His holiness, the Shankar-acharya of Puri, has called for a ban on cricket. He has not done so after watching the Indian team's dismal performance in the ongoing World Cup. That is too trivial a matter for spiritual minds to take note of. The reason, as would be expe-cted, is far more fundamental. His holiness believes, quite correctly, that cricket balls are made from cow hide. This is reason enough for Indians not to play cricket.
There is, however, a matter of minor detail. At the moment, he is not too sure if cricket balls are made from cows that are slaughtered for that specific purpose or that these balls are made from the hide of those bovines that die naturally. If the former is indeed correct, then there is no question of playing cricket at all. However, if the latter turns out to be true, the mighty mind might rethink.
There have also been more than a few stray comments about how this ungrateful nation has its priorities wrong; spending more time, energy and resources on cricket than on the soldiers in Kargil. The inference being that cricket is a wasteful activity and should be stopped. Notwithstanding the fact that the comparison is quite meaningless, it ignores the role of cricket in nation-building.