This was an Independence Day with a huge difference. My dear mother, who would have completed 98 years on the day, was no more with us, and even though I was abroad, the day just felt incomplete without her in our midst. I recalled the sacrifices she and my father like millions of other Indians made during the struggle for Independence. India has come a long, long way since then and is today recognised and respected around the world as a country that cannot be pushed around like earlier. 

Same is the case with Indian cricket which has also been at the other end of the spectrum where nobody wanted to play us to now a country that every team including the neighbouring ones wants to go to or have over in their country. This has nothing much to do with the love of our country or its cricket, but simply the fact that an India cricket team tour of their country means big money to them through TV rights and gate money. If there are two teams that are touring their country, the difference in ticket prices is just unbelievable, with prices for the India games being double and sometimes more than those for the other touring teams’ games. Despite this, there is no gratitude but more and more condescension mainly directed at the BCCI. One can even understand this if their Boards were perfect, but sadly, they aren’t, and instead of focusing on their country’s cricket boards, they take aim at BCCI.