Sachin Tendulkar retired from One day cricket....is that the last straw in my love with the game that once occupied a big chunk of my life?
I am from the "eat cricket, drink cricket, sleep cricket" generation in India. That was the only sport that occupied our lives when we were kids. We not only knew all stats and figures but we emulated the stars in our own ways.....Azhar's stance, Kapil's bowling action....heck, even applying cold cream on our faces like Craig Mcdermott and Alan Donald.
It surprises me that I no longer watch the game as much as I used to and have moved to watching more Tennis. During my vacation in India, I watched cricket again for some time and wasn't hooked onto it like the earlier days, and then I found why.
Its not just about IPL or the T20. Its about what IPL/T20 has made today's Indian players to be. No matter how much they try to show they have personality, today's average Indian player is DULL !!! In his mannerisms, in his game, in his overall attitude. Gone are the days when Dravid answered Alan Donald's verbal abuse by hitting him for sixes.....today's Indian player abuses back. Nothing wrong with being a fiery character, as long as that reflects in your game too. But its more about making the noise and less about action.
The reason why the Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble generation was a golden era of Indian cricket was because each one of them had more personality than today's entire team combined and they didn't have to "showcase" it. These guys stood tall against the might of Australian team which today's team can only dream about and they did it in style. They gelled as a team, respected each other's achievements and brought the best out of each other. Unlike today when Ajinkya Rahane's wham-bam sixes make Gambhir feel insecure and forces him to slog, only to lose his wicket in the process. That is a sorry sight to watch for a fan.
The golden era was about character. Tendulkar cried and didn't even come to accept his man of the match award versus Pakistan where he played an "almost" match winning innings despite severe back pain on an unplayable Chennai pitch. Reason? Rest of the team wasn't man enough to make the remaining 11 runs when he got out and we lost the match as a result. He blamed himself. Today, Sehwag doesn't even look apologetic when he's too comfy in slips to bend down for a half chance. Dravid reprimanded himself for getting out even after an hundred because he didn't play a shot well and shadow practiced it on his way back to pavilion. Today's batsman like Rahane feels its about "enjoying himself" when he loses his wicket to a rash shot and his place isn't even guaranteed in the team yet.
How can you not blame IPL and the overdose of cricket? There is easy money to be made without much focus on technique, grit or patience. The standard of our test team is laughable and I am surprised with the growing noise about senior player's retirement. Failed for couple of series and we force Dravid, Laxman to retire. Sachin's retirement is a national obsession. But where are the replacements?
Supposedly Virat Kohli is one of the replacement. But he gets out chasing deliveries way outside offstump on subcontinent pitches. What is he going to do in England and Australia? We blame Sachin for his bad patch but even during his bad patch, he tries hard and makes one fifty. But we are ready to ignore someone like Gambhir who, even after being in good form, throws away his wicket time and again even after getting set. Why shouldn't he be dropped before Sachin? Just because he's younger?
The real strength of character is seen during a player's bad form, not his good form. Character is what is missing in bucket loads from today's players and that is impacting everything else, including technique. When Yuvraj Singh is taking more wickets in matches than regular spinners, you know something is terribly wrong. Lot of talk about Ashwin and his "mystery ball" but learn to be a proper offspinner first, dude !!! If you are bowling each and every delivery to contain runs, like you do in your T20, how are you going to take wickets? Did you learn anything from Shane Warne while he was available for IPL? If not, possibly the only positive thing about IPL has been wasted.
Maybe I want to stay nostalgic and am finding it difficult to come out of my love for the golden era but there is reason why it was the "golden" era. I didn't love Tendlya just because he smashed the legendary Warne to pieces but because he prepared meticulously before the series on how to tackle him. I didn't have Dravid's resolute looking photo of "Tomorrow is mine" in my wallet just for the beauty of his cover drive but because he demonstrated it time and again against the mighty Australians. They let their bat and ball do the talking on the field and talk it did, loud and clear. They didn't have to use curse words and chest thumping to show how "cool" they are.
Have I given up on the game I once idolized? Maybe, until guys with "character" are seen again on field. There will be very few privileged ones who will be able to say "I learned from the little master or The Wall" but while they are playing, lets hope the young guns of India learn lot more than just technique from these pillars of Indian cricket's golden era.
I am from the "eat cricket, drink cricket, sleep cricket" generation in India. That was the only sport that occupied our lives when we were kids. We not only knew all stats and figures but we emulated the stars in our own ways.....Azhar's stance, Kapil's bowling action....heck, even applying cold cream on our faces like Craig Mcdermott and Alan Donald.
It surprises me that I no longer watch the game as much as I used to and have moved to watching more Tennis. During my vacation in India, I watched cricket again for some time and wasn't hooked onto it like the earlier days, and then I found why.
Its not just about IPL or the T20. Its about what IPL/T20 has made today's Indian players to be. No matter how much they try to show they have personality, today's average Indian player is DULL !!! In his mannerisms, in his game, in his overall attitude. Gone are the days when Dravid answered Alan Donald's verbal abuse by hitting him for sixes.....today's Indian player abuses back. Nothing wrong with being a fiery character, as long as that reflects in your game too. But its more about making the noise and less about action.
The reason why the Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble generation was a golden era of Indian cricket was because each one of them had more personality than today's entire team combined and they didn't have to "showcase" it. These guys stood tall against the might of Australian team which today's team can only dream about and they did it in style. They gelled as a team, respected each other's achievements and brought the best out of each other. Unlike today when Ajinkya Rahane's wham-bam sixes make Gambhir feel insecure and forces him to slog, only to lose his wicket in the process. That is a sorry sight to watch for a fan.
The golden era was about character. Tendulkar cried and didn't even come to accept his man of the match award versus Pakistan where he played an "almost" match winning innings despite severe back pain on an unplayable Chennai pitch. Reason? Rest of the team wasn't man enough to make the remaining 11 runs when he got out and we lost the match as a result. He blamed himself. Today, Sehwag doesn't even look apologetic when he's too comfy in slips to bend down for a half chance. Dravid reprimanded himself for getting out even after an hundred because he didn't play a shot well and shadow practiced it on his way back to pavilion. Today's batsman like Rahane feels its about "enjoying himself" when he loses his wicket to a rash shot and his place isn't even guaranteed in the team yet.
How can you not blame IPL and the overdose of cricket? There is easy money to be made without much focus on technique, grit or patience. The standard of our test team is laughable and I am surprised with the growing noise about senior player's retirement. Failed for couple of series and we force Dravid, Laxman to retire. Sachin's retirement is a national obsession. But where are the replacements?
Supposedly Virat Kohli is one of the replacement. But he gets out chasing deliveries way outside offstump on subcontinent pitches. What is he going to do in England and Australia? We blame Sachin for his bad patch but even during his bad patch, he tries hard and makes one fifty. But we are ready to ignore someone like Gambhir who, even after being in good form, throws away his wicket time and again even after getting set. Why shouldn't he be dropped before Sachin? Just because he's younger?
The real strength of character is seen during a player's bad form, not his good form. Character is what is missing in bucket loads from today's players and that is impacting everything else, including technique. When Yuvraj Singh is taking more wickets in matches than regular spinners, you know something is terribly wrong. Lot of talk about Ashwin and his "mystery ball" but learn to be a proper offspinner first, dude !!! If you are bowling each and every delivery to contain runs, like you do in your T20, how are you going to take wickets? Did you learn anything from Shane Warne while he was available for IPL? If not, possibly the only positive thing about IPL has been wasted.
Maybe I want to stay nostalgic and am finding it difficult to come out of my love for the golden era but there is reason why it was the "golden" era. I didn't love Tendlya just because he smashed the legendary Warne to pieces but because he prepared meticulously before the series on how to tackle him. I didn't have Dravid's resolute looking photo of "Tomorrow is mine" in my wallet just for the beauty of his cover drive but because he demonstrated it time and again against the mighty Australians. They let their bat and ball do the talking on the field and talk it did, loud and clear. They didn't have to use curse words and chest thumping to show how "cool" they are.
Have I given up on the game I once idolized? Maybe, until guys with "character" are seen again on field. There will be very few privileged ones who will be able to say "I learned from the little master or The Wall" but while they are playing, lets hope the young guns of India learn lot more than just technique from these pillars of Indian cricket's golden era.
so true
ReplyDeleteDid u purposely keep dada away from your post...i believe he was part of that golden era as well...along with sachin, dravid, laxman, kumble and even sreenath..there can be differences of opinion about their cricketing skills...but not their integrity...after match fixing scandal broke out...these men came together to build a new team...and dada was integral part of that group...don't u think so?
ReplyDelete