deathly effigies

It is a common practice in the Indian sub-continent to burn effigies of cricket players when the team performs badly. Recently, after the India-Bangladesh World Cup game, the effigy of Mahindra Singh Dhoni was burned and his home was damaged. If India gets eliminated from the tournament tomorrow, I won't be surprised if more effigies are burnt and cricket-crazy fanatics mob the players families and homes.
Wikipedia defines effigy as follows:

"A different type of effigy is used in some religious rituals to represent an undesired person or spirit. The effigy is burned as a sign of the participants' shared intent to banish the represented element from their lives."

Given the recent confirmation that Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer's death was murder by "manual strangulation", it seems that burning effigies may no longer be the modus operandi of disgruntled fanatics. Why burn a card-board, full-length figure of the person when you can actually eliminate the real-life form!

Cricket does need a reality-check, but I hope it does not come in the way of an India loss tomorrow. I have a selfish motive of wanting to be entertained for another few weeks by the Indian cricket team.

P.S.: Who makes these effigies? Is there a business model behind the manufacture of effigies? It sure must be a lucrative business; people must be working overtime these days to create effigies of the Indian cricketers. It does not even have to be a good piece of art... it is going to be burned if India loses! If India wins the World Cup, the effigy makers can then work overtime to spruce up their products... the effigies have to look good when garlanded!!