There was a lot of talk during the recently concluded India-England Test series over the volume of the stump cameras. The English team wanted the broadcaster to lower the volume so that when they sledged an Indian player, it wasn’t heard by the million of viewers following the match on their television sets. But, really, is sledging that important part of the game?
People defending sledging would say that it is integral, a modern strategy to your rivals all tensed and makes it easier to cause them to make mistakes. It shows aggression, it shows a burning desire to win, it shows that you belong here and are confident enough to be a part of the sport. But should verbal abuse (yes, sledging is nothing more than verbal abuse in more common terms) really be used to such a great extent in a sport which is called ‘The Gentleman’s Game’?
Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not attacking cricket alone. I am a critique of sledging in all sports. The players are looked up to by young adoring fans and it most certainly would not send out the right signals to them if you say that the secret behind your success is hard work, practice, physical fitness and a vocabulary of F-words used in various forms to have a go against your opponent’s moms and dads. It was a horrendous experience for me to recently play a small football match at school where every time during a corner there was some or another altercation with an opposing player where I had to bear insults to my family.
Athletes must realize that they are the ambassadors for good sportsmanship. I’m sure you can show your aggression in ways other than by sledging. If you remember the Chelsea-Manchester United game towards the end of last season, there was an incident involving Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand. The stare Drogba gave to Ferdinand made even a rough-and-tough guy like Ferdinand cower. Nobody can deny that Ferdinand was shaken by that look. If Ferdinand can be scared off by a mere gaze, anyone can be. And at least this way, we spare the kids vocabulary of some, well, unneeded words.
