Indian cricket fans are notorious for the lengths they go to in order to support their team. Prayers, havans, fasting, and a multitude of superstitious rituals are engaged in to, in their view at least, help the Men in Blue perform better. However, one Indian fan, exasperated by the team's continuous failure to win major ICC tournaments after getting to later stages, has gone the extra mile.
This fan, one Abhinay Thakur, thinks that whenever Virat Kohli, and Virender Sehwag also for that matter, congratulate the Indian cricket teams, on their progress in ICC tournaments, they end up jinxing them and the team loses in the final or semis. His concern is born out of Indian men's team's loss in World Cup semi-final, Under-19 World Cup final, and now, the final of the Women's T20 World Cup.
Where is the petition?
What's more? This person has used the petitioning platform 'Change.org' to circulate this weird petition. This website usually sees people starting petitions on serious social issues like environmental pollution, women empowerment, fighting corruption, etc. But now, it is being used to appeal to the superstitious part of Indian cricket fandom.
Support for petition
And it's working! Since the petition was floated on the website, it has been making progress and is well on its way to reach and surpass the initial goal of the petitioner to get 1000 signatures. Presently, the petition is not visible on the homepage of this platform and one wonders whether those running it have felt embarrassed by the whole thing.
Thakur, the man behind this petition, wrote: "Stop Virat Kohli and Sehwag from wishing Indian teams in ICC tournaments, especially in Semis/Finals. These both jinx our victories...! Suspend their social media accounts if they don't stop posting congratulations post."
India - The new chokers
If one looks at the recent history of Indian cricket, it is indeed a fact that since the 2013 Champions Trophy win, Indian cricket teams, be they male or female, have stumbled repeatedly on the last hurdle. The men's team lost in the semis of the last two World Cups, final of the 2014 World T20 and semifinal of the same event's 2016 edition.
The women's team lost a tantalizingly close match in the final of the 2017 World Cup to England and now have succumbed to Australia in the final of Women's T20 World Cup. Even the Under-19 team have been suffering. The colts lost in the finals of two out of three last Under-19 World Cup.
So, what do you think? Is Indian team becoming the new choker of world cricket after South Africa? Is it all because of Kohli and Sehwag's congratulatory posts? Why don't you let us know with your comments? They may be more valuable than your signature on the petition.
