1st Exclusive Interview: Ishant Sharma and Aakash Sharma

Mumbai crowd is probably the worst crowd in the world: Ishant Sharma and Aakash Chopra:

I had the good fortune of meeting Ishant Sharma and Aakash Sharma for an interview with OK! magazine and they said that the Mumbai crowd was probably the worst crowd in the world. I suppose that maybe that’s a complement because when they play for the Knight Riders and come down to the city to compete against our team it goes to show that we, as fans, can put the opposition off track.

I tried explaining to them that it was nothing personal and that we would still support them during their international performances, it’s just that when they are against a team we are supporting how can they expect us to be amicable and shout “Come on Aakash!” or “Bowl Sachin out Ishant”? and even that they got a little bit of. Of all the away teams, the Knight Riders had a largest fan following in Mumbai. It was different that their shoddy performance left their support sitting silently in utter disbelief.

Aakash went on to say that the crowd has been so rowdy at times that during a test match against Australia in the 2003-04 season they even booed Sachin. I was a little short of words. I remember that game. I stuttered and replied saying “very few people can actually go up to the man and say, “Listen Sachin, I think your initial movement, with your front foot, towards the pitch of the ball is a little hesitant and thus catches you playing late.” No one has the right to tell him that- He is a God.

The reason the home crowd did that, was because he had failed the entire test series and the high expectation of him performing at home left the mob frustrated. We never did stop supporting him, only letting him know that no matter how great he is, he must show a power to overcome failure, because that’s what champions do. It appeared that he had lost his appetite to succeed and needed a new challenge. We gave him one.

I reminded the opener that even through the IPL when Sachin failed, he got a standing ovation every time.

I felt my opinion though was probably just something I needed to say to defend the Mumbaikars, we have booed our God and there is no excuse for that, unless someone has a better outlook than mine as to why it happened.

Comment.

Read the July edition of OK! India for the entire interview.