Read the following passage and give answers to the given questions.

1. Cricket in South Asia is a Carnivalesque, festive game. It carries not merely the baggage of competition and achievement but is also a participatory cultural event that evokes images of religious festivals, convivial social gatherings, picnics and theatre. It is now gradually becoming a substitute for war, a means of redeeming self-esteem and expressing xenophobia, and a depot of weird conspiracy theories. No country now loses a game because the other side is better, a country loses only because its cricketers and cricket administrators are patriotic, corrupt, greedy or self-centred.

2. Unfortunately for ultra-nationalists and fortunately for the rest, cricket is one game in which the best training, organization and preparation do not yield corresponding results. It is a subversive game that rebels against the productivity principle on which is build the world of globalised capitalism. Luck plays a major role in the final outcome of a match or series. In this respect, cricket is unlike football, tennis or chess. The grandeur of cricket and the cliched reference to its glorious uncertainties come from a cultivated ignorance of this inner contradiction in the game. Cricketers and their fans-to-say nothing of the experts have to learn to live with the unpredictability without getting overly judgemental or paranoid. All games have some built-in uncertainties, only cricket has turned the gracious acceptance of this into a measure of character.

3. Let us not forget that in cricket the 22 players involved are never on the field at the same time. Consequently, one team may play in full sunshine, While the other may have to play under an overcast sky when the ball begins to swing. One team may bat on a green top, the other on a wearing pitch. You can never truly equalise the outer conditions for the two teams. So a cricketer not merely plays against the opposition, but also against his own fate. That is one reason why it is typically Indian or if you prefer, a South Asian game.

4. This is a cultural region that recognizes the role of destiny in human affairs. All cricketers are superstitious because of the nature of their job. Only south Asians are not embarrassed about it and have unashamedly built ritualised ways of dealing with destiny as a normal part of a cricketer’s life. If you want a game where the investment of money, hard training and ruthless professionalism will pay predictable results, and the results will be a pure reflection of skill and talent, you should choose another game.

Q:

How is cricket becoming a substitute for war?

• 1
  Countries stake their image and self-esteem on the outcome of the game
• 2
  Political interests have invaded the game
• 3
  Cricket teams receive international funding.
• 4
  The spectators are filled with patriotic sentiments.