The Genius who walks

It was worth the 47 day wait. As barmy army, swami army and the mystery around Bob Woolmer’s demise faded into the background, one man rose, literally after the Ashes.
It’s been a long time since one saw massacre on the cricket field. There’s been enough talk around it when the practitioners of the art, or the scythe if I may call it that, walked out to bat. But few delivered, and even if they did it was against minnows and bowlers who wouldn’t qualify to bowl at the Aussie nets mostly. One man waited, accumulating all his aggressive instincts only to unleash it at the biggest spectacle of all modern day cricket. He picked the big occasion, as had his skipper in the earlier edition, to create an indelible aura around himself. And how. As the big man Viv said, at one stage it looked like a benefit match.

A word or two on the Lankan obituary. Making Hayden look like a spectator, Gilly sent the Lankans on a leather hunt of their lifetime. Starting off with Vaas, Gilly had the Lankans guarding the ropes and fetching it from beyond right from the word go. He also manufactured drama when he provided Dilhara Fernando with a half chance. The Gods hadn’t had had enough of the entertainment and they certainly weren’t letting a burly dark Lankan get in the way of an epic. Malinga was creamed over mid off for a flat six, Jayasuriya found the stands more than the blockhole and Murali knew that he had bowled the wrong one when the ball hit tier 3 of the Kensington Oval. A puny Dilshan, tried to be the trump card, but he was promptly packed off in two big overs and soon Mahela ran out of both bowlers and ideas. Tom Moody, for once was glad that he was coach and not player. It seemed like a bull ring with matadors reluctantly taking turns to be bulldozed. By the time Gilly got to 100, the opposition was only glad that it would only last 38 overs at max. Far away in the jungles of Lanka, the LTTE hung its head in shame. They always thought they had last word on how to attack the Lankans.

Gilchrist defines simplicity of action and potency of impact. No real technique, largely has his own rule book, defies his own Aussie culture most times, for he is a nice guy, now that’s calling for too much from an Aussie isn’t it. The bat seems rather innocuous in his hands, compared to his Obelixesque partner who hunts wild boars when he’s not hunting bowlers. The man who defined the walk, yesterday also defined the path for an Aussie annihilation. Phrases like 'single handedly taking a team to victory' are frequently abused when mortals in the game play decent innings. If ever there was a knock that deserved this phrase and more praise then this is it.

Post Script: Lara, Gilchrist, Hayden. Three big left handers who defined aggressive cricket have walked or are walking the last mile. Can’t quite count any other big left handers in this generation, except maybe Sanath and Saurav who made southpaws look precious and exclusive. Can’t see many promising ones on the horzon either, except Sangakkara.