Aryna Sabalenka lying prone on the court after winning the point that crowned her the US Open women’s singles champion is a familiar sight, often seen from winners of any of the Majors. Yes, it’s a tough grind over two weeks, and achieving victory must be a huge relief as well as joy for sure.
While it’s common to see men lying flat on their backs after a win, female athletes like Sabalenka face criticism for doing the same. Every individual has a right to celebrate his/her win as they think fit, as long as it’s within the confines of propriety. Sabalenka had been beaten in the final last year by Coco Gauff, an American, and here she was playing another American in the final.
The crowd was understandably rooting for the home girl, so the pressure was enormous on Sabalenka. Just before the semis against Emma Navarro, another American, she had jokingly told the crowd that the drinks would be on her if they gave her some support. She didn’t really need that in both the semis and the final, as she was miles better than her opponents and won quite comfortably.
This home support business is a natural thing, as nobody likes to see their country or country’s player lose, especially in a sporting contest. Yet this support is invariably held against Indian crowds by overseas media and commentators. They quickly forget that even in their own country it is the same, and their crowds are hardly likely to support the opposition.
I can say with experience of more than 50 years that it’s not just the Indian crowds who are silent when their team is not doing well but crowds in every country. If there is some noise when, say, India is doing well overseas, it’s because of the number of Indian supporters who travel long distances from India and who cheer for them and not the locals.
So next time, when some commentator or media person from overseas tries to talk about the silence of the Indian crowd when India is not doing well, we should ask them why their supporters haven’t come to cheer for their team.
This business of India bashing has to be countered with aggression because that’s the only language they understand. Recently, I heard someone saying it would be good for Test cricket if Joe Root overtook Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs and centuries in Test match cricket.
Please tell us what’s wrong with Test cricket presently when Tendulkar is owning the record and how will Test cricket be better if (and that’s a huge if) an Englishman goes on to hold it. In what way will it be better? Kindly enlighten us.
For some strange reason, there’s a perception overseas that BCCI does not like Test cricket.
That’s a ridiculous notion, as India play more than half a dozen Test matches every season, be it at home or away. Just because the IPL is massively successful doesn’t mean BCCI is not interested in promoting Test cricket, but that’s the narrative that’s being peddled by the overseas media.
The ICC just announced that the WTC final will be played at Lord’s next June. Well, we have heard the same declaration twice earlier, but as soon as it’s seen that England is not going to qualify for the final, the venue gets changed to Southampton or The Oval in London. Now that England is winning more Test matches in this period and there’s a good chance that they may get to the final, we are being told the final will be at Lord’s. Let’s wait and see. As the old Indian saying goes, DILLI (Lord’s) abhi bhi door hai.
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