Opinion Bad loser

India lost to Australia in the World Cup semifinal because Anushka Sharma was in Sydney, distracting Virat Kohli all the way from the stands. At least, that is the story many disgruntled Indian fans were sticking to as they burnt effigies of Kohli and Sharma, took to social media to dole out vengeance in 140 characters. The misogyny that now targets Sharma runs through most sports cultures and institutions. The kind where governing bodies think it’s a good idea to keep wives and girlfriends (WAGs) away during overseas tours, but where they also become the object of salacious attention. WAGs are either Medusas, turning their partners to stone, or inveterate shoppers.

Misogyny apart, Indian fans have turned out to be very sore losers — to put it mildly. As it became clear that India was about to lose, security outside M.S. Dhoni’s house was beefed up. In 2011, Indian fans had scoffed as TV sets in Pakistan were smashed after the defeat against India in the World Cup semifinal. Now, they did the same. The same crowds that had flooded the streets to celebrate victory in 2011 have turned into an angry, pulsing mob with an appetite for destruction.

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The cricket fan in India seems to be particularly thin-skinned and badly behaved but it’s worth asking what it is about sport fandom that swings people to such violent extremes? Maybe it is the fact that being a fan, very often, is linked to who we are. We grow up watching a game and admiring its players; they form some of our earliest memories, our oldest associations. Indian fans could tell you the story of their lives according to when Sachin Tendulkar made his first century, when V.V.S. Laxman scored his 281 against Australia, when Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid built their spectacular partnership against Sri Lanka. Death, birth, marriage and examinations are measured by matches. But it’s high time Indian fans added one more experience to their roster — disappointment. It’s part of growing up.