Shameful Performance
Would you buy a product simply because it is getting promoted on TV by your favourite cricket player ?
I will most definitely not.
Many cricket aficianados will say the same thing.
What relationship is there between a famous cricketer and a particular brand of scooter, a mobile network, or soft drink ?
NONE, whatsoever.
Some folks may fall for such advertising however. They are most certainly of the gullible variety, I would think.
The simple reason why famous cricketers in India resort to heavy product endorsements is very clear. They are making huge money while their respective stars are on the rising graph. And, that may not be for too long.
It is now absolutely clear that Indian Cricketers should focus on their cricket rather than on unrelated product advertising – that will not get them anywhere.
Look at their dismal performance in the World Cup T20 – they lost both to the West Indies and to England. In fact, one very famous cricketer boasted just before the match with England – that India would surely win and warned the English Team ! You know who……
Well, the result is there for all to see. Very poor batting, succumbing to spin bowlers like a pack of cards, easy catches, bad running between the wickets, et al. All that should have been avoided.
The poor judgement and the inexperience shows. The immaturity shows. The lack of teamwork shows.
Hope they would get a dressing down by the BCCI and some of the batsmen would be thrown out for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. Otherwise, there is another disaster waiting for the “famous Indian Cricketers” and Indian Cricket.
Cricketers should focus on their performance like what they do in other countries. There is no need for them to become advertising celebrities.
I do not agree with Sachin Tendulkar’s statement on TV today that we should all stand by our cricket team at this hour. He further said that couple of losses do not mean that the team is bad. But the fact is that these losses happened in the World Cup ! And the lack of teamwork was evident !! We cannot blame the loss on the absence of Virender Sehwag or player fatigue !!!
What is needed is a thorough performance appraisal and problem fixing, rather than push things under the carpet in the traditional Indian way.
Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
17th June 2009
Mumbai
Agreed, that the performance was shameful. India has been a team that performs quite well throughout the seasons except for big tournaments like the Champions Trophy and World Cup. But that’s no reason to blame their commitment level or teamwork.
We need to agree to the fact that the same team was performing well for the past two odd years. But unfortunately during the main event, most of its key players were out of form. That’s it. This doesn’t mean we start blaming them just coz they are seen more and more in advertisements nowadays. Weren’t they doing well with the same number of advertisements earlier? There wasn’t a problem then! But once they loose, everything goes…! These guys have a very small career span. Hardly twenty years and they do their best to earn money from whatever means just to keep theirs and their family’s future safe!
It’s good to point out what went wrong, but just not supporting a consistently performing team in times of crisis, questioning their integrity and commitmentness , stoning their homes is just not done.