Classifying Indian Cricket fans

The other day I was traveling to my home town in train I met this kid who was probably in 4^th or 5^th class. He was playing cricket on his mobile. I asked him if he could teach me how to play. He said – “the game is very easy to play. If you see the ball is pitching in the middle of the pitch press 3&5(pull shot), if it is pitching near the bat press 9&5(drive). But understand that timing is very important. Press it when the ball is about to reach the bat.” – So much from a kid who was probably into double digits.

Welcome to India – the land of cricket advisers. If there is one thing Indians claim they are masters of it is Cricket advice. They seem to know why Sachin got out or why Sreesanth was slapped smashed for runs. Every single ball can be improved according to us. This kind of culture has developed a variety of fans in India. Let us look at some of the typical types we meet.

1. The Ultimate statistician – Now this kind of fan is hard to beat. He has a stat for every single ball. Ask him why a player failed or why India lost at a particular ground, you are risking opening the Pandora’s Box. He will bombard you with all the stats saying how the player should not have flirted with the ball outside the off stump since history shows 50% of his dismissals have been by balls outside off stump. (He might have just got out once in his 2 innings career. But 50% makes the not so well knowledgeable think twice.) Or he may say according to law of averages he was bound for a failure. So it was inevitable.

2. The Hollow fan – This is a fan who watches cricket just because everyone around him is watching. He watches it with great effort memorizes a few names for the post match discussions but never enjoys the game. He gets away with it most of the time by not indulging in discussions which slowly move to history of the game or requires generating own insights. His knowledge about the game can land him in gaffes like what happened the other day with my friend who never loved cricket till IPL season 4. He said – “Had Adam Gilchrist played like this before he would have played for this nation. Sad that he is old now.” after Gilly’s century against RCB.

3. The Angry fan – This type of fan is probably unique to India. They are fans of a particular player and is ready to fight for him. The discussion among fans about who is the best batsman (after Sachin Tendulkar) is a common sight. Beyond a stage these fans are blind about the truth and any kind of logical reasoning. And they can be violent too. So handle them with care.

He is a Sachin fan-atic

4. The Winning fan – This is a recent category of fan. He is the one who is with the winners. This has come into effect predominantly after the coming of IPL. It has reached a stage where this particular fan could be supporting as many as 6-7 of the 10 IPL teams at different occasions. This type of fan can also be called the not loyal fan. This broad category also includes fans that start watching their team’s matches as their team reaches finals or semifinals.

5. The Critical fan – This type of fan is very hard to please. He has a better way of doing everything. He criticizes all the things possible and sometimes it reaches a point where he criticizes even the water-boy for running in slow and thus affecting the over rate. They know the game a little too much.

6. The Cricket fan – This is the fan that enjoys cricket as a game. He has his loyalties clearly defined, knows the rules and the players of the game. He is also pretty well versed with the history as well. More importantly, he appreciates good cricket from any team.

7. Sachin Fan - You just can’t ignore this group of fans. People come to watch this master in action. For many the game is over when he is out. Sounds crazy but this is the truth. You may call them Fan-atics as well.