Why Sachin was God and Virat won’t be one

There is little doubt that Virat Kohli is special. And comparisons of Virat with Sachin Tendulkar are pointless. But there is something that I want to compare today between the two – their fandom. And in trying to do that, I want to trace the change in the way cricket is consumed and how that has impacted its relationship with its fans, especially in Sachin and Virat’s country. To do that I will step back a bit and talk a bit about something that made Sachin ‘The God’ that he went on to become in the 90s.

A cricket fan in the Sachin era (the ’90s) was characterized by an itch. This itch kept him distracted. This itch kept him motivated to get past his day. This itch also got him in trouble. This itch was to watch the game somehow. And if not able to watch, this itch came out in the form of those three beautiful words – score kya hua?

The relief of getting to watch cricket in the Sachin era was unmatchable. It was a festival of sorts to watch India play then, a festival that pretty much lasted the duration of Sachin’s innings. It was on most occasions the best entertainment available in the era of limited options in terms of shows and channels. Sachin lit up lives with his cricket. A country staggering on the tricky path of post-liberalization derived hope from the little Mumbaikar who defied odds to enthrall a billion people.

Of course, the scheduling was also such that one would have to wait to see Sachin bat which only added to the legend of Sachin. Besides, the averageness of the Indian team in the 90’s only made Sachin’s class more apparent. Sachin truly was nothing less than god in this era, much above the mortals who surrounded him, so much that what others did around him seemed to matter little in comparison to his individual performances. The average Indian cricket fan was just happy to see Sachin bat but when he couldn’t, the itch would drive him mad.

Then gradually Cricinfo took over and started strangling that ‘itch’ in trying to answer it. Having easy access to detailed scorecards made watching cricket almost unimportant. You knew the score now, no matter wherever you were, office meetings or late night parties. Cricket got reduced to scores. The live commentary improved so much over time that one could easily picture the action in his/her head. Fans became pundits after reading pundits. Statsguru provided everyone numbers they could use to spice up their arguments. Most importantly, people now could talk cricket without watching much.

The fact that it coincided with a meteoric spike in cricket action took cricket lovers further away from real action and brought them close to Cricinfo's live commentary. We now no more wanted to rush back to our respective houses to watch cricket. We anyway had the scores. Plus, there was always a match the day and then another a week later. So, no fear of missing out. The grip around the itch's neck was getting tighter. The itch was choking now, knowing something sinister is on the way.

Experience of watching the game also underwent massive change over the last two decades. The festive charm around cricket matches waned as live streaming on mobile platforms changed it from a family affair to an individual one. Why switch the television on in the living room when you can watch Kohli bat on your phone in the comfort of your blanket in the winters? Also, ‘the home’ has been decoupled from cricket now. It’s not the only place where you can consume cricket, which can be done now even on long colorless Metro journeys. The itch, with this, was strangled to death.

The fandom of Virat Kohli doesn’t have to deal with the itch anymore thanks to Cricinfo/Cricbuzz and Hotstar/Sony Liv. We possibly know the exact number of his centuries (because those numbers get played so often everywhere) but we barely remember a handful of them. With so much cricket and so many brand endorsements, Virat is ubiquitous. There is hardly any mystery surrounding him. The internet is awash with articles of even the water that he drinks. Even If he’s not playing today, chances are three channels are playing highlights of his old knocks on television.

In the Netflix era, watching team India play is one of the million options that an Indian has for entertainment purposes. Besides, the Delhi born is part of a team that has multiple heroes in Sharma, Dhoni, and Bumrah and leads a team that is expected to win eight out of ten contests. That, in a way, is a bit of a buzzkill. Besides, even when one is watching an India match or a Virat innings today, there is a distracting smartphone with multiple notifications which is disturbing the frequency between the cricketer and his fan while tempting him to tweet his next thought on Kohli’s shot.

This is probably why cricket doesn’t excite us anymore the way it did in the Sachin era. Thanks to a hangover of embracing it when growing up combined with an overdose of cricketing action, we are programmed to follow it but we barely do it with heart now. We love Virat and his records, and follow him on all social media handles and discuss his batting with our friends and colleagues all the time, but truth be told, we don’t really care much. Virat, for all his batting brilliance, is just pop culture for most Indians today and will never be the God that Sachin was, for it was the latter’s milieu that made him God. And the current milieu will ensure he was the last that we had.