The crowd was waiting for the lead player to come and perform for a very long time. Some had waited for nearly five hours, some a bit less. They had seen Ireland give a spirited fight to Sri Lanka and then seen their team restrict England to 153. Surely, that was not beyond the famed batting line up of their home team, particularly as it contained the one star player everybody was talking about. The English papers were talking about him, cricinfo was talking about him and surely the English cricket team must have been talking about him.
As Gambhir got out, out strode the one man who everybody wanted to watch. Yuvraj Singh’s walk is very reminiscent of Sir Viv Richard’s walk to the crease. Out he strode with a confident swagger, eager and determined to put the English attack to the sword. He was perhaps frustrated, perhaps annoyed because of Jadeja’s promotion ahead of him. He had that steely look in his eyes- he meant business.
As he took guard, the crowd waited with bathed breath. This was the moment everybody was waiting since afternoon. What would Yuvraj do? The first delivery was bowled by Mascharenes- it was slightly pitched up; surely Yuvraj would have a look and knock a couple. Yuvraj had other ideas- he swung that delivery over the bowlers head or a big six. There was delirium in the stands. It took the prince one delivery to give the crowd what they had wanted since early afternoon.
I have been fortunate to witnesses two similar moments in cricket- moments which made my hair stand up and which still give me goose pimples. In 2001 in Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid tried to save the test match from Steve Waugh’s Australians on the third day. Tendulkar was unbeaten at lunch and for forty five minutes the entire Wankhade stadium was debating as to what Tendulkar would do after lunch. First ball after was bowled by Jason Gillespie and it was a good length delivery on the off stump. Tendulkar smashed it between cover and point for four and the whole ground went crazy. Then three years later India was defending a meager 105 against Australia. The crowd, wondering whether India could defend such a small total was shouting their guts out. Third delivery from Zaheer took Langer’s edge and the debutant Karthick took a simple catch behind the stumps. “Mumbai has gone mad” said Dean Jones on commentary and it indeed had.
These are small but significant moments which make watching a game of cricket in a cricket stadium worthwhile. They remain in memory for ever and every time I remember them, I get goose pimples. Yuvraj’s first ball six was one such moment of brilliance. Alas his efforts were not enough to lead India to victory. Why M.S. Dhoni considered it fit to send a rookie 19 year old ahead of him is a matter to debate in another post. For the moment, let me just savor the brilliance of the left hander from Punjab.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Back with Random Thoughts
It’s been so long since the last time I wrote that I was worried I might have forgotten how to write. I have been away from home, but no matter where I am, I can never be away from the game of cricket. It’s been tremendous last 8 months for the game of cricket. Thought I will re start my blog innings by noting down a few general points:
1) Gautam Gambhir has emerged as India’s most important batsman in all forms of the game. He was brilliant against the Australians, but it was his innings in Napier which made people round the world sit up and notice him. For two whole days the Kiwis kept bowling at him and for two days Gambhir kept blocking. This was defensive batsmanship at its very best, comparable to Atherton’s 185 at the Wanderers. Gambhir was always considered a handy limited overs player but with this one innings he announced his arrival among the major batsman of the world. It will be Indian cricket’s major loss if Gauti doesn’t end up among the best batsmen in the world when he finishes.
2) Watching VVS Lakshman bat remains one of the most delightful activities that one can indulge in. Lakshman had a tremendous series against Australia and followed it up with another great effort in New Zealand. His hundred in Napier was a treat to the eyes. The last 50 runs were full of outstanding strokes. Watching Lakshman bat is like watching Madhuri Dixit dance………..It is beautiful, it is classical and yet unorthodox enough to arouse you.. There cannot be a more elegant player in the world and there cannot be a player in world cricket who makes batting such a wonderful art.
3) For the last one year, I have been fortunate enough to listen to BBC’s test match special converge. It has been a pleasure listening to Jonathan Agnew and company, who obviously love cricket as much as anybody. Listening to TMS has been a welcome relief since the commentators paint the perfect picture of cricket and you actually enjoy following the game even though you are not watching it. Particularly as, of late cricket commentators in India have become marketing agents. Somebody please tell Ravi Shashtri that he can shout as much as he wants but the people of the entire world are not going to end up watching twenty twenty cricket game in South Africa. And the last time I checked, the MCC rule book stated that if the ball crossed the boundary on the full it is a six- not a DLF maximum. And everytime the bowler hits the stumps, it is a wicket- not a city moment of success. The IPL coverage was such a sham that I had to switch of the television many a times in disgust.
4) But the IPL also produced some good cricket. My beloved Deccan Chargers were led magnificently by Adam Gilchrist and went on to win the second edition. And like the first edition, there were plenty of players who caught one’s eye. Manish Pandey played two gorgeous innings for Bangalore and hopefully we should be hearing a lot more from this youngster. Shadab Jakati bowled magnificently for Chennai, Pragyan Ohjha was the man of the series for me, Rohit Sharma continued his progress and Suresh Raina indicated that he could perhaps dominate the world stage for the next year or so. All in all the future of Indian cricket continues to be rosy.
5) The Indian winter saw four outstanding test matches played, three against Australia at Bangalore, Mohali and Nagpur and one absolute classic against England at Chennai. For all the noise that T20 makes, there is nothing better than an evenly contested test match. South Africa and Australia were also involved in two absolute thrillers and I cannot wait for the Ashes to start.
6) Virender Sehwag continues to be the most destructive and thrilling batsmen in world cricket. His 83 in Chennai was perhaps the finest counter attack seen from a top order batsman in test match cricket this decade. Else where the world saw Saurav Ganguly cover driving for the last time in a test match field. Anil Kumble said good bye too and it was unreal to see an Indian test match team sheet without these two names.
Lots more to write and discuss………. But that will be later.
1) Gautam Gambhir has emerged as India’s most important batsman in all forms of the game. He was brilliant against the Australians, but it was his innings in Napier which made people round the world sit up and notice him. For two whole days the Kiwis kept bowling at him and for two days Gambhir kept blocking. This was defensive batsmanship at its very best, comparable to Atherton’s 185 at the Wanderers. Gambhir was always considered a handy limited overs player but with this one innings he announced his arrival among the major batsman of the world. It will be Indian cricket’s major loss if Gauti doesn’t end up among the best batsmen in the world when he finishes.
2) Watching VVS Lakshman bat remains one of the most delightful activities that one can indulge in. Lakshman had a tremendous series against Australia and followed it up with another great effort in New Zealand. His hundred in Napier was a treat to the eyes. The last 50 runs were full of outstanding strokes. Watching Lakshman bat is like watching Madhuri Dixit dance………..It is beautiful, it is classical and yet unorthodox enough to arouse you.. There cannot be a more elegant player in the world and there cannot be a player in world cricket who makes batting such a wonderful art.
3) For the last one year, I have been fortunate enough to listen to BBC’s test match special converge. It has been a pleasure listening to Jonathan Agnew and company, who obviously love cricket as much as anybody. Listening to TMS has been a welcome relief since the commentators paint the perfect picture of cricket and you actually enjoy following the game even though you are not watching it. Particularly as, of late cricket commentators in India have become marketing agents. Somebody please tell Ravi Shashtri that he can shout as much as he wants but the people of the entire world are not going to end up watching twenty twenty cricket game in South Africa. And the last time I checked, the MCC rule book stated that if the ball crossed the boundary on the full it is a six- not a DLF maximum. And everytime the bowler hits the stumps, it is a wicket- not a city moment of success. The IPL coverage was such a sham that I had to switch of the television many a times in disgust.
4) But the IPL also produced some good cricket. My beloved Deccan Chargers were led magnificently by Adam Gilchrist and went on to win the second edition. And like the first edition, there were plenty of players who caught one’s eye. Manish Pandey played two gorgeous innings for Bangalore and hopefully we should be hearing a lot more from this youngster. Shadab Jakati bowled magnificently for Chennai, Pragyan Ohjha was the man of the series for me, Rohit Sharma continued his progress and Suresh Raina indicated that he could perhaps dominate the world stage for the next year or so. All in all the future of Indian cricket continues to be rosy.
5) The Indian winter saw four outstanding test matches played, three against Australia at Bangalore, Mohali and Nagpur and one absolute classic against England at Chennai. For all the noise that T20 makes, there is nothing better than an evenly contested test match. South Africa and Australia were also involved in two absolute thrillers and I cannot wait for the Ashes to start.
6) Virender Sehwag continues to be the most destructive and thrilling batsmen in world cricket. His 83 in Chennai was perhaps the finest counter attack seen from a top order batsman in test match cricket this decade. Else where the world saw Saurav Ganguly cover driving for the last time in a test match field. Anil Kumble said good bye too and it was unreal to see an Indian test match team sheet without these two names.
Lots more to write and discuss………. But that will be later.
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