With MSD’s squad on the verge of a historic and unprecedented 4-0 whitewash against the Australians, Rahul Bose, Arundhati Roy, and other celebrity activists have urged the Indian skipper to magnanimously lose to their opponents.
Bose said the clinical manner in which the Indians had steamrolled the Australians thus far in the series was very ‘un-Indian’ and unbecoming. “It is quite shocking to say the least,” he said. “In our quest for victory, we should not forget that the Aussies are human too and don’t deserve to be ill-treated in this manner. I hope Dhoni is charitable enough to gift away the final match.”
When reminded about paying back the Aussies in kind for the 4-0 drubbing at their hands Down Under last year, Bose retorted, “Dude, so you mean just because they are cheap and uncivilized , we Indians also stoop down to their levels? Come on, yaar. Give me a break. Since when have we Indians embraced this ‘winning is everything’ Western philosophy, haan? If we have to move further civilizational as a society, if we have to evolve as a civilization further beyond the boundaries of India then we have to look at forgiveness.”
His sentiments were echoed by some kind-hearted former Indian cricketers as well, with one of them saying, “Indian fans are not used to the Indian team winning at a stretch like this. It’s like eating too much sweet and feeling uneasy afterwards. Dhoni should lose or at least try and draw the match to restore normalcy.”
MSD partially concurred with the views of Bose and co. “Truth be told, all of us are feeling a little strange, guilty even, in going for 4-0 series result. I mean, what’s the bloody point of winning all the time? So I’ve told the boys to try and be a little charitable but, strange as it sounds, looks like it’s going to be extremely difficult not to win against this Aussie team,” he told The Unreal Times on the eve of the match.
However, President Pranab Mukherjee has exhorted the team to ‘go for the kill and not show any mercy’.
(Based on a theme submitted by Siddharth Rao)