Dhoni should not have apologised

Having been present at the postu2013match press conference after defending champions India were tossed out of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, I have no reason to believe that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was anything but sincere in his apology to the country's cricket fans.

Having been present at the postu2013match press conference after defending champions India were tossed out of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, I have no reason to believe that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was anything but sincere in his apology to the country's cricket fans.

Although, as an Indian I am as saddened as the next cricket-loving Amar, Akbar or Anthony, I believe that Dhoni's expression of regret was uncalled-for.

For one thing, it was only a game, after all, and there is no national dishonour in losing at sport, even less so in going down fighting by a minuscule three-run margin in a game as fickle as Twenty20 cricket as the team did against deserving winners England.

It is one thing to dispassionately and, in a sportsman-like manner, analyse the whys and wherefores of a performance, it is another to unreasonably expect any team to win each and every time in every competition at home or abroad.

Unfortunately, many of the frenzied fans, all self-proclaimed experts, who are now beating their breasts at the loss of national "izzat" do not know the first thing about the game, leave aside sportsmanship.

Never having played cricket, or any other game for that matter, they no not understand the essential fact, forget nuances, that winning and losing are essential (character-building) elements of sport. And that on any given day there are TWO sides in a contest, trying equally hard to come up trumps.

As I have said on many occasions, our so-called cricket 'fans' do not understand or love the game or its lofty spirit; they are merely in love with cricket stars u2013 and victory at all cost.

The knives are already out for the woebegone players who were gods until yesterday and have metamorphosed into villains overnight.

By apologising, "Mahi" has set a dangerous precedent: Will he apologise every time the team does not come up to the often unrealistic expectations of the "fans", who can be as fickle as the T20 game itself?

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