 11 overs to bowl them out. Punjab Kings XI had to preserve their wickets only for 11 overs and they could really afford to throw their bats at everything right from the start. After around 7 overs, Rameez Raja was bent on comparing the scores of the 2 teams and made no qualms about announcing that Punjab Kings XI was way ahead of Delhi Daredevils. I say, how can you even compare the two scores? Delhi Daredevils' batsmen were playing thinking they had another 13 overs to go, Punjab Kings XI batsmen knew they had only some 3-4 overs left to bat. I am definitely not saying that Delhi Daredevil would have been in a better position if they knew from the very beginning that it was an 11 over match. I am only saying that I found the idea of comparing scores at any instant and declaring which team is "way ahead", absolutely meaningless. Little did I know that this absurdity would be taken to a completely different level soon! Initially, the match was still worth watching because Delhi Daredevils had posted a decent total, even for an 11 over match but then the worst happened. Rain came down once again and it washed away all hopes for Delhi Daredevils as the match was won by Punjab Kings XI based on the Duckworth Lewis system!
When the rain came down for the second time, it was the Punjab Kings XI batsmen who were the first ones to leave the ground because they knew that they had won the match if play were to stop. Even the commentators were of the opinion that the game could have continued, depending on the situation. 3 overs was all that remained between a respectful, albeit a slightly unfair end to the match and a totally pointless, disgraceful end. I was feeling sorry for the groundsmen who were not willing to bring on the covers when the umpires signalled, hoping that the umpires might just decide to continue with the game, even in that slight drizzle. The Delhi Daredevils team never left the field, ready to deliver the last few deliveries as soon as possible. The spectators who had come to see a match where they would atleast see the winning runs being scored or the last wicket being taken or the last ball being bowled, were left staring at a decision based on the Duckworth Lewis system, flashing on the screen.
Any game, I believe should be a test of the talent and not luck. Cricket, to me, is a game of some talent (no doubt) but also of fortune and externalities. The wind will always either help batsmen and impede bowlers or the other way round. Rain will always be beneficial to one team and unwelcomed by the other. Pitch conditions, atmospheric temperature, light... everything always affects the two teams differently. Then, is the result of the match truly a measure of the team's skills? In my opinion, any game should always try to minimize the effect of externalities and limit the influence it has on the result. A game of my choice should be a little less vulnerable to weather conditions. And a game which I can admire should always end on the field and never, oh never, off it, based on some mathematics that no one understands, which could put the Black Scholes equation to shame;the one they call the Duckworth Lewis System!