• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Sir Garry v Sachin

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
I always find the discounting of Indian players based on the banality of the fans off putting. It is a dumb argument, similar to the whole people getting on Tendulkar's back because his fans regard him as a god. It is not Tendulkar's fault that he is so revered in certain sections.
 

Contra

Cricketer Of The Year
NahNah, Contra. You're totally on wrong track here. Indian fans know better than to cheer for Afridi than Lara. Come on. I also disagree that it comes down to who performed best against us. Even if it does, it wouldn't exactly be the culture argument you were making earlier. It would be no different from how Gavaskar is celebrated in Caribbeans.
At what point did I say cheer? This isn't about who is more loved or who the more likeable player is, I'm talking about who gets talked about more (doesn't have to be in a positive way!), of course no one is going to cheer for Afridi in India because he's the opposition , but he is talked about, so was Shoaib Akthar, pretty sure no Indian fan would like to cheer for Shoaib Akthar either, but they knew him, he was talked about, he was recognized. You could just as easily flip the argument and ask Sri Lankan and Pakistani fans as to whether they knew more about Indian players or overseas players, I bet you Pakistani fans in the 90's knew more about Ajay Jadeja than they did any other great players from overseas, or Sri Lankan fans with regards to a guy like Ganguly.
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
The average Indian fan wouldn't watch a neutral game
'Average' fan of no country watches neutral games. I would wager that an average Indian fan knows more about last decade ashes results than an average Australian or English fan knows about India-Pakistan bilateral series. Stephen Fleming once visiting India remarked how it is special visiting India as the common folks not only recognise you but also know your averages.
 

Contra

Cricketer Of The Year
'Average' fan of no country watches neutral games. I would wager that an average Indian fan knows more about last decade ashes results than an average Australian or English fan knows about India-Pakistan bilateral series. Stephen Fleming once visiting India remarked how it is special visiting India as the common folks not only recognise you but also know your averages.
Knowing the result of a series isn't that big a deal tbh, the series was obviously written about a lot and so I can understand Indian fans having a bit of knowledge about it, but its not much different from other teams nowadays using Ind-Aus 2001 series as an example for certain game scenarios (such as why you shouldn't enforce follow up). Those series were great series, and as a result go more coverage and news, which invariably results in viewers knowing more about it. Secondly that particular ashes happened in 2005, I was mostly referring to the 90's and early 2000's. I'm not talking about knowledge of the average fan today, information is much easier to access today than it was 20-25 years ago, and so it is not surprising that Indian fans know more about world cricket than they did previously.
 
Last edited:

cnerd123

likes this
May I suggest that there is far too much convenient stereotyping of Indian fans that happens over here? You wouldn't fully appreciate and understand their psyche unless you have spent lot of time with them or you are one. Indian fans know cricket. Period. They assess players on their merit and they are pretty much spot on in that with two exceptions (1) when it comes to Tendulkar, they can't accept anyone being better and (2) they are not often concerned about history of cricket.
Hah.

I have stopped talking cricket with all my Indian 'cricket fan' friends barring one or two because of how ignorant and basic they all are.
They don't watch anyone outside India.
They are not aware of Domestic cricket of any level (Until Yuvi gets dropped and scores 3 tons and all of a sudden 'selectors are ignoring domestic performances!').
They are unaware of any cricket that was played before they were born (or at best, before Tendulkar debuted).
They barely have a grasp on the more complex laws or nuances of cricket - such as the LBW law, DRS, Duckworth/Lewis, or how to judge no-balls and wides.

These are not people who 'know cricket'. The average Indian cricket fan just looks for something that India is good at so they can cheer them on. These same people who were so proud and happy about India being the number 1 in the Test rankings now don't even watch Tests because "India isn't a good team in Test Cricket". If India suddenly became good at football they would start cheering that team on and calling themselves Indian Football Fans even if they don't give two flying ****s about the sport in general.

IDK what experiences you have had with them, but mine have been incredibly frustrating.
 

Contra

Cricketer Of The Year
Hah.

I have stopped talking cricket with all my Indian 'cricket fan' friends barring one or two because of how ignorant and basic they all are.
They don't watch anyone outside India.
They are not aware of Domestic cricket of any level (Until Yuvi gets dropped and scores 3 tons and all of a sudden 'selectors are ignoring domestic performances!').
They are unaware of any cricket that was played before they were born (or at best, before Tendulkar debuted).
They barely have a grasp on the more complex laws or nuances of cricket - such as the LBW law, DRS, Duckworth/Lewis, or how to judge no-balls and wides.

These are not people who 'know cricket'. The average Indian cricket fan just looks for something that India is good at so they can cheer them on. These same people who were so proud and happy about India being the number 1 in the Test rankings now don't even watch Tests because "India isn't a good team in Test Cricket". If India suddenly became good at football they would start cheering that team on and calling themselves Indian Football Fans even if they don't give two flying ****s about the sport in general.

IDK what experiences you have had with them, but mine have been incredibly frustrating.
Haha yeah was in India last year during the summer time (while the England v India series was going on) and none of my relatives (from various ages) kept track of cricket, I was a little surprised. My cousins knew more about Maxwell then the test series going on in England, it was only until I use to basically hog the TV and watch the test match they would casually ask for the score. My uncle kept on going on about how Indian team is biased and they don't select Sehwag because they don't like him or something, I just laughed and enjoyed there comments. Even after all these years, the typical Indian mentality remains the same xD
 

smash84

The Tiger King
At what point did I say cheer? This isn't about who is more loved or who the more likeable player is, I'm talking about who gets talked about more (doesn't have to be in a positive way!), of course no one is going to cheer for Afridi in India because he's the opposition , but he is talked about, so was Shoaib Akthar, pretty sure no Indian fan would like to cheer for Shoaib Akthar either, but they knew him, he was talked about, he was recognized. You could just as easily flip the argument and ask Sri Lankan and Pakistani fans as to whether they knew more about Indian players or overseas players, I bet you Pakistani fans in the 90's knew more about Ajay Jadeja than they did any other great players from overseas, or Sri Lankan fans with regards to a guy like Ganguly.
Yeah. I would agree with this. Most common pakistanis wouldn't know much about cricket teams of other countries but they will know a fair bit about the indian team.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
I always find the discounting of Indian players based on the banality of the fans off putting. It is a dumb argument, similar to the whole people getting on Tendulkar's back because his fans regard him as a god. It is not Tendulkar's fault that he is so revered in certain sections.
Yeah but these people are generally absolute ****s so who cares.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
There are a lot of dumb Indian cricket fans as there are many Indian cricket fans. Cricket is a mass sport in the country.

People do not consider Justin Bieber fans music fans say.

The average dumbo in Australia may have a different passion but in India the dumbo definitely watches cricket.

India makes a lot of crap films as well as does most mainstream cinema around the world. That does not mean we do not make good movies though. Or that we do not have serious film buffs and writers.
 
Last edited:

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
'Average' fan of no country watches neutral games. I would wager that an average Indian fan knows more about last decade ashes results than an average Australian or English fan knows about India-Pakistan bilateral series. Stephen Fleming once visiting India remarked how it is special visiting India as the common folks not only recognise you but also know your averages.
This is so true. This idea that all other fans watch and appreciate neutral test cricket but only Indians watch their own team is so fanciful. Most casual Aussie fans don't even watch Australia play overseas other than the Ashes.
 

cnerd123

likes this
Oh no doubt the average fans of all other countries suck too. But saying the average Indian fan 'knows cricket' is rubbish, even if they are less moronic than the average Aussie fans.
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
Oh no doubt the average fans of all other countries suck too. But saying the average Indian fan 'knows cricket' is rubbish, even if they are less moronic than the average Aussie fans.
Well yeah, I have had my frustrating experiences too with debates like Tendulkar vs Bradman or Akram vs Marshall. It depends on what you consider average. There's going to be a whole range of levels of interests. I have not had a hard time finding a fair few people in any setting who understand LBW or DRS, and who know enough about contemporary cricketers. Heck, my mom knows Warne and Ambrose. I have however never met anyone in real world who knows Hobbs and Hammond which is something I observed above. People have lives. You can't hold that against them.

Unless you are going to argue that an average Indian fan knows less than average fan from other nationalities, you are not making much of a point in this discussion. The few English folks I have interacted with have no interest in cricket including ashes, so I am not going to argue they know better. Don't go by what you see on this forum.
 
Last edited:

harsh.ag

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I remember being at a party two years back, and people saying the players they would love to see the most. When it was my turn, I happened to mention WG, Hobbs, Headley, Larwood, Lindwall, Kanhai, Bedi, Amar Singh, and Sobers.

There was a pin drop for ten seconds, before someone said, "Yeah. Great.", and the conversation moved on.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
I barely watch Test where I'm neutral tbf. Takes up enough time watching England tests.

Usually catch a bit of Aussie home season i guess.

I mean I don't deliberately avoid everything else but I wouldn't sit and plan to watch a non-England Test in advance. It'd lose me too much goodwill with the wife that I may need in future when I want the TV For five days straight for an England match
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
May I suggest that there is far too much convenient stereotyping of Indian fans that happens over here? You wouldn't fully appreciate and understand their psyche unless you have spent lot of time with them or you are one. Indian fans know cricket. Period. They assess players on their merit and they are pretty much spot on in that with two exceptions (1) when it comes to Tendulkar, they can't accept anyone being better and (2) they are not often concerned about history of cricket.
You have probably just summed up most cricket fans everywhere tbh, but substitute their own local hero for the Tendulkar reference.
 

cnerd123

likes this
Unless you are going to argue that an average Indian fan knows less than average fan from other nationalities, you are not making much of a point in this discussion.
"You wouldn't fully appreciate and understand their psyche unless you have spent lot of time with them or you are one. Indian fans know cricket. Period."

Arguing that statement. That statement is BS. I have spent a lot of time with them. Indian fans don't know ****. Just like average fans everywhere else.
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
"You wouldn't fully appreciate and understand their psyche unless you have spent lot of time with them or you are one. Indian fans know cricket. Period."

Arguing that statement. That statement is BS. I have spent a lot of time with them. Indian fans don't know ****. Just like average fans everywhere else.
Fair enough. I did not explain what I meant by average fans so you can trash that argument. As I said this argument will make any sense only on a relative basis. And based on some anecdotal evidence, I would argue Indian fans know no less than those from other countries, if anything they know more simply because it's number one sport here by a long shot. Passion for Tendulkar tends to cloud perception of them a bit.
 
Last edited:

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
This is so true. This idea that all other fans watch and appreciate neutral test cricket but only Indians watch their own team is so fanciful. Most casual Aussie fans don't even watch Australia play overseas other than the Ashes.*
*And when we're smashing your lot (which doesn't happen a lot sadly).

On Tendulkar. I don't think outside of India that he's going to remain such a revered figure, at least from the impression I get. And most of the comments on his greatness largely allude to how adored he is in his home country than abroad. For Indians the appeal is obvious, but outside of them I don't think he had the charisma or game to make people adulate about him the way they might with a Sobers or a Bradman - or even a Viv.
 
Last edited:

Top