Sports: Pastime, adventure, occupation, essence or all?

The memories go back a long time as far as sports is concerned. The day that I got a brand new cricket kit some 30 years ago, is still one of the best days I experienced. I remember Papa had bought me a maroon helmet, the colour that West Indies players don in Test cricket. It was a prized possession of mine and I used to think of myself as the right-handed Brian Lara when I took stance. It is another matter that I was an ordinary batter and bowled slightly better.

The emotions, however, which are associated to sports are immense for any child. For me personally, they take me back to a time where I managed to derive joy out of little things in life.

Joy is that one pristine feeling that sports brings in life, whether Kabaddi, Kho Kho, Cricket, Hockey or Chess. The emotions, skills, temperament that you develop while playing these sports in your childhood help you deal with professional and some personal problems ably in future life.

Sports is the essence of life

Bracketing sports as pastime, adventure or occupation is difficult to say, in the very least. It surely is the essence of our lives whether we play it, observe it or dream about it.

Society has always admired people who earn their livelihood, respect, love and goodwill through conscientious efforts. People who have done well in sports at any level also need to be appreciated for their just efforts when they put their heart and soul for achieving great goals in life.

In essence, sports provides a means to a better life and this should be the mantra for any aspiring professional sportsperson. By providing an impetus to their life, they help people associated with them to also see a better world. The sports managers must also remember this aspect while charting out their careers.

Aspirations when combined with dedication achieve better results

The above mantra may be assumed to be the guiding principle for sports managers. If they are able to inculcate this value into their proteges, wards or team members then they are sure to achieve a sense of job satisfaction combined with organisational and overall growth. In a team sport, of course, the value of achieving victories also assumes importance. The sports managers could learn in this aspect from team captains and their insights or experiences in these matters.

In the times that we are living in, the importance of proper healthcare has also assumed importance. The sports managers’ focus on players’ health is more than what it used to be in the past.

The Good Samaritan fans

Sports is a field which could really help the people who play or watch it overcome their fears. While no one could forget the Sri Lankan cricket fan Percy Abhayasekhara and how he waved the Sri Lankan flag at the venues there whenever his team plays a match there, no one could also forget the Indian cricket fan Sudhir Chaudhary who paints his face with the Indian flag and keeps on waving the flag through the day at venues where India plays a Test match.

Of course, the old-timers talk fondly of Percy and the new generation is in awe of Sudhir. Victories achieved by teams mean the most for such fans and tears in their eyes are the greatest earning that any sincere observer of the game can think of achieving. The performances of players and the exacting stiffness of sports managers may be important but they are not the end all and be all of professional sport. The value that such committed fans bring to the table are remarkably noteworthy and appreciable.

The essence of sports is really beyond my limited knowledge to be explained in more comprehensible terms and I hope people of the future generation would remember the values, sacrifices and dedication that sports followers also brought to the table apart from sportspersons and sports managers. Their hearts were not only immensely invested but their labour of love, blood and toil in aspiring for the best for their idols also spoke and will continue to speak volumes.

Cricket minus game dynamics = pure joy

Beyond the realm of the apparent lies the world of happiness and solace. The moment I saw that little angel on the Karnail Singh Stadium during the Group A Ranji Trophy 2018-19 game between Vidarbha and Railways, I felt a certain sense of elation that any soul wanting and longing eternal joy would have.

The serene settings of the Karnail Singh Stadium amidst the ruins and newness of New Delhi are as oxymoronic as literary liberty would allow it to be, yet it has an old world charm which lends any game of cricket the vital coat of authenticity that it commands at times. The third session of the first day of the group game was on between the aforementioned sides. Railways pacer Manjeet Singh and off-spinner Madhur Khatri were operating in tandem and were trying their level best to dislodge a potentially formidable partnership between the Vidarbha duo of Akshay Wadkar and Mohit Kale. The two of them had stitched together a worthwhile contribution of around 90 runs after a minor collapse had struck their team in the earlier session where they had lost three wickets for 15 runs within a matter of 7.2 overs as Vidarbha slid from 89/1 to 104/4.

The cricket was mildly intense and the terrain quite old-worldly as discussed above in terms of charm - a handful of spectators thrown around with officials, groundstaff and players all going about their business with a lazy slumber which one would expect is easily induced on a winter afternoon in Delhi.

Untouched and unaffected by all these pretensions or seriousness of an inflated sense of self-importance that cricket could very easily induce, a little angel in the form of a boy of around 5-6 years of age emerged out of the Athletics enclosure of the stadium on to the outer cricketing turf of the stadium. There was a group of mynahs which were going about having fun on the grass and to my wondrous surprise, our little angel was playing the chidiyabaaz to the flock, shooing them away. Absolute joys of childhood! Lo and behold! And yet before you could say these words, our angel disappeared as soon as he had emerged leaving behind a joyous memory one could cherish for ages. The best things in life come for free afterall and yes cricket was freed from its trappings that day for me in a sense, reminding me of my own co-operative ground and its sparrows.

Srinath's gems and a tragicomedy from the 1996 Cricket World Cup

Bowling is my first love, as far as my memory serves me right, and Javagal Srinath is my perennial favourite amongst the flock who traded the art of bowling at the highest level. The sleek, wiry, open-chested action of Srinath, which gradually made way for a slightly side-on variety as years went on, produced some memorable rapids which still strike a cord in the heart somewhere.

One could recall many gems from all his performances in India and abroad, but there are two deliveries which stand out in ODIs for me - the yorker he bowled to Keith Arthurton at the WACA Stadium in Perth in the famous tied one-dayer between India and West Indies, and the away-cutter which got him the wicket of the legendary Brian Lara at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior in the World Cup tie between the aforementioned teams.

The slight contrast that I was referring to in the first paragraph about his action could be vaguely observed in the two deliveries referred in the second paragraph. The amazing swinging yorker that rattled the stumps of Arthurton at WACA surely was magical but the away-cutter he produced against the legendary Lara was equally effective, albeit aided by some poor umpiring from Khizar Hayat.

Brian was facing up to Srinath that day in what were dry conditions at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in the first day-night game at the venue. He walked in to a standing ovation from the Gwalior crowd at the fall of Sherwin Campbell's wicket who had played on to an ordinary delivery from Srinath in the fourth over of the game. The respect that the southpaw commanded in India was partly because of him being a worthy parallel of the young and ferociously talented Indian batsman of the day, need I say the name? Well, of course, Sachin Tendulkar. Both were on an upward curve in their careers at the time when the 1996 World Cup was being played.

Srinath produced a good delivery which moved away from the left-hander after pitching on his leg stump, just back of a length - a classic Srinath in-dipper which became an away-cutter for a left-hander. Lara played the ball in his trademark fashion with a high backlift where his bat came from the first slip and then jutted close to his pad with the full face on offer. The ball, however, missed everything that Lara offered and struck his back pad and went to keeper Nayan Mongia, who pouched it easily. The Indians went up in appeal in unison and umpire Khizar Hayat obliged, reluctantly albeit. Sunil Gavaskar and the late Richie Benaud were on air at that time and sounded unconvinced and rued the dismissal of the classy batsman while acknowledging the gem by Srinath.

Credit must be given to Srinath here because he too conceded that the ball had hit Lara's pad and not the bat in a TV interview years after the match, cheekily adding however that the 'benefit of doubt' went to the fielding side. He returned impressive figures of 10-0-22-2 that day in an Indian victory.

It’s not just about cricket – How Ranchi shaped the journey of its favourite son

When Pan Singh Dhoni migrated from the Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) to Ranchi for joining ranks at MECON as a pump operator, he would have not thought how immense his decision would be in the years to come. When his third child was born on July 7, 1981 in the MECON Hospital, the very child held keys to a bright future which went beyond the four walls of his own house. He was christened Mahendra Singh Dhoni and we all know the kind of glory he brought not just for his family but for a wider family of Indians, just about 1.3 billion in numbers.

Dhoni was admitted to the DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, a school which was a stone’s throw distance from his father’s company-allotted flat. What stood in between his home and the school was a patch of green that would help him shape his destiny on the cricketing fields in the years to come. This patch of green was called the MECON Stadium which had a centre cricketing pitch and four stands at the corners of the ground to make it good enough for State Ranji Cricket, inter-district and inter-school cricket in the winter season.

Dhoni used to attend school from 8 am in the morning to 1.30 in the afternoon. After that, he used to scamper home for a quick lunch accompanied by a glass of milk. This was followed by a quick revision of the concepts and lessons he learnt at school that day up to around 3 pm. MECON Stadium and the adjoining school ground used to be his calling place after that where the young kid used to do goal-keeping in the myriad football games that used to take place there.

It was the school PT Teacher, Sri Keshav Ranjan Banerjee who turned our rising goal-keeper into one of the safest hands behind the cricket pitch as a wicketkeeper in those years and we all came richer for it. The young Dhoni’s game was characterized by a Yeoman’s spirit and refreshing edge which is a rare talent found in few kids. The school teachers of DAVJVM could recount many of his exploits on the field with the mischievous act of breaking window panes of the school classrooms which stood nearby. The six-hitting capability of Dhoni was exemplified by his strength of arms and able help from his best friend in childhood, Santosh Lal. It was Santosh who taught the young Dhoni the basics of the now world-famous Helicopter shot. Pivoted on the front foot and taking the bat in a 270-degree arc towards long on, this shot not just aided Dhoni in making his rise first from club cricket, district and state cricket but also helped him score the winning runs in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against Sri Lanka.

The youngster of DAVJVM who plied his art with elan in the MECON Stadium came of age in the years to come and first represented Bihar in the Ranji Trophy in 1999. We all know about his travails up to his eventual selection for India in 2004 when he worked as a TT in the Indian Railways and played in myriad tennis ball leagues around East India. And when he did make his debut for India, we as cricket fans around the country drew immense inspiration from his exploits as a wicketkeeper-batter and his role as a leader of men who led us to wins in two World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and a Champions trophy in 2013.

The soil of his beloved Ranchi which shaped his career and will always breathe for its favourite son couldn’t help but be happy with Dhoni’s rise through the ranks.

When the paragon of concentration equalled a world record amidst the ruins at Kotla

The key to growth in any field must be reserves of concentration that an individual possesses. The paragon of concentration in Indian cricket, former captain and opener Sunil Gavaskar, showed the value of this quality on many occasions around the world. Sadly, I have never been witness to his methodical batting as far as live action goes. From my limited knowledge of his innings spread across the 1970s and 1980s, his 121 off 128 balls against the West Indies at Kotla in October 1983 holds a special place in the heart. The West Indies were certainly at their prime in Test Cricket during that period if you go through the record books.

Sunny Paaji stood tall against the likes of Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Winston Davis and Wayne Daniel and played some exquisite drives and other shots en route his 29th hundred (then joint highest along with Sir Donald Bradman) off just 94 balls. Marshall bowled a lot from around the wicket and Gavaskar had his pulls and hooks ready to the recipe on offer. It was also Sunny's 12th hundred against the West Indies, a staggering 41.38 % of his centuries' tally till then. He himself has always rated his century against England at Old Trafford in 1974 as his best effort. However, the 29th one was special for the fans because of the fact that it equalled a Test record that day and the former India captain was probably entering the last phase of his batting career. Dilip Vengsarkar was an able ally to Sunny Paaji as he mustered a dogged 159 to help India to a first innings score of 464 in what was the second Test of the home series against the aforementioned opponents in the winter of 83-84.

The nearby ruins of Ferozeshah Kotla also houses a fine specimen of Indian metallurgy, i.e., the Iron Pillar which was brought here from neighbouring Meerut in the 14th century by Ferozeshah Tughlaq. It has been witness to many turns in history apart from the small matter of being witness to some great cricketing moments which include the most Test centuries record milestone achieved by Sunil Gavaskar in 1983, and then by Sachin Tendulkar in 2005.

Halcyon days of cricket commentary on radio in India

My memory takes me back to the early 90s on the time spectrum when Narottam Puri, Suresh Sarayya and other radio commentators used to be the rich baritones behind the microphone on AIR. The series between India and England in 1993 was almost exclusively followed by me on radio. The uncertainty of a wicket falling any time on radio is a source of anxiety and excitement at the same time.

The curiosity stemmed from the commentators' vantage point of watching the match and listeners distance from the scene of action. Indeed the likes of Puri and Sarayya always had us listeners beholden to whether Kapil Dev would break the barrier of 431 wickets, whether the youngster Sachin Tendulkar would get a hundred or whether the bespectacled and gentle leg-spinner Anil Kumble would take a five-wicket haul on the given day. Glorious days indeed when radio used to rule our hearts.

When a young wicketkeeper stamped his authority with the bat and lent Kotla an essence of doggedness

The wicketkeeper of Delhi Ranji team, youngster Anuj Rawat played a really riveting knock of 134 against the Madhya Pradesh side in the Elite Group B match between the sides on 23rd December 2018 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. It was a special knock since most of the other players from both sides till then had fallen off their horsebacks - first Madhya Pradesh had been dismissed for 132 on the first day by a splendid bowling effort from Vikas Mishra who took 6/41, and then Delhi were reduced to 36/5 against the quality pace of Avesh Khan of Madhya Pradesh.

Three days prior to Christmas, Delhi was under the fire of a chilling winter with minimum temperatures in single digits and when Kotla's pitch faced an issue of over-watering which led the game to be delayed by an hour or so on the first day. Strange reason for a delay in matches; but that's cricket in India for you - sometimes players' kits would arrive late and on other times disgruntled officials would leave you in the lurch to make a point or two by protesting to stop water supply to a stadium if complimentary passes are not given to some of the employees of their department (Former England skipper Mike Brearley recounted one such instance that loomed on an Eden Gardens Test years ago between India and England in one of the Pataudi memorial lectures at Kolkata).

The most unique aspect of Rawat's innings was the steely resolve he possessed against some really quick thunderbolts from Khan when he walked out with Delhi reeling at 8/3. He got hit by a fiery bouncer from the speedster when he had just touched double digits. A ball that took off from short of length and hit him real hard - the kind of cricket which makes you shiver and makes you wonder why on earth they call this a gentleman's sport when it is such mean business out there.

The young wicketkeeper, however, was unfazed, and went on to score a century against some quality fast bowling by Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen of Madhya Pradesh at the Kotla. The ease with which he cut and pulled from there on, egged by a supportive home crowd, was a sight to behold. Rarely did he falter there upto the moment he got out at his eventual score of 134 with Delhi at 233/8 in the final session of the day.

He constructed two crucial partnerships - first a 60-run stand with Lalit Yadav and then a 118-run stand with Shivam Sharma. Rawat's dogged determination that day was a thing to be felt and experienced sitting in the spectators' arena - at the Mohinder Amarnath stand of the Kotla which was open to the public and where the crowd steadily increased as news of his wondrous fours and sixes (14 and four respectively) spread through the wires. Without doubt, the youngster has immense reserves of steely determination to go along with good technique to stay put at the crease and score well simultaneously. His ability to score fours and sixes against pacers and spinners alike, virtually around the ground, with shots as diverse as late cut, cover drive, off drive, on drive, pull, add reverse sweeps as well apart from defending with ease reminiscent of experienced batsmen of yore. Rawat's batting was simply awesome in one word. The atmospherics of Kotla lent their quaint charm to his innings and old-timers amongst the crowd might have been reminded of a 128 ball 121 by former India opener Sunil Gavaskar against the fearsome pace quartet of West Indies in the winter of 1983.

It is a fact of life, as Paulo Coelho has so beautifully laid out in 'The Alchemist' that if one is determined to achieve a noble goal, the universe conspires to help you achieve that as the cricketing atmospherics of Kotla helped the young Rawat to a valiant 134 out of his side's score of 261. The young wicketkeeper joins ranks amongst a formidable set of wicketkeepers who represent various sides on the Indian cricketing scene. He is still around 19 and has a long way to go but any one who was witness to his elegant and cracking batsmanship on that day would affirm that the youngster has a bright future, if he keeps up his determination going forward.

Brief scores: MP (132 and 157) lost to Delhi (261 and 31/1) by 9 wickets.

When Ganguly and Dravid took guard

It was a rainy summer day when I was trying my level best to tune in to the correct short wave frequency for BBC Test Match Special, thanks to the unavailability of ESPN on the idiot box.

India was touring the Old Blighty in the summer of '96 and this was the mother of all test matches that I had ever seen till then. It was being played at the Mecca of cricket, the Lord's cricket ground.

A certain 23 year old Saurav Ganguly from Kolkata was playing a reassuringly good innings according to the TMS commentators and with each passing delivery my confidence in his abilities was getting stronger. India was 0-1 down going into this second test and was playing catch up to England's first innings score of 344. The overseas woes of Indian cricket were back to haunt it. But this young southpaw was playing like he belonged at the highest level.

In some time, at the fall of the fifth wicket with India still at 202, 142 in arrears, a certain Rahul Dravid joined Ganguly in the middle and started showing the world that India's future was in safe hands. This guy's style was moulded in solid defence and proper shot-making techniques. You, as a superstitious Indian cricket fan felt for the first time that you can relax, this guy won't get out any time soon.

Saurav had replaced Sanjay Manjrekar in the lineup and Rahul had come in place of his fellow Karnataka team mate Sunil Joshi which partly explains his batting position of number 7. Now, Manjrekar was a fine exponent of technique but he was on a comeback trail and was unable to find his mojo. For Saurav also it was a comeback to the squad as he had toured with the team to Australia in '91-92. There were many critics who had raised questions on his selection for the England tour in '96 . But what the critics forgot was that the Prince of Kolkata was a fairly good left-handed batsman as well who had done the hard yards of domestic cricket. Of course, this was his first test but for Saurav it was also about answering those critics. Rahul, on the other hand, had a quiet but assured path leading up to his first test. He had proven himself at the Ranji level and was knocking on the doors of the selectors for a considerable time now. He had to measure up to the expectations that people had from him.

Saurav ended up with a dream debut century at Lord's with a score of 131 which he followed up with another century at Trent Bridge. Rahul fell agonizingly short of a debut century with 95 to his credit. But what these guys announced to the world that day was something more significant. The emergence of two young debutants in the same series meant that India had serious talent which was waiting in the wings. That India's batting didn't just start and stop with Sachin. Of course, in times to come these guys went on to take Indian cricket to greater heights with their captaincy, skills and understanding of the game.

The way these two legends ended their careers signified their entire journeys as well. Saurav with that 2 year golden comeback trail where he always played on frontfoot. Rahul, the old warrior who still fought it out the way he knew best on India's two most humiliating tours of England and Australia in 2011-12.

Indian cricket would do well to look at young talents like Shreyas Iyer, Virat Singh, Sudip Chatterjee and a host of other players who have the ability to go on to become the Sauravs and Rahuls of the future.

Pride and honour reclaimed at SCG

History was against India. Present form was bearishly against India. Fate, pure and simple, was stacked
up against India. What happened on the 23rd of January, 2016 however set all doubts to rest about the
chasing capabilities of Team India. With India already 0-4 down in the five match ODI series, the Indian fans were not expecting their side to
chase down Australia’s 330/7 this Saturday. Just the previous game, their side had made a mockery of the chase after a solid start at Canberra, when they tumbled down to 330 chasing 348 after being 275/1 in 38 overs.

The fans definitely expected some fireworks from the Indian top order. The openers were up to the task.
They watched and gauged the track for four overs before exploding in the first powerplay. Shikhar Dhawan in particular displayed an amazing sense of self-belief. It was just a matter of finding form which he did and he hasn’t looked back after that hundred at Canberra.

India reached the hundred mark in the 16th over and more importantly, still had all ten wickets intact.
Shikhar was blazing away; Rohit Sharma was playing in the same sublime way he had played all winter.
And the chase started looking like a fairy tale from the halcyon days of Indian run chases. But with the
new rules that permit 5 outside the circle in the last 10 overs, they couldn’t have left it to the middle,
lower middle-order. Importantly though, they now had set a platform and 231 from 205 odd deliveries
seemed attainable.

Every classic has its share of ebbs and tides. With 197 runs still required off 178 deliveries, both Virat and Shikhar were back in the pavilion. What happened next was historical;
magnificent batting and a calculated chase meant that India reached the summit of successful ODI run
chases against Australia down under. They overhauled the WI’s record of 284 set way back in 1997.
Of course, achieving the feat was a whole lot tougher and was executed to perfection by the Indian
batsmen.

Manish Pandey, the proven performer in the domestic circuits joined hands
with the more experienced pro Rohit and stitched out a terrific 97 run partnership off some 80 odd
deliveries. Rohit Sharma was sublime as usual and was driving and glancing his way to a well deserved
century when ill fate struck and he was given out leg before on 99. Cricket is a cruel game sometimes.
Rohit made 2 centuries in the first two ODI games but ended up on the losing side on both occasions.
Today when he got out, it must have been tragic for him because it looked like the best day that his team
was having. No amount of praise can do justice to Rohit’s extraordinary talent. Two double hundreds in
ODIs are testimony to his calibre. He is surely in here as our best batsman for the 2019 WC.

At the other end Manish Pandey was timing the ball beautifully across all parts of the ground and
quickly reached his second fifty in one day internationals. The inexperience of the Australian bowling attack meant there were more scoring opportunities on offer. With the exception of Hastings who took 3/61 in his 10 overs, all the other bowlers came in for a stick at some point or the other.

Pandey was playing effortlessly and wasn’t overawed by the occasion. When India is desperately trying to find a strong lower middle order batsman cum finisher, he can eye that target and consolidate.

With Rohit gone for 99 and the score reading 231/3 in 34.5 overs, the skipper MSD joined Pandey in the
middle. There is so much of discussion around Dhoni and his tenure as skipper, that the ground almost starts humming when he walks out to bat. Truth be told, he has been an exceptional player and captain for India for the past 10 years. But his form is against him since the last few months and any outing for him becomes a period of armchair analysis for the public; opinions flying by faster than the flying disc in the backyard.

MSD took his own good time again and was handed out a life by Lyon at deep mid-wicket. It eventually proved to be the turning point of the game. Pandey, at the other end kept the singles coming.

The Australians were able to mount some pressure on the batsmen. India needed 35 runs in the
last 3 overs. Finally, Dhoni the master chaser unfurled his intent and walloped a ball right back from
Mitchell Marsh for a four in the long off region. Along with Manish Pandey, the skipper collected 13 runs
from Marsh’s over. Faulkner did a little better in the 49th over when he gave away 10. The inexperience
of captain Steven Smith was apparent when he handed the ball for the last over to the rookie Mitchell
Marsh. He had already been expensive and although he scored a hundred on the day, probably a spinner should have bowled the last over.

With 12 required off the last over, it was tough to call. Then came the trademark Dhoni six off the first
ball of the over. It had an effect of normalizing the blood pressure levels of an entire nation. Okay, now
6 off 5. Dhoni went for it again and was caught in the deep this time having the good sense to crossover
Manish Pandey for him to take strike off the next ball. Pandey first executed a sublime boundary to
complete his first ever hundred off 80 deliveries. He struck the remaining runs and India emerged
victorious by six wickets.

Earlier in the day, David Warner scored his first ODI hundred against India. He provided a strong base for
the Australian batting even as wickets kept falling from the other end. Mitchell Marsh made a century too and along with Mathew Wade, who made a quickfire 36, set India a target of 331.

The Indian bowling was impressive and apart from Umesh Yadav and Rishi Dhawan, everybody
contributed in some measure. Particularly impressive was the rookie seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who
with his wide off the crease action and neat lengths prized out the wickets of Steven Smith and James
Faulkner. He was economical too as he gave away only 40 runs for his two wickets in the allotted 10
overs.

Jasprit Bumrah and Manish Pandey, by performing the way they did upheld the respect and pedigree
of the Indian domestic circuit and IPL. These two have performed well there to reach the international stage in
the way they have. Manish Pandey of course was the member of the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup winning
team as well. The cricket following public would want these two youngsters to go ahead and make a
bigger name for themselves. They would also want the experienced players to be given more chances
for the balance to be there. Crisis managers like the skipper MSD are always considered a healthy option
for a team to have.

Manish Pandey was declared the man of the match for his 81-ball 104 and his contribution in the run
chase. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the series for his magnificent batting in the entire series.

Australia won the VB Series 4-1.

Brief Scores:
India 331/4 (Manish 104*, Rohit 99, Shikhar 78, Dhoni 34, Hastings 3/61) beat Australia 330/7 (Warner 122, Mitchell Marsh 102*, Bumrah 2/40) by six wickets.

The Cricketing Philosophy

Cricket can be a harsh sport for the players. The common perception of the game disallows any such notions. It is generally believed that sports like football and the other field games are rougher sports. However, the reality is a bit different. Cricket integrally demands a great amount of character from the individuals. In fact it is the only sport in the world that is governed by a spirit of the game along with the encoded laws. The spirit of the game as developed through the ages and especially formulated by Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter in the late 1990s is enshrined in the laws of cricket as : "Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this Spirit causes injury to the game itself.The major responsbility for ensuring the spirit of fair play rests with the captains".

It is normally held that the spirit of the game is playing in accordance with the rules of the game and more importantly in the correct manner as is perceived right traditionally. The onus of ensuring its presence rests, as stated in the laws, on the captains, but practically on the players - each and every one of them. The connotations of the word spirit indicate the non-material aspects of life. At the individual level, it connotes the permanent feature of one's self that separates one from the physical existence. At a larger level, spirit denotes the mood or attitudes prevailing in particular areas at particular times. I am a firm believer in searching for the complete truth that is formed of facts, knowledge, history, experience and foresight. It is a tough ask of an onlooker or a theorist of the game, leave alone the players. Thus spirit of the game ensures drawn out inner struggles for a thoughtful player and more so for a captain. There can be countless dilemmas in a game of cricket. I think the following are important questions on any given day in a game of cricket:

a) Should a captain opt for a draw, which means no result, when the odds are against him or should he force a win?

b) Should a batsman aim to improvise and develop new shots or stick to the traditional routine of shots?

c) Should a bowler bowl bouncers at the tailenders?

d) Should a fielder be a passive receiver of the ball or be an active follower of the ball even if it means intrusion into other fielders' fielding areas?

e) Should a wicketkeeper be allowed to hold the final word on making a bowling change and field placements, given his vantage position?

The above are just a few of the valid questions which a player of cricket faces every match day. They are important questions because all of them involve thought out and sometimes quick decision-making. In other sports too questions arise of some or the other sort. But because of the sheer amount of self-involvement of the individual in the team sport of cricket and the amount of time for which the sport is played, the number of such questions increase by a large volume. The spirit of cricket has to be upheld at all costs.

Right Gentlemen?

The strength of cricket-its inspirational soul

12-10-08

The Bangalore test between India and Australia has taken an interesting path. The moment Sourav Ganguly got out after doing his job of saving the follow on, things took an unexpected turn. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan assumed their roles as batsmen in the time of crisis quite seriously. In fact both of them made well-measured fifties. I was listening to Sunil Gavaskar on the telly. He was saying that now these very tail-enders in the Indian batting line-up should realize their original roles, that of bowlers.

Players do have a knack of performing better in their original roles if they have performed well in roles in which they are not expected to. Just remember your backyard if you are an Australian and your gully or colony playground if you are an Indian. If you are a bowler you would recall how those 4 fours in an over that you smashed playing at number 9 for your side gave you the confidence to rip apart the opposition when they came to bat. Confidence is what is derived out of satisfactory performances; you derive that when you perform well in roles in which you are not expected to create wonders.

The cricket in itself was engaging and produced all the intricacies and moments associated with an India-Australia cricket match.