I and the IPL 2019 Final

                                                         Image Courtesy: IPLT20/BCCI

Mumbai Indians Beat Chennai Super Kings By 1 Run,

Win 4th IPL Title

Screams a headline, but was it as bland as this?

I am a CSK fan. Period. I wanted MY team to win.

This is one perspective. I did NOT want Mumbai Indians to win. Does that make me a fanatic?

Yes and No.

There have been passionate discussions about the great IPL rivalry between CSK and MI.

There have been rivalries in the sports arena in the past and there will be in future too. It may be between countries or may be between clubs. If I support Chennai Super Kings because I am from that place, is it wrong? If I don’t support Mumbai Indians, because of the supposed ‘rivalry’ whipped up by screaming media, am I wrong?

I and my family couldn’t sleep after the IPL 2019 finals. It felt as if we have lost our pet. Depressed, dejected and frustrated as we can only talk and talk.

It felt like class 12 CBSE Board Examination results are out. It felt like I scored 97% and my friend and neighbour scored 98% marks. I felt I cannot face anybody because of shame. I had to justify and look for positives for CSK from the final match. Why? Why??

Are we taking a sport very seriously?  After all, it is a sport. IPL is sports entertainment. The players did entertain us in the close-fought finals. Can’t we be happy with this?

The sports pundits in the air-conditioned rooms analysing each and every moment get paid for that. The players are paid in crores. What do I – a simple fan- sitting in my apartment, screaming my lungs out when a six is hit, depressed when one of CSK batsmen is given out get out of this?

Does Dhoni know that one of his greatest fans is here in Delhi? Does he give a thought about thousands of such fans?  Does anybody for that matter speak about us who go about our routine in a morose mood because MY club failed to win the final?

The players display such wonderful camaraderie that should be copied by us fans. They have all moved on to their next big worry – the World Cup. The lucky ones going to England will wear the national colours and fight to establish the glory of our country.

What about me and thousands like me. One of the Whatsapp group displayed a video of a young boy crying to sleep because his ‘thala’ lost the final.

We have to take matters in our hands and become mature as we handle this kind of situation. We need to train our minds and teach our children to think of these as games and nothing more than that. As fans, we support our favourite time. But it is our duty to understand and display true sportsman spirit. This goes to the rival teams too. The heat of the moment makes us do and utter words that hurt. Let us not react but respond calmly.

Sundar Pichai is famously quoted as saying “it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.”  Let us be calm and think how personally the loss of CSK will affect us. I have to understand that the loss is neither personal to me nor the players. 

We need to carry this thought in all life situations. We need to keep calm and respond mindfully and not react at the spur of the moment.

Most of all, we need to teach and train our children how to stop, introspect, keep calm and respond to situations.

I wish my Indian team the very best in the upcoming 
World Cup.

.