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CHENNAI: Imagine a cricket fan who always sits facing east whenever India is playing, gets his food served on the sofa and doesn’t even make some time out to attend nature’s call if the ‘men in blue’ are batting. But during the recent Test series versus England, he, unhesitatingly, hands over the TV remote to his wife and decides to pass on watching the action live on TV. So disheartening has been India’s performance, prolonging into the one-day series, and coming after the high of a world cup in April, that fans admit to being on an emotional roller-coaster ride this year.“As a cricket fan, the Indian cricket team’s performance has been disappointing. Compare it to the joy of the World Cup win in April, the current loss is not worth talking,” admits the aforementioned cricket enthusiast Madhu Sundarajan, a team leader in a multinational company in Chennai. “I lost interest in the series after India fell like a pack of cards in the first innings of the second Test. I didn’t watched the matches thereafter and lost all the bets I made with my British colleagues in my office.”R Raajesh, a business analyst and an ardent cricket fan, echoes the same sentiments. He admits that his personal and professional life take a beating whenever India does miserably on the field. “Cricket is not just a game played by 11 players. The whole nation plays along with them,” says Raajesh. “You put yourselves into their shoes, when your favourite team or players play. And if they lose, you go through the same emotions of being defeated. You feel sad, gloomy, and it does impact your daily routine. After being crowned champions early this year, where you felt on top of the world leaves a bad taste.”For Raajesh, even the few wins in the practice games didn’t help lift his spirits. He says, “Team India failed when it mattered most. The series was supposed to reinforce India’s standing as the No 1 Test team in the world. But they lost it without giving any fight. For me, that is the most disturbing aspect of the loss. I didn’t watch the third and fourth Test thereafter. This is the first time in my life, I didn’t watch India’s match. You can understand how disturbed I must have been.”Another cricket fan SV Senthil Kumaar concurs, “When the team loses, a negative energy surrounds you and that makes you feel sad and depressed. Then, the next day when you read about the debacle in the newspapers, more negative feeling invade you, and affect your work. It stays on for 10-15 days after the losses. It’s not at all a surprise considering the passion one has for the game.”But there are those who seem to take the loss in their stride. Gone are the days when players’ effigies used to get burnt, their houses stoned, and a funeral procession carried out to mark India’s defeat. Says correspondent H Karthik, “It (the losses) was definitely disappointing for a cricket fan. But it is not the end of one’s life. India has suffered more such painful defeats before. Besides, once the Champions League starts and our cricket heroes play on Indian soil, this defeat would be easily forgotten.”Besides, for Madhu, the current losses have helped strengthen his bond with the British colleagues at work. “Though I lost all the bets, it definitely improved the camaraderie we shared earlier. Now, we talk about cricket before commencing work. I have accepted that England was a better team in this series.”
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