Gentlemen’s fate !!

There is a thing about fate the more you keep it precious intriguing it gets. Intriguing for people who have no say. Matter of opinion for people who decide. In case of gentlemen’s game it is about bad decisions. It is about batsman looking up at the sky and cursing his fate, commentators sharing his predicament albeit between shrieks. And then the world is back to normal.

Umpiring in cricket has been questioned, the technological innovations have shown many a time that umpires have erred but then fate has something else to say on these worldly matters. The excitement of succumbing to fate has its own charm in gentleman’s game. The predominance of right decision over umpire’s folly will give away the fun. It is also about great burden of tradition that some are meant to carry at whatever the cost.

People watch cricket to see the best side win, the best player perform, umpires are just the facilitators. They have absolutely no other role to play. The rightness of the decision is what matter and not the idiosyncrasies of the man who happens to arbitrate. If the technological innovation has helped in reaching right decision then that is what matters. It seems in gentlemen’s game an umpire epitomizes qualities of gentleman meaning the British understanding of rightness (which our very own Gandhi took some pride!). The umpires it seems are ordained to carry this British rightness till the redemption day, players live a cursed life in this world view, audience get better understanding on destiny while the commentators can add factors like ‘umpire’s decision’ to ‘pitch behavior’ in their dreary life.

Britishers, as usual were never really right. They created rightness in what was wrong like following rules while colonizing a country and exploiting people, like recently attacking a sovereign nation flaunting all known international rules and norms and still claiming right. The weight of carrying the right at the expense of wrong is the tradition the umpires in cricket field bear, what better setting than Lords!!. So Sachin Tendulkar can now pay obeisance at Tirupathi and appease God in his favor, after all it sure is bad luck to be at the receiving end of wrong decisions more than many occasion in recent past. The fault obviously is with God. God now have to match wits with umpires. The britishness of things!!. Recently though Coconuts have taken over to carry the burden. The rules for rules sake, the rules for us to have control.

Umpires are about power, the authority to decide, the finality of things. As carrier of British rightness they are symbol of supreme that cannot be questioned even if it is a blatant mistake, nothing can predominate their verdict, it goes to eternity, etched in time. God has but to accept!!. It is about ‘you may be good player or bowler but you cannot defeat the fate’. The charm of ‘make or break’ held by least of talented is what history is all about, and struggle against gives charm of a good story. Any takers!!