wenty-four hour news channels all over the world are prone to constant exaggeration, seemingly capable of turning a shop fire into a global terrorism threat. So when something big happens they sometimes struggle to do it justice because there is no room left for extra flexing. One place where it doesn’t seem to be a problem is India, where the coverage of Sourav Ganguly’s retirement plan quickly reached hysterical limits.
It was like a president or prime minister or rock star had died. One station had four talking heads in various parts of the country swapping back and forth as they told of the disbelieving reactions in their city to an event that wasn't exactly a shock. Even so, the news was so big it didn’t need a mumbling past player acting as on-screen expert – the presenters were able to do it themselves.
I’m not sure how much Sourav’s decision contributed to so many people being on the streets – they are always crowded – but they surrounded the reporters and offered their views, loudly and passionately. Back in the studio the best batsman/captain/person of all time was being praised – although in India they prefer felicitations.
Over the next month I am interested to learn whether these emotions are felt by people around the game, not just those involved in the game. I was slightly disappointed not to see hundreds of supporters sitting in the stands watching the teams train on Tuesday and Wednesday. In years spent reading and watching India from afar, it seemed cricket was the lingua franca and that anything would be done to spy Sachin or Sourav or MS. Maybe it was like that, and Twenty20 has changed the view. Or perhaps they get to see them so often on the television.
Steve Waugh’s pre-series announcement that he would step down at the end of the 2003-04 contest with India was a huge deal in Australia. Like Ganguly, his place had been questioned over the previous year and some lingering resentment resulted in people wondering whether he was putting himself above the team. It quickly turned into the Summer of Steve and the coach John Buchanan blamed Waugh’s farewell as a reason for the side losing focus on the way to a drawn series.
Most of Waugh’s moves that season were covered in detail and by the end of the series, with the newspaper lift-outs, the paper red hankies and television news specials, we felt we knew him better than his three brothers. It was blanket coverage. At least I thought it was. Until now.
