World Cup lessons: Fans, too have to behave responsibly

The TV news-channels keep replaying images of Dhoni quipping at the presentation ceremony that he had no choice but to play a match-winning knock to pre-empt questions like why he had promoted himself up the batting order instead of the in-form Yuvraj or why Sreesanth was played instead of Ashwin.

Even Dhoni may not have anticipated that in the wake of India winning the ODI World Cup after 28 years, the mood would swing to the other extreme where he would be asked at the post-match press-conference to run the country since he had the Midas touch! It's not just some fans but journalists — there are times you can't separate the two — who forget that cricketers are cricketers, nothing more, nothing less.

With almost the entire population of the country following the World Cup, there are lessons to be learnt from Team India's success , including the most important one that it's not just the cricketers but the fans who have to behave responsibly. Even while the World Cup tournament was on, train-traffic through India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh was stalled by people agitating for job quotas for one community or the other.

Many of those who took part in this train-r o k oagitation would have also celebrated Team India's achievement in winning the World Cup. Those stopping trains could ask themselves the question whether India could have won the World Cup if members of the national team had been selected on the basis of quotas.

Those participating in such agitations could learn from the achievement of Munaf Patel who was India's third-most successful bowler in the World Cup and who was born in rural Gujarat of parents who bought a TV-set only after he started playing for the country. The best things in life are not free but achieved!