World Cup - My Article at Communication Magazine at Markit

Stereotype Indian!!! Exclaimed German news papers with reference to an article on ICC Cricket World Cup on the editorial of Times of India written by Anshu Jain, the potential head of Deutsche Bank after Jack Ackerman. For years Germans are finding a reason for denying the coveted title for Anshu, who currently heads 80% of Deutsche in the world. (On a lighter note, I have a community on Facebook supporting Anshu Jain for CEO. Do join if you are interested).

For two months 12 teams participated for an 11 kg, 60 cm trophy that has a golden ball placed over three silver stumps. This year, what started as a low key event ahead of the grand IPL just days after the world cup, caught frenzy as the semi final had two biggest rivals clashing together. India vs. Pakistan is equivalent to USA vs. Russia in the Olympics or a Real Madrid vs. Barcelona in football. It ignites the passion from within. The games are marketed such that every person finds himself in the centre of a hype that causes dominion and a feeling of unity amongst every individual in the country.

A resilient Aussi team has lost its dominance in world cricket and surrendered to young Indian side in the quarter finals. What falls is a decade of pure dominance in cricketing history and now other teams have a chance to get what they have carved for all these years. A new decade has to begin and India, defeating the yester-super power has claimed the next dominant power. The neighbors, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in no mood to relent this position to India. Pakistan, who defeated West Indies in the quarters, was completing a formality and also raising the question on the test status of West Indies, a bunch of ordinary individuals with no passion for cricket, trying to emulate a legendary fearful West Indian team. Sri Lanka on the other hand had a Kiwi dinner, as the host tore apart what seamed to be a game of team vs. individual New Zealanders.

This paves the way for the match of the tournament, India Vs Pakistan, a game between fearful batting and dreadful bowling. With Reference Data announcing match day leave for its team and rest of the departments screening match in the board room, watching an Indian victory with the team at Markit was sweeter.

India won the world cup defeating Sri Lanka but I have taken serious note on not mentioning any individual player as that would underestimate others in a game of team. At the same time I cant stop myself in mentioning MS Dhoni as one of the greatest leaders of our time at par with Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson for he is the one who has held all trophies that a cricketer can at today’s times by winning World Cup for both 20-20 and 50 over as well as champion’s trophy, Test No 1 team and IPL. This is a serious demand for a knighthood for MS Dhoni.

What Germans do not know is that the current world cup would result in a productivity loss of 768 million man hours. We also lose $30 billion of GDP on loss of productivity every year on watching cricket. Today I am not sure if Anshu Jain would be the CEO, but what I know is separating cricket from Indians is next to Impossible.

Stereotype, they say is a negative word on the dictionary. But this one stereotype is what Indians across the world would be proud to carry.