I was a great lover of cricket during my childhood and youth. However, at about the time when I got married, I lost interest in the game since I found my wife much more interesting than cricket. It was about this time that the bribing and gambling scam rocked Indian cricket and left a bitter taste in mouth. I vowed never to witness another match in my life since I didn’t like the idea of the players making fools of us, the paying public by throwing away matches for money. Fortunately, my newly married wife was totally ignorant of cricket and could not differentiate between runs and points or wickets and goals.

As a result my house remained an abode of peace until recently when the output of the third worthwhile activity that I ever did in my life, turned ten. For the unenlightened I must clarify that I am merely referring to my youngest son. It was about this time that he started taking an undue interest in cricket and would stay hours together glued to the television screen watching his favorite cricketers make hay while their sun shone. This also rekindled my interest in the game and since the newer version of T20cricket did not consume much time I found it possible to spare time to join him in viewing the game. Moreover, since my son was new to the game and was not aware of the intricacies involved, I would sit with him and explain to him the nuances of the game.

As a result, my wife too was involuntarily forced to watch the game while we two men were involved in heated discussions on the same. It was during one such moment that my better half asked me something quite profound and set me thinking. When she witnessed a batsman hitting a mighty six that sent the ball way out of the stadium she queried “Why is it that only in cricket a player is applauded for putting the ball out of play and granted six points while in other games such as hockey or football the benefit of the ball being put out of play is provided to the opponent and not the team that sent the ball out of the playing area?”. I was flabbergasted and completely spellbound by her insight; so much so that words deserted me leaving me in one of those rare moments when I am at a loss for words.

It was at this moment that the batsman on T.V. missed a flighted ball that bounced, turned, missed his proffered bat and gently brushed the leg stump thereby dislodging the bails.The bowling team was all agog with the dismissal of the batsman and expressed their joy when the umpire lifted his forefinger to signify that the batsman was out. As the batsman dejectedly trudged back to the pavilion my wife was moved with great pity for the batsman and said to me “Isn’t it a rather big punishment to send out the player from the game when all that happened was that the ball merely brushed one of those three sticks stuck into the ground?Couldn’t the referee forgive the poor guy and let him play on for some more time? How unfair that he should go away while all the others continue to play?”As mentioned earlier I continued to remain speechless with my mouth making motions like the mouth of a gold fish out of water.

Needless to say, my son switched off the T.V. and quietly left the room.