Wasted

talent, is what Sreesanth did.

 

I will make no bones of it, I loved him yes he had his antics, but that was also accompanied by a fire that a fast bowler had to have. Fast bowling is not a mean job and to get yourself gee’ed up and motivated at times you do need that bit of rage to push you when you are down. I always thought the fast bowler had to be a bit of brute, Thomson’s, Lillie’s, Holding’s all had fire… they managed to channel it, sometimes they too lost it, but more often than not, their rage benefited their team, unfortunately for Sreesanth, he could not. Neither could he handle it and nor could anyone else could rein him in. That was all ok, many talented hot heads have lost their way in life.

 

But, for India, a talented seamer was always elusive. When on song and his brain in his control, Sreesanth could be devastating with the ball. I remember when we went to South Africa in 2006/07 without Sachin and with Sourav drafted in the team at the last moment it was a given that we would be thrashed by the Proteas, after a fighting 50 that Sourav scored in the first innings India got a modest 240 odd and then it was all set for South Africa to pile on the runs but, Sreesanth bowled a spell I have rarely seen by an Indian seamer in foreign conditions, South Africa’s score read 45/7 at one stage. They were eventually rolled out for 84. Sreesanth picked 5 for 40 after a spell of unbelievably controlled and accurate seam and swing bowling. India led the series 1-0 in South Africa winning the first test of the series in South Africa by 123 runs.

 

Everyone remember’s the dismissal of Kallis during the 2010/11 where he was delivered a brute of a delivery by the temperamental speedster from Kerala.

 

He had bad days too… I remember in England once when he could just not get his radar right. His arguments with opposition batsmen that went over the top. Dhoni’s public rebuke of Sreesanth over getting his overs bowled faster. But Sreesanth just couldn’t help it. Eventually he was someone who everyone found inappropriate to have around. His trouble with Harbhajan, Symonds were all fightable but… All that was still defendable, arguable for me the cricket fan, a Sreesanth fan, but the lad just crossed all limits, he just made the biggest error of his life now and I guess that is the last we ever see him on a cricket field. Not only did Sreesanth ruin his own career, he brought disrepute for the game, for us fans, for his teammates and all people who supported him. He has committed a cardinal sin for which he will now pay. Thanks to him I will always have to endure people telling me cricket is all fixed whenever I talk of my love for the game. Growing up I loved Azhar and he killed the idol I had, I used to walk like him, try to flick like him and then he decided to kill the hero I always had. Sreesanth was not a hero, but he was someone I loved, enjoyed watching and more importantly thought that India needed a seam bowler like him. Sigh…

 

Sreesanth was a very talented fast bowler, that India could have utilized better, nevertheless, the lad never could figure out what he wanted in life, in the end, its fair to say, he made a mess of everything he possessed.

 

I feel sad, very very sad. A sad day for all cricket lovers.

Impeccable

was what you could call the master’s performance yesterday. I saw all of the 128 deliveries he faced, perhaps on one occassion the ball didn’t bounce as much as he expected, maybe one ball from Lyon he padded up that he shouldn’t have but apart from that, the master, it seemed, was on the top of his game. No discomfort, either pace or spin, pin point precision footwork, foot to the pitch of the ball, completely in position and not leaving any loose ball go unpunished. It was vintage Sachin, without trying to really dominate, it was a complete exhibition of wonderful batting. No, this is not a minefield of a pitch, yet! still the most heartening thing of the day was to watch him at the top of his game.

Yesterday only 71 runs were scored by him however more than the quantity the manner in which he got them told you what you had missed in the last year. 2012 was perhaps the worst phase of his career, hopefully its over. I don’t want to jinx him by predicting a century, but as long as you have a batsman batting with such aplomb, it would be unwise to not use him.

Sachin you play till you think you can play and till you think you can contribute. I on my part will just watch with goosebumps and gooseflesh like I used to watch you 23 years ago…. I still get nervous, like you do, I still get over excited like you do and I still darn love watching you as much as you love playing your favorite sport.

Pic Courtesy : espncricinfo.com

Leave him alone…

In response to Harsha Bhogle’s piece on Cricinfo : http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/597889.html

 

He loved the game,

belting leather was a passion,

gifted he was,

devotion came naturally,

worked terribly hard he did,

runs he scored,

by the dozens,

but alas…

we never understood his love,

we named him God,

he didn’t ask but we did,

he scored and scored and scored,

but we felt he doesn’t win matches,

forgetting that he tried his best,

forgetting there were others who were lacking,

but he was the cynosure always,

he loves the game still,

its been two decades,

but his zest is intact,

tries he does hardest,

we cannot fault him there,

but the cynosure he is always,

he doesn’t pick himself,

but we want him to drop himself,

always,

wanting him to do other peoples jobs…

 

Guys we have selectors, give them headaches but leave him alone. If he wants to play he has full rights to play, he is trying his hardest to score runs. If there are better equipped players and if they can do better than him he should be dropped by the selectors, but, no one has the right to ask him to retire. That is a player’s decision always. His job is to try the best to score runs, when you feel the effort is not there raise fingers. If you feel you have to think of the future, do so, but, why expect him to do anything other than him putting in his hardest efforts to score runs ???