I have formally learnt golf, squash, boxing, and chess. At the end of the game, we are asked, as a matter of courtesy and correct etiquette, to take off our headgear (if any) and shake hands with the opponent, regardless of the result. I remember thinking about it as a very ‘English’ habit of fair play and sportsmanship, and the lack of this courtesy as perhaps a perfect example of what may be called out as ‘not cricket’ if not done. Indeed, I have seen this in the countless cricket matches I have seen on tv and in-person across the world. I never saw it as an anomaly of any kind.So, while I am happy that Kohli and Dhoni kind of shook hands with the Pakistanis and spoke politely with them, I am not sure what the brouhaha is about. I mean, the very act is named after the sport!
Or is shaking hands with your opponent after a well-contested game no longer ‘cricket’ ever since BCCI has become more powerful than the ICC? Or is that the ‘New India’ we are told that has come to life recently after 2014? Or maybe, and this could well be true too, what they were playing wasn’t really cricket. What say?
