Characters of Tests
Both have been doubted . One was dropped unceremoniously the other was never picked cos his coach felt that turbaned sardars made good taxi drivers and that’s all. This is not about how both went on to prove their critics wrong. It’s about what makes them special.
There are only two 'characters' in the English cricket team- one’s a huge name already the other is a public favorite at least. Kevin ‘colored hair’ Pietersen wears his personality on his sleeve and his heart in the willow. The joys of watching him on the field are comparable to the joys of watching him bat. As Mark Nicholas pointed out recently, the art of being Pietersen is about forgetting the catch that you just spilled and shouting out the next ball “get him boys”. Monty is an apprentice in this school but a promising one at that. He has Muralitharan like eyes which light up whenever he sees the ball, even when he’s not bowling. He resembles a yokel when he chases the ball to the boundary and frequently messes it up to concede one. When he spins he pales in comparison to his turbaned seniors but it’s almost like it’s his verve that spins the ball and not his fingers. He celebrates every wicket as if it was his first and takes every breath as if it were his last. He has character the talent of course if there for all to see.
Sreesanth is our new mascot. His rendition of a mixture of break-dance, kathakali and Kalaripayattu at the Wanderers was the most impressive delivery of the day. Nel of course is a sore loser and didn’t know how to react, much like what he goes through when he gets tonked to the boundary. Sreesanth is a TV producers dream; never will any shot of him be ordinary. His form might fail him but his style never will. Some of us might remember the way he threatened Sachin in the Challenger trophy. Was a bit carried away for sure, nevertheless it spoke of an attitude never found before in Indian cricket.
It takes character and characters to build a sport. Football is full of them, right from the head butting Zindane to the anytime is jig time Roger Milla. Tennis had John Mc Enroe and Agassi who brought their own style to the game. Cricket has had its share too- names like Merv Hughes, Sarfraz Nawaz, Jonty Rhodes spring readily to mind. Now two Indians are added to that list. This just might be our final rebuttal of the colonial hangover. Gentleman’s game…pah!
There are only two 'characters' in the English cricket team- one’s a huge name already the other is a public favorite at least. Kevin ‘colored hair’ Pietersen wears his personality on his sleeve and his heart in the willow. The joys of watching him on the field are comparable to the joys of watching him bat. As Mark Nicholas pointed out recently, the art of being Pietersen is about forgetting the catch that you just spilled and shouting out the next ball “get him boys”. Monty is an apprentice in this school but a promising one at that. He has Muralitharan like eyes which light up whenever he sees the ball, even when he’s not bowling. He resembles a yokel when he chases the ball to the boundary and frequently messes it up to concede one. When he spins he pales in comparison to his turbaned seniors but it’s almost like it’s his verve that spins the ball and not his fingers. He celebrates every wicket as if it was his first and takes every breath as if it were his last. He has character the talent of course if there for all to see.
Sreesanth is our new mascot. His rendition of a mixture of break-dance, kathakali and Kalaripayattu at the Wanderers was the most impressive delivery of the day. Nel of course is a sore loser and didn’t know how to react, much like what he goes through when he gets tonked to the boundary. Sreesanth is a TV producers dream; never will any shot of him be ordinary. His form might fail him but his style never will. Some of us might remember the way he threatened Sachin in the Challenger trophy. Was a bit carried away for sure, nevertheless it spoke of an attitude never found before in Indian cricket.
It takes character and characters to build a sport. Football is full of them, right from the head butting Zindane to the anytime is jig time Roger Milla. Tennis had John Mc Enroe and Agassi who brought their own style to the game. Cricket has had its share too- names like Merv Hughes, Sarfraz Nawaz, Jonty Rhodes spring readily to mind. Now two Indians are added to that list. This just might be our final rebuttal of the colonial hangover. Gentleman’s game…pah!
Comments
The choice of words and phrases were very apt and telling in their effect which made the narrative a living reality.