Mitchell Marsh, you are reminding us of Buddha | Vazhipokkan

If there is a choice, I don't watch cricket. Had played enough cricket during my youth. Have covered many matches as part of my journalistic career. It was an electrifying experience to watch Virender Sehwag scoring a triple century at Chepauk stadium in 2008. Once I wrote that IPL was the ' Thrissur pooram ' of cricket. But, after a phase, the fascination was gone. Scams after scams and the overdose of commercialisation killed the soul of the game and I stopped watching. It was disgusting indeed to see players like Sachin Tendulkar stooping to any level to get tax reduction for luxurious foreign cars. A generation that grew up watching players like Kapil Dev and Bishan Singh Bedi, who proved to be men of impeccable character both inside and outside the court, can't stand these Gods with feet of clay.

Cricket is a game where eleven guys take on two. There is injustice in that itself. Had to watch a cricket match last Sunday, after a gap of many years. It was totally unintentional. Having stuck with a relative, who would never miss a World Cup final match, I was left with no other option. To be frank, it turned out to be real entertainment worth the time. The reality is that life and games go hand in hand. The lines get blurred quite often. There can be twists and turns anytime anywhere.

MP Narayana Pillai, renowned Malayali writer, wrote sometime back that cricket was not a game. He observed that it was an intoxicant like brown sugar and the spectators got stoned more than the players. He asked if anyone would exercise from morning till evening. According to Nanappan, cricket was there for those who didn't have to work to live.''It ceases to be a game after the first phase. Then it becomes simply some statistics about the number of runs and wickets. It is a game for the intellectually challenged.'' Can't agree with Nanappan completely. Shouldn't there be something for the jobless too?

It was almost certain that this time the cup would go to the Aussies. That was the intuition. There is nothing magical about it. It is like the response from the ChatGPT. The art of filtering all available information till today and reaching a conclusion. All human minds have been doing this from time immemorial. So, If you ask about the message from this World Cup final, the answer will point to three statements. The first one was by Pat Cummins, the Australian captain - ''there is nothing more satisfying than silencing a huge crowd.''

The statement of the century
 

It is said that cricket is a gentleman's game. But the crowd at the Modi stadium in Ahmedabad were out to disprove it by all means. Recall the experience of Babar Asam, the Pak captain. It exposed the hypocrisy that proclaims adhiti devo bhava and excels in its breach at the earliest opportunity. Pat Cummins' statement hammered the nail on the very forehead of this callous attitude. The crowd seemed possessed and Cummins was determined to preside over the act of exorcism. He set off the process by sending Virat Kohli, the most charismatic Indian player, back to the pavilion as he was getting ready to celebrate another century before the sea of blue. Maythil Radhakrishnan, a friend and writer, described Cummins’ statement thus: ''Forget India, forget Australia, forget cricket... This morning I was flabbergasted by Cummins’ statement. It's the statement of the century.''

PM Modi must have arrived at the stadium, that is named after him, wearing a beautiful blue jacket, with the hope that Rohit and his team would deconstruct Cummins' statement. No-one needs to teach the supreme leader the significance of political mileage that comes with the World Cup title. But, last Sunday, ,Ahmedabad fell into total silence in front of the Aussies. The spectators of Ahmedabad could have easily outwitted Cummins by simply celebrating Travis Head's century and the stunning victory of Australia. After all, that is what we call ' sportsman spirit.' But, the crowd at the Modi stadium was there to prove Cummins right. They left the stadium leaving the Indian players alone in their moment of agony. The icing of the cake was the winning run by none other than the one and only Glen Maxwell. How the Kangaroos could have completed their victory without the conjuror of the conjurors!

John's protest

The second statement was delivered by Wayne John, an Australian citizen. John stepped onto the ground, wearing a T- shirt that carried the words ''free Palestine'' when Virat Kohli was at the crease. The nation has not witnessed such a profound protest after the rally organised by the Indian Union Muslim League in connection with the Palestinian issue. We don't know how many people really watched the final match across the world. John brought the Palestinian issue live before these crores of spectators. One may differ with the act of John. Many would argue that sports and war shouldn't be mixed up. But, the undeniable fact is that John could market his message with unmatchable precision. Virat Kohli is the most visible Indian player these days. And John ran upto the one and only Virat to declare solidarity with the suffering Palestinians. It was an invaluable moment. No one can decide the value of the visibility that moment gifted to John.
 

These tuskers are not mine

Let us now come to the third statement. The statement of the statements. If asked to select one visual that epitomises this World Cup, then that will be the visual of Mitchell Marsh, the Australian player, resting his feet up on the World Cup trophy, minutes after it was handed over to captain Cummins by PM Modi. This was the picture of the day. And it will remain so in the days to come. The snap was shared by none other than Pat Cummins. It was the grand finale of his act of silencing. Mitchell Marsh delivered the philosophy of Buddha through that single act. It was a classic example of the famous theory of 'detachment' propagated by Buddha. According to Buddha, one should always aim to get detached from the worldly things.

Osho Rajneesh and Jiddu Krishnamurti have elaborated on 'detachment'. But, Mitchell Marsh has made the most concrete expression of the philosophy in recent times. Any achievement, be it the World Cup or the electoral victory, means only this much. Everything is temporary in this world. So, don't get over excited about anything. Remember the Zen story about two monks.

A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.

The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.

Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and continued his journey.

The younger monk couldn't believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.

Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk couldn't contain himself any longer, and blurted out 'As monks, we are not permitted to touch a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?'

The older monk looked at him and replied, 'Brother, I put her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?'
 

Mitchell was in the role of the senior monk last Sunday.  No doubt, Australia played to win. But, it was over the moment they won. Now, the World Cup trophy is just another cup. You may rest your feet upon it. Victory and defeat are simply two sides of the same coin. Mitchell Marsh, we Indians owe it to you for reminding us of the Buddha in such exceptional times.

It was Akkitham, the well known Malayalam poet who penned these immortal lines: ''Not mine, not mine these tuskers.. Not mine, this great temple!'' Mitchell Marsh has revealed the significance of this truth in his own style. There are people who think that Mitchell has shown disrespect to the World Cup trophy. Many of them don't have any qualms to be silent when their fellow human beings are put to  blatant injustice. They forget that respect is a feudal value which has upon it the long shadow of hierarchy.

I wanted to ensure that Mitchell's was not a spur of the moment act. A simple search on the net gave the clue. There is an interview in which Mitchell speaks of 'detachment.' He reveals that he has been training with the help of a psychologist to get detached from the outcome. Mitchell specifically uses the word 'detachment.'  Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita to work without seeking reward. And Buddha taught the world to get detached from the outcome. When you fulfill your karma, when you reap the fruits, you must realise the pointlessness of the outcome. It was exactly this teaching of Buddha that Mitchell manifested before all of us.

All our leaders, the superstars of our films, the leading sportsstars.. all of them must engrave the visual of Mitchell Marsh resting his feet on the World Cup trophy, on their minds. There can be no better antivenom to those who swim in the ocean of hubris!