Post by arvind arya

In this soccer season, as we prepare to watch Argentina- Spain final, we can hear sports lovers lamenting about country’s single minded focus on cricket that pales all other sports. However, while watching an old clip on YouTube relating to a test match played during 1971 England India series, I was amazed as to how much the game of cricket had changed over the years, stimulating me to pen a few lines in verse. The poem reads: Once upon a time, Existed there a gentleman’s game; That was played with patience and poise, We called it cricket by its name. A test match played over full 5 days, It had a day of rest too; Thus it lasted almost the entire week, Yet people enjoyed without any hullabaloo. Strokes were played on merit, With the play modulated as per the situation; One who played with responsibility and not rashly, Enjoyed the spectators’ adulation. Match series happened once in a while, Teams played either at home or abroad; Media analysed a day’s game threadbare, Star players enjoyed the status of God. But as goes a popular folklore, Change is the only constant; Cricket could not insulate itself from it, Things were different in the next instant. Cricket became fast and furious A day’s fixture ending in a result; All the poise and patience evaporated, ODIs and T20s acquired the status of cult. Hard hitting, strike rate and sledging, Were the new entrants in the vocabulary of the game; Men wearing white and in no hurry made way for, Colourful attire and bombastic cutthroat game. Adaptability is the way of life that helps us live in present; I too don’t want to live in memories galore; So I watch, enjoy and participate in today’s fast paced game But not fully able to overcome nostalgia of the yore. #worldcupsoccer #cricket #transformation