As I survey news reports from Kolkata, it seems that the booing of Indian players and coach along with partisan support for the South Africans was far more widespread than I had initially thought. It seems that Greg Chappell was almost universally condemned by the gathered crowd during the game. It is sad to see the city that was once the capital of India behave in such intolerant fashion. There were many posters and banners condemning Dravid and Greg Chappell, some of which were in very bad taste. I am surprised nobody chose to criticize that, while everyone has been quick to condemn the coach.

A lot has been made of Greg’s gesture. I have seen the footage and there is little doubt that the said obscene gesture was made. Only the hand was seen but nobody has denied that it was Greg’s. While I do not condone the gesture one has to keep in mind the circumstances. This was a gesture made by Greg to a group shouting slogans against Greg and the team. The shouting youth weren’t quite singing the national anthem. The media, as is its wont, has blown this into some kind of insult to the country and it’s people. This is bullshit. The media, as I have said before, is only interested in churning out sensational news. Many in the media, particularly from Kolkata will use anything they can, right or wrong, to attack Greg Chappell. These are people with an agenda and their views are best ignored.

The gesture that Greg made was wrong and is not worthy of a public figure of his stature, period. It seems that he was upset by the behavior of this group of people and snapped for a moment. That is all there is to it. I think he should express regret for it and the matter should end there. To build this as some kind of insult to the nation is just wrong and totally motivated.

To me, the national disgrace is the behavior of the crowd that booed and barracked the home team. To me the national disgrace is the shenanigans and murky politics surrounding cricket in India. The way the CAB prepared the pitch and the hostility they showed the team is a disgrace. I can understand foolish, young, unemployed youth behaving like yobs but the way the CAB undermined the Indian cricket team is a national disgrace. Their strategy is unpatriotic and borders on being frankly anti-national. Now, that’s a disgrace.

Are we now going to have a situation where Dravid is abused in Kolkata only for Saurav Ganguly to be heckled in Bangalore and Mumbai. Is that what we want? If Saurav is chosen in the test team instead of Yuvraj, should the people of Punjab then throw burning ‘tarka’ and hot ‘sarso da saag’ on Ganguly when he fields on the boundary? Since Ganguly was selected instead of Zaheer Khan should Gujarat wait for Ganguly’s arrival in Baroda with iron rods in their hands and abuse on their lips?  People of Kolkata, you have set a dangerous precedent and shamed the nation. When will we stop thinking like Bengalis or Punjabis or Gujratis and just think as Indians? 

It has been reported that the Indian team was even not served the customary refreshments during the break between innings. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this report, but how low can you sink? A player, who I will not name, apparently said “We can now go to India” when leaving Kolkata. The image of the Bengali “Bhadrolok” lies in tatters. It does not seem as if there are many left. What else can I conclude when I am yet to hear any voice condemning this behavior, except from my friend Prasad. What else can I conclude when the Chief Minister, other state ministers , film stars and people from all walks of life join in and catalyze the hysteria surrounding one local player? If the Bengali “Bhadrolok” is alive, it is high time he spoke up.