#Title
Is the outrage and the extent of it justified?
NABID YEASIN
It was an anticlimactic finish to the 2023 World Cup for arguably the largest cricketing fanbase -- India fans -- as they saw the best team on paper tumbling at the final hurdle only for Australia to clinch their sixth title last week.
With 10 straight victories, statistically, India remained the most successful team in the last World Cup as the tournament winners themselves boast a victory less than the Men in Blue.
Seeing that dominating run end at the final stage to a team that they had already beaten in the group stage was definitely not what over 100,000 raucous fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad expected.
And even though the sea of blue was kept quiet during the course of that six-wicket win by the Aussies, India fans made their presence known -- mostly in an unfortunate manner -- almost from the moment the game came to a close.
The latest outburst was by an RTI activist, who filed an FIR in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh against Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for keeping his feet on the World Cup trophy during celebrations in the Aussie dressing room following the final.
Cummins shared a picture of Marsh with his feet on the coveted trophy on social media, with media and fans deservedly accusing him of disrespecting the biggest prize in cricket history.
“I am hurt. The trophy for which all the teams in the world fight, the trophy which you want to lift over your head, keeping a foot on that trophy did not make me happy,” India pacer Mohammed Shami, top wicket-taker with 24 scalps this World Cup, said on Thursday.
Shami’s condemnation is understandable as it was kept just within a few words of dissatisfaction.
Undoubtedly, Marsh’s act was condemnable, but the question remains if it was something that warranted the start of a criminal procedure.
According to local media reports, the alleged complaint against the 32-year-old all-rounder is that he deliberately humiliated 140 crore Indians by his gesture. The police officials also reportedly accepted the case and filed an FIR based on the same.
A copy of the FIR was also sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to prohibit Marsh, who features regularly in the Indian Premier League, from playing in India moving forward.
If Marsh’s act in a frenzied post-triumphant environment was indeed a ‘deliberate’ one to ‘humiliate’, the hurls of boos from the crowd at the umpire Richard Kettleborough while collecting his medal after the final, the chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli’ when Cummins lifted the trophy, and most importantly, the vile social media attacks on Aussie cricketers’ wives may need some categorisation as well.
Glenn Maxwell’s wife Vini Raman, who is of Indian descent, responded to the hate messages as she wrote on Instagram: “Aaaaand cue all the hateful vile DMs. Stay classy… Can’t believe this needs to be said BUT you can be Indian and also support the country of your birth where you have been raised and more importantly the team your husband plus father of your child plays in #nobrainer. Take a chill pill and direct that outrage towards more important world issues.”
The FIR incident took place three days after Maxwell’s wife urged for the ‘outrage’ to be directed somewhere important, so it is clear that the Indian fans failed to comprehend the logic behind it. But maybe, it is time that they start doing so -- if at all the ‘outrage’ is justified.