At the end of the pandemic pit, they point to the floodlights as they talk about the magic power of sports to dilute the tragedies that unfold in overcrowded hospitals and underused workplaces. Germany may still be dealing with nearly 1,80,000 successful events, but a surge of hope had allegedly hit the nation since May 15, when Bundesliga returned after the corona break.
At the same time, in India, that mass mood-swing will come about towards the end of this year when the much-delayed Indian Premier League is likely to blast off if some influential cricket voices are to be believed. And if you trust any of the top BCCI office-bearers, a cricketer-turned-MP, any franchise owners and a lot of opinion-makers, that’s when cricket sends the spirit of this suffering, restless nation to soar.
Considering the current overwhelming pall of gloom over the curve of the unbending corona, that would require some effort. Poor old cricket, it seems to be far beyond its weight category for some heavy-lifting. If cricket had legs, they ‘d break under the pressure of this unwelcome extra duty. In India cricket has been charged with various tasks over the years.
It is expected to be the unifier for the country, brand ambassador, top entertainer, medium for frequent wars with neighbours without guns and a powerless pawn in tricky diplomatic negotiations. So now they want it to go into a bio-safe bubble and become a hero to the corona too. It is about overestimating the healing power of cricket as much as underestimating this once-in-a-century crisis which is responsible for nearly 4,00,000 plus deaths. The dread of bumping into some asymptomatic super spreader at the milk booth next morning can not even be lessened by a T20 cricket evening.
Even if you’ve tried, the spectacle of empty seats, umpires in gloves, socially remote batsmen and bowlers uncertainty handling the sanitized balls will keep reminding cricket fans outside the closed stadium gates of the creeping virus. Many who propose this idea of a Prozac pill being a sport or the ultimate elixir always speak of history. There is no doubt that sports brought war-weary England back to life. Because the pandemic’s hopeless confusion is so distinct from England’s post-war optimism or the “we can overcome” atmosphere during the Depression.
So far, we haven’t seen supporters clanging the Wankhede gates in Mumbai Indians jerseys, leading the BCCI to restart IPL so their mood can change and they can happily turn their back on the virus. Forget dharna, on Twitter, and there wasn’t even a hashtag “IPL can beat COVID.” The push to switch on the stadium floodlights is expected, considering the modern-day reality of commerce being the engine driving sports. Fire from the shoulders of millions of cricket fans in the world is a questionable move that deserves a red card, without absorbing their opinion.
The pandemic season of this IPL should be seen with the same scepticism that is reserved for business activities to resume at a time when the virus is still on the loose. When you switch your mobile phone between score updates on the cricket apps and keep an eye on those diagnosed positive COVID-19 in a 500-meter radius on Aarogya Setu, the spirit of the nation can not rise.
