Australia tour rubble shows domestic cricket deserves more respect

India suffered two shattering jolts – first New Zealand and now Australia – but in the gloom there is a silver lining, what teams call 'positives'.

- Amrit Mathur

The major plus from the carnage is that it sparked an honest conversation about Indian cricket and its structure, players and team culture. After the twin disasters everyone is holding up the mirror to register their disapproval.

That tough questions are being asked following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) loss is indeed positive. For once, unpleasant reality is being confronted, not brushed under the pitch covers. Politeness is put aside as the criticism is direct and sharp. The clear message is that nobody is exempt from scrutiny. Also, this time the outrage is collective with fans, experts, observers and critics all echoing what an angry Gautam Gambhir (supposedly) said in the dressing room: "bahut ho gaya" (this is too much).

Social media is flooded with strong opinion ranging from the sensible to silly, lots of it over the top, driven by emotion, stemming from a sense of deep hurt. This can be largely ignored but it shows that cricket fans are important stakeholders who have a voice and an opinion and a platform to say whatever they want to.

In their line of fire are Indian cricket's superstars – the big guns who fired blanks. For long, they enjoyed immunity against criticism because, in the eyes of adoring fans, they couldn't do anything wrong.