Boria Majumdar in London
In the course of the last week, almost a thousand comments popped up on our shows from people who said India will lose 0-5. Many of them also suggested that without Virat Kohli playing, there is no buzz. The truth is, Edgbaston was packed to capacity on each of the first four days and even on the final one. Despite the rain in the morning, it was a sizeable crowd.
In fact, Indian fans had taken over the Eric Hollies Stand and the noise was deafening. No individual has ever been bigger than the sport and no one ever will. Virat has lived his time and gone. The baton has passed, and Indian cricket has moved on. For no individual does the game stop. To suggest to the contrary is plain rubbish.
To also suggest that India isn’t a match for England in the absence of Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah was wrong. Each of the 11 players donning India jerseys are proud performers. They have made the national team only because they are the very best in the country. Each one is a high performer and has an ego. Each has potential and that’s why they are part of this team. To trash them just because they aren’t as big a brand as a Kohli or Bumrah exposes the pathetic underbelly of India’s toxic fandom.
The truth is staring at us post Edgbaston — you don’t need superstars to win cricket matches. You need a team that is hungry for success and desperate to win. You don’t need one individual who is the world’s best. Rather, you need a bunch that believes in each other and operates as a collective. Edgbaston is proof that the superstar culture in Indian cricket is not something that should ever be supported and the faster we get rid of it, the better it is for the national team.
I was amazed at seeing the number of people who said that without Kohli, India wouldn’t or shouldn’t win. That these people consider themselves India fans is seriously troubling. Whatever they are, they aren’t cricket fans. They are blinded by hate and it is on the strength of these people that the superstar culture has taken root.
Look at India’s bowling attack at Edgbaston and you will know. Akash or Siraj or Prasidh are not superstars. They will never be. And yet, they were good enough to win India a Test match as important as Gabba 2021. Without Bumrah, Akash stepped up to pick 10 wickets in the match. Mohammed Siraj put his hand up, led the attack in the first innings and returned a match haul of seven. That’s team sport for you and it doesn’t need a superstar to steer it.
I will rank this victory at the very top of the pile for two reasons. First, the batting clicked yet again and that is proof that India have moved past Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Second, it was achieved without Bumrah’s brilliance. As a result, India will now be better off going forward. The team will believe that no individual is indispensable. Nothing can be better for the sport. It is Team India that matters and not any particular person. Edgbaston is the result of a collective stepping up and that’s a real big takeaway.
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