I used to watch cricket matches once. And I did watch the 1983 world cup triumph on an Uptron TV in the IIMB hostel common room. The great ones in that match were the likes of Kapil Dev, and Balwinder Singh Sandhu who put that one past Gordon Greenidge. In my later watching years, I saw entire series played abroad where only Rahul Dravid and Laxman and sometimes Tendulkar withstood the assault of the bowlers from West Indies, Australia or England.
Laxman played as if he was taking a walk in the park, so effortless was his style. Rahul Dravid was deliberate, and had grit more than style. Sachin, of course, was uninhibited in his early days, but as he progressed, appeared to be weighed down by too many expectations, which can kill even Superman's enthusiasm.
But the standout innings of Laxman and Dravid has to be the long 400 plus partnership in Kolkata that gave the Aussies their most stunning defeat when they were the top test team. Amazing, coming back after following on, and socking it to them. More exciting than a boxing bout for me.
He was a wonderful catcher and has a lot of great catches in close positions like the slips or forward short leg. His only minus point according to me was captaincy, and that showed up when he led Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers. But then, some would argue that IPL is not cricket at all.
Laxman played as if he was taking a walk in the park, so effortless was his style. Rahul Dravid was deliberate, and had grit more than style. Sachin, of course, was uninhibited in his early days, but as he progressed, appeared to be weighed down by too many expectations, which can kill even Superman's enthusiasm.
But the standout innings of Laxman and Dravid has to be the long 400 plus partnership in Kolkata that gave the Aussies their most stunning defeat when they were the top test team. Amazing, coming back after following on, and socking it to them. More exciting than a boxing bout for me.
He was a wonderful catcher and has a lot of great catches in close positions like the slips or forward short leg. His only minus point according to me was captaincy, and that showed up when he led Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers. But then, some would argue that IPL is not cricket at all.
3 comments:
An intriguing memoir of willow and cork that I have come across.
Thanks.
And a fine gentleman too. He is one of the few batsmen that give bowlers no hope - so broad is his bat and so sure is his shot selection.
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