by AJOY ASHIRWAD MAHAPRASHASTA
Interview with Ashis Nandy, scholar of psychoanalysis and Indian society and author of ‘The Tao of Cricket: On Games of Destiny and the Destiny of Games’.
From being a game to perpetuate the English hegemonic order in the times of colonialism to a sport of anti-imperialistic symbolism in colonial societies, as in the Caribbean islands, and then to becoming a cultural phenomenon in South Asia, cricket has both reformed and reinvented itself. In India, earlier played only by the rajas and maharajas, it was imported gradually to the gullies. Not only was cricket a great democratic force, but it enjoyed a cult status. Until the 1970s, the ethics of the game—marked by gentlemanliness, subtlety and strategising—remained intact. The ever-changing formats of the game since then and stricter regulations accompanied by commercialisation have made a significant dent on the game.
The IPL spot-fixing scandal is symbolic of the structural malaises in cricket, which remained hidden in the commercial drive the game has been subjected to over the years. The eminent scholar of psychoanalysis and Indian society, Ashis Nandy, had predicted in his book The Tao of Cricket: On Games of Destiny and the Destiny of Games, first published in 1989,that “professionalisation” of cricket would lead to it being an entertainment industry more than a sport.
In this chat with Frontline he explained the uniqueness of the game, its history and why he does not see what is being played now as cricket and looks forward to the Indian Premier League matches for entertainment. Excerpts:
Why do you think cricket is unique unlike other sports? You have said in your book that cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English.
The uniqueness of cricket is that it is one game which depends very much on luck and how you handle luck or probability. It is a game of ambiguities. Cricket can never be predicted, can never be a clear-cut game, and however well you practise or train your team, a very important part of the game will always remain with your luck. You see, a batsman can get two chances but a fielder cannot. If you drop a catch, you just drop it. A bowler can go on toiling and experimenting with balls. A batsman cannot do that. Also, two teams are never fully on the ground at the same time unlike football or hockey or basketball. The two teams are not playing under the same conditions. Weather conditions matter. You can swing the ball only in a particular weather, putting one team at an advantage or a disadvantage. In cricket, as compared with other games, the role of probability is enormous. You fight not only your opponents but also against your own destiny.
And exactly for the same reason, to some extent, the ethics of cricket, unlike in other games, depends primarily on the players. This is also its uniqueness. Not on rules, not on umpires. All this is more recent. Even now there are no rules to stop the spinner from taking a run-up from the boundary. You can delay the match like that and deny the other team a win. You can delay the game by bowling at a slow over rate. People will boo you, your team will be fined, but no one can stop you from stretching the game until it is bad light. (In bad light, weather conditions change and can put one of the teams at a disadvantage.)
How has the increasing number of rules changed the game? Does it have any relation with the increased instances of cheating?
When Trevor Chappell bowled an underarm ball to deny New Zealand a victory, on the instructions of his elder brother and captain of the team, Greg Chappell, he was booed out of cricket. That was the last Test he played and Greg also lost his captaincy. In cricket, ethics depended primarily on individuals. It is expected that you will conform to that. The first ring of audience is not the people sitting in the stadium but the close-in fielders who constantly keep an eye on you. They know whether the batsman has nicked the ball or not. If he did not nick, and they still appealed against him, it was considered to be cheating. The umpire might declare the batsman out in this case but everyone would still know that one team had cheated. The same principle works for the batsmen also. He knows whether he nicked it or not. Many batsmen have walked out of the crease if they knew they were out.
Frontline for more