New Delhi: The crushing defeat against the Australians in the semis may have left many Indian cricket fans distressed, but there are some who are not taking it seriously.
Among those who see a positive side on India's loss, is Amitabh Thakur, a 1992 batch IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow. Thakur has sent a Rs 1,000-cheque to Indian captain MS Dhoni to his Ranchi address, thanking him for preventing the nation from being glued to their TV sets for another full day. Apparently the IPS officer was unhappy over the deep impact of the Men in Blue over the country's collective productivity.
Team India has been aggressively criticized after losing to Australia in the ICC World Cup 2015 semi-final which was held in Sydney Cricket ground on March 26. Some people even smashed their television sets after kangaroos beat Indian by 95 runs.
Currently serving as inspector general of civil defence, Thakur said that cricket was an anti-development game that tended to brings all official work to a standstill.
"On the day the semi-final was played, almost every government official, senior or junior, stuck to the TV set, neglecting official work and even misbehaving with the occasional visitor who dropped in without an appointment," he wrote in his one-page missive to Dhoni.
Apart from the tokenism of a thousand-rupee cheque - issued in gratitude for freeing the Indian fans for more productive work -- Thakur has also said Dhoni should use his mass appeal to not let development work suffer at the hands of cricket. Thakur has added, "This society is as much yours as it belongs to the cricket fans that populate it. So it is your societal duty to not allow people to suspend government, financial and personal work in order to watch cricket matches."
He further mentioned "This society is as much yours as it belongs to the cricket fans that populate it. So it is your societal duty to not allow people to suspend government, financial and personal work in order to watch cricket matches." While we await Dhoni's response to the letter, people can still watch Australia vs New Zealand since it is on Sunday.
After India's exit, Bollywood's famous Director Ram Gopal Verma also took to the Twitter. In a series of tweets he said that he is happy that India lost the match and that he hates cricket and cricket fans.
Ramu, known for his controversial stand on a number of issues even has a logic for his rather illogical statement. He said, “I hate cricket because I love my country and cricket makes my country men most non productive because they stop working and start watching.”
His first tweet of the series read, “I am sooooo happyyy India lost because I hate cricket..and if there's anything I hate more than cricket then it's people who love cricket.”
Well we'll never know whether Dhoni gets impressed with Thakur's letter, but it is likely fans will still watch the final when Australia takes on New Zealand. Thakur can rest easy, though. It's a Sunday!
