Cricket is (as) a Religion!

 

I was on a writing hiatus for long, not because I had a writer’s block, but because I was worried if I would be able to compete with the new kids on the block like the Geminis, Co-Pilots, Chat GPT’s and finally I was perplexed to see something named Perplexity was a proponent of clarity in writing. So, I was a challenged writer since the advent of AI. In a sense I also behave like the generative AI. I get prompted and triggered only when an event or a news tug at my grey matter & my aorta and they in turn trigger my fingertips to type / write, an algorithm that I was trained on since I started writing.

They say Cricket is a Religion in India, its oft used by commentators and Cricket writers from across the world when they write about Cricket & India, it is a metaphor that depicts the passion the fans show for the game akin to the passion they show for their religion. But is that passion for religion or spirituality of any kind on the wane these days? And is it right to associate that passion for winning in a performance-based sport like a team game to a passion for something that is as personal as a religion.

I write because, one such event happened less than 24 hours back in which a 23-year-old young girl played an innings in a place rightly called Navi Mumbai (New Mumbai) at the ICC ODI World Cup Semi Finals, the old Mumbai (Bombay) maidans produced a bunch of male cricketing Gods. It was an innings that eclipsed the best knocks ever played by the so called Gods of Indian cricket like Sachin, Dhoni, and Kohli and will be the more talked about innings in the years to come than the legendary efforts of two other Gods of Cricket called Dravid & Laxman whose godliness was quiet appropriately christened at the Eden Gardens, a good quarter century back.

The 23-year-old was called Jemimah Rodrigues!!!

The name Jemimah also means “beautiful day" apart from dove. The dove is a biblical symbol of peace and purity, while "day" signifies the end of a long period of darkness and the dawn of a new, joyful era for Job (Biblical Character). True to her name she did end a long period of darkness and dawned-in the new with her innings and her attitude to the game and life.

What caught my attention and what has gone viral since, is her post match presentation speech https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-cricket-worldcup-2025/videos/emotional-jemimah-speaks-up-after-india-s-stellar-win-cwc25 wherein she has glorified the God she worships in and gave all credit to him. She endorsed her belief system and platform, when the so-called Gods of men’s cricketing fraternity went on to make millions endorsing products that the youth of India gobbled up without a second thought, here was a young maiden endorsing her own source of strength and belief, a much-needed antidote for the mess the present-day generation find themselves in. Trolls are already up in arms and she, being an influencer of sorts, would be subjected to lot of negativities in the coming days.

What’s new? one might ask. We have seen many a sportsmen and women do it. But the passion in which she expressed it stood out. In a world so polarized, this could even mean the end of the career for this brilliant sportswoman, but she braved it all and it was testimony of sorts. A testimony from deep down her heart and spirit. One might ask why should a sportsperson rely on spiritual strength and proclaim it in a way she did, Even an accomplished sports person needs to invoke that inner strength by calling out to their spiritual / belief system whoever or whatever it maybe, even if the sportsperson is an atheist he needs to turn to his inbuilt belief system in those moments of desperation.

She has etched her place in the history of Indian sports annals not only for having played one of the best innings in any format or gender categories but also for having played on the front foot to acknowledge that her faith complemented her efforts to win the game and that her faith played a part in countering her anxiety in life. She mentioned her strength to endure came from the spiritual text that she follows that says ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning’ the presence of mind of a 23-year-old to quote this after 3 grueling hours on the pitch is commendable and shows that she is as passionate about her spirituality as she is about cricket. She has just endorsed the fact that spirituality and religion can play a part in the success of any sportsperson. An endorsement that might fetch her more brickbats than bouquets but every sportsperson can apply that into their training and performance irrespective of their religious affiliations and beliefs.

I hope her 2 million plus followers on Instagram who belong to a generation who believe in instant gratification will be willing to waste / endure time weeping at night for the joys of tomorrow. (again please read it metaphorically!!!)