Cricketers in a Word or Two

Sunil Gavaskar- Stolid
Wadekar- World-beater
GR Vishvanath-Silken touch
Sachin- OMG!
Sehwag-Nonchalant
Saurav-Heart-on-his-sleeve
VVS Laxman-Smooth
Azhar- Glanciator
Solkar- Acrobat
Prasanna- Off-the-cuff magic
Chandrasekhar- Armed to the leg
Kumble-Smiling assassin 
Kapil- Leader by example
Dravid- Gentleman cricketer
Zaheer- Swinger
Srinath- Idli power
Sandhu-A googly for Greenidge (started the downfall of Windiestowards the World Cup)

World Cup- Cricket, I Mean

Today is the anniversary of the first (Prudential) World cup win by India. Kapil Dev was the unlikely guy holding the cup instead of the West Indies or England captains. And what a series of matches it was!

I remember the thrill of watching some of them, the final included, on a TV set (UPTRON, for the brand-conscious), in our common room at the IIMB hostel. Some of the earlier matches I heard on radio because I was travelling for my summer internship with WIDIA at the time. I remember a lot of people played well in a team effort through the series. Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil and Kapil himself being some of them.

The final was low-scoring. India put just 183 or so on the board. Then, Balwinder Singh Sandhu created magic by clean-bowling Gordon Greenidge with a beauty that swung onto the stumps. That started the fall in the finals. Kapil had a spectacular catch to get Richards. That was the final nail in the coffin for the West Indians. And the (East) Indians triumphed in style.