Divine Intervention?

By Gulu Ezekiel

Rajasthan Royals’ co-owner Shilpa Shetty is convinced “divine intervention” was behind her side’s narrow victory over Mumbai Indians in the IPL last week.
Writing in her blog, the actress claims she repeatedly saw the vision of her guru in front of her in the tense final moments and he re-assured her the Royals would win.
One does not wish to hurt anyone’s religious feelings, but the question that has been bothering me is: where was Shetty’s guru when the Royals were beaten by the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday and are now on the brink of elimination?
Does one assume if the reigning champions are eliminated before the semifinals that they have been abandoned by the aforementioned “divine intervention?”
And if they to scramble into the last four (and beyond) will no credit at all be given to the cricketers for their efforts?
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta—coincidentally, also an actress—has been in the news of late for visiting Durban’s Hindu temples and collecting prasad to feed to her players before every game.
It is now a toss up between Shetty’s Royals and Zinta’s Kings as to who will book one of the desperately sought after semifinal slots. So if one makes it and the other does not, does that mean one team’s divine forces is stronger than the other’s?
As a non-believer all this praying, prasad-giving and guru-glimpsing strikes me as superstitious nonsense. Even if one concedes there is a greater force looking down on all of us, does He (or She) really have nothing better to do than decide the fate of a 20/20 cricket match, for Heaven’s sake (pun intended)?
The other day when the camera focused on a Mumbai Indian’s supporter praying in the stands, commentator Harsha Bhogle expressed his concern. “It always worries me when I see someone praying at a cricket match. Does it mean his god is stronger than the other team’s?”
Wonder how Zinta and Shetty would react to that!

www.sportshero.com (19/5/09)