Life and Play

By John Cheeran
Are cricketers worthy of their hero status?
May be, cricket writers and fans have equated cricket with life but cricketers in their infinite wisdom have neatly separated the two.
Cricketers pretty much know, better than you and me, when and where cricket begins and ends. So it is not all that difficult to understand the discomfort of South African cricketers in staying on in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of a mine blast that killed seven.
Strife is everywhere.
Sporting life is a dangerous one, at least that's what we believe. If so, cricketers should be more willing to face adversity than we, mere sporting witnesses.
Indian cricketers are silent and have not voiced their apprehensions in the wake of Colombo blast. In the past there have been noises about how unsafe Pakistanis for cricket.
Yes, Pakistan always is a dangerous place, especially for Indians. It is difficult to make a judgement of the current crop of Indian cricketers' character in their response to the Unitech tri-nation one-day series saga.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) must have briefed the Indian team management not to make an issue out of security and just carry on playing.
India is vulnerable to terrorism as much as Sri Lanka is. And especially with the Indian sub-continent having gained the rights to host the 2011 World Cup, the BCCI will have to be very tough on security standoffs.
There is no doubt that Indian cricketers must be betting on their survival chances both against bombs and a resurgent Sri Lankan team. It is better for Indian team skipper Rahul Dravid and company to remain tightlipped on both counts.
Living is a much more dangerous game than playing.
God bless you gentlemen.