The IPL Sunday Roast #4
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By Rahul Patil
India won their first ODI world cup in 1983. Amongst everything else that the world cup win did for Indian cricket was the fact that it inspired a 10-year-old boy in Mumbai to dedicate his life to the sport. His name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The rest is history.
In a country where cricket is a religion, Sachin is the biggest God ever. Even though he retired 10 years’ back his brand value is currently still the 3rd highest after that of Kohli and Dhoni. The amount of interest in everything about his life therefore is not surprising. His cricketing exploits filled the last page of newspapers while every minute detail of his private life still gets printed on the front pages. Sachin is every Indian’s son, brother, son in law and husband. The man who carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders for more than two decades turns 50 tomorrow. Yet another half century to go with the 164 he scored in international cricket.
1983 was also the year when an English rock band called ‘The Police’ released an album called Synchronicity containing their biggest hit ever;
Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you
It’s not easy being the child of a famous parent. Moreover, if your dad happens to be Sachin Tendulkar then the only option you have is to sit back, relax and enjoy the fact that every moment of your life from the time you were born will be scrutinized by an entire nation and more. Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of positives of having a famous and rich father but almost all roses also come with their share of thorns.
I tried to think about relative examples in New Zealand’s context and then realized that this is yet another area that we as a nation are blessed in. We treat our McCaw’s and Williamson’s like normal human beings and let them enjoy the simple joys of life. Like going to the movies or to a restaurant for a meal. In the Indian context just the mention of a certain Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan will make my Indian readers understand what I am trying to say.
Everything about Arjun is extremely well documented. The day he was born, the day he started crawling, the day he took his first steps and the day he started talking. When he picked up a bat and ball for the first time in his life an entire nation went into a frenzy. Surely he had to be a cricketer. Surely he would successful. He had to be. The country needed a god to worship after Sachin, Dhoni and Virat.
Arjun’s cricketing journey though hasn’t been an easy one. After representing Mumbai at various age group levels he struggled to make it to the Mumbai senior squad. There are two types of cricketers. One that is a gifted naturally and the other one that has to work extremely hard to compete with the gifted ones. Arjun is the latter and from what I hear and read about him his work ethic is second to none. In order to start playing first class cricket Arjun moved to a different state. The state of Goa. My state. He has been part of the Mumbai Indian’s set up for a couple of years now and the much awaited IPL debut has come after mowing a lot of lawns.
In the 3 matches he has played so far Arjun’s performance gets a pass mark. The debut against KKR was ok. The final over he bowled to seal the deal against SRH was incredible whereas the 31 run over against Punjab last night was pretty ordinary. Time will judge Arjun’s success as a cricketer. Hopefully, all of us will judge him for his on field performances without the cataract of his last name blurring our vision.
In other news our fellow Wellingtonian Devon Conway is quietly making a name for himself at CSK. 258 runs so far in 6 innings at an average of 52 and strike rate of 144 see him at the 5th position on the top run scorers of this year’s tournament.
RCB’s 38-year-old captain Faf Du Plessis is on top of the run scoring charts. Faf’s 343 runs at an average of 69 and strike rate of 167 showing the world yet again that age is just a number. During the game against CSK Faf lifted his shirt up to get some treatment to an injured rib. The images of his chiseled physique were trending on twitter for days after. It is a beautiful game in more ways than one for sure. (Just saying, I am allowed to have a man crush all right. Its 2023!)
In Pakistan the blackcaps are still in with a chance of squaring the T20 series 2-2. The 4 run victory in the 3rd T20 coming at the right time. A defeat in that game would have been a hard pill to swallow considering they had the hosts 88 for 7 while chasing 164 for victory. The hail storm during the fourth game yet again reminding us about the control the weather has over the sport.
I will finish with my two cents on the whole “role of an anchor” debate in T20 cricket. Cricket has a number of variables. The pitch probably the biggest one followed by the ground dimensions, the amount of swing and seam movement on offer along with the amount of turn. A ‘one size fits all’ approach towards batting is impossible to sustain. The key is in game awareness and adaptability. Every ball is an event in T20 cricket. The team that wins 121 or more out of the possible 240 events will emerge as winners more often than not. It is a game of fine margins after all.
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