"Cricket is a simple game, don't complicate it"
These are words of all the coaches from Barbados to Eden Gardens to the Lords. The level of coaching might differ from international stars to small cricket enthusiastic kids, but the words remain the same.
Further more, all of them are advised that 'One Ball at a time', 'Play every ball on it merit'. All these sounds so simple & achievable, but yet most of the players strive to achieve that.
Patience surely is a virtue but possessed by very few. Shivnarine Chanderpaul can surely take pride in being one amongst those few. He is known for his unorthodox front-on batting stance, doggedness and ability to stick on the wicket for long hours. Serene, Calm & composed approach, makes us think that he is on some other planet altogether. Chanders who made his debut in 1994, has never looked behind, taking it ball by ball to 2011.
Come 2011, India tour of Carribean. The host already have been marred with controversy of not including Chris Gayle. Chanders & Sarwan are only the two senior pros in the team expected to carry the burden of the team and salvage pride if not win.
Chanderpaul is at that stage of his career where
1) He is not amongst the runs. Needs to prove a point to himself
2) Need to prove his place in the side to the selectors
3) Defying his age
4) Leading the team batting from the front
5) Fighting the Board & politics
6) Answering Media
Now he would like to ask his Coach who once advised him 'Cricket is a Simple Game'. That is Cricket really a simple game.
Chanderpaul's approach towards batting might not seem to have changed drastically. But it is certainly not enjoyable any more. In fact to be candid, 'Not enjoyable' is an Euphemism for 'Pain Staking' here. Even the WI crowd gives a thumbs down to his batting. Cricket analyst might believe that it requires grit & determination to hang in there, leave the good balls and wait for the ones. But the wait is getting painful and amidst the hope of things turning around a good ball does him, and the fight with himself gets all the more painful.
Harsha Bhogle wrote 'Dravid's flame still burns' in his article http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/520481.html but for Chanderpaul it will the ash is hoping the wind to reignite fire. Many questions will be raised after the series.
How much more should he hang in there?
Is it the right time to retire?
More importantly,
Will the Fire ever Reignite???
This is a true and a wonderful Blog I have read.
ReplyDeleteIts quite true on Chanderpaul but he has time and again prove himself in the end to keep his place in the team but it will get harder for him in future series to come. Chanderpaul still has atleast 2 more years of cricket left in him.
Without the absence of Indian big guns and Gayle for WI the series has seen some good batting by legends like Dravid and Laxman and younger players having grab their chances.
One cant really say that cricket is a simple game but as Sachin Tendulkar says, " enjoy what you do the most and he enjoys cricket so he took it as a career, so if u look by this statement 'CRICKET certainly can be a simply game if you enjoy it but u need to keep performing well to define it in this way'...
"Dravid scores 10,000 runs, but wait, Sehwag scores a of 319. Dravid scores 11,000 test runs, goes past Border and scores a match saving 177 after 32-4, but wait, media is focused on Sachin's 20th year. Dravid scores his 12k tests runs and goes ahead of Lara, but wait, Sachin scores his 50th 100!!! Dravid takes his 200th catch, but no accolades! I wonder what they'll give The Wall for his 150th test match. A brick?"
ReplyDelete"wht i feel is chandrapaul is tryin too hard to prove his point n place in d side bt hes failing continuously..plus if he tries harder n fails n den retires den d effort n d name dt he has made wud all go in vain..so dis mite b d perfect tym for him to hang his boots n let d oder fresh talent to tke his place..n if yu tlkin abt West Indian cricket board..all i wud say is a monkey can neva c his ass red he wud alwys point oders..!!
ReplyDeleteI ask a question to the author. Every now and then we see people talking about T20 ruining batting. Here is an example where the purist is satisfied, but the newbie complains. So why should the batsman, here Chanders, play for the crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe second question is, Look at the position the team found itself, and then everyone complains, why isn't WI batsman patient? Only one answer. Chanders would have attacked had he found some support on the other end.
The coach only plays a small role in the begin. Coaches change but the player needs to develop his own sight. Chanders is the last of the WI batsman that were feared. India still have no answer for his batting. Give him some due. He is in a no win position, if he attacks and gets out, ppl will complain that being a senior he should be patient and guide the youngsters. if he is patient, ppl crucify him...
He is like Coal, not on fire, but still warm enough to heat the surroundings...
Good blog to start with. :)
ReplyDeleteWell i would say Chanderpaul did a good job of hanging in their in the last series playing patiently. He should continue playing for few more years not to prove himself to anyone but to fulfill his dream of making WI win again. I recently read in one of his article where he stated 'I am still hungry for success' and he should continue for this sole reason.
To end with just a thought when i started reading this blog, the title says 'Cricket is a simple game, don't complicate it.' These words not only fit cricket but in general for life i would say. Life is simple and we tend to complicate it. :)
Good article theunsocialguy. Awaiting ur nxt one soon.
@Akshay: I am not criticizing Chanderpaul style of batting.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to highlight that How the simple game of Cricket has been complicated. How an artful display of batting which was a treat to watch has turned to Survival Mode of batting a pain to watch.
History will always remember Chanders, Dravid, Laxman as most calm and composed batsman who were unperturbed by things around them.
So rather than just hanging there, should he retire gracefully???
@Ayush: Gr8 point mentioned about Sachin..Agree to that.
ReplyDelete@Dipti: Half the problems are not in his control. But still he doesn't have a choice whether to get affected by it or not. Hope to see some respect for these gentlemen of the so called Gentlemen's game
@Dipti: Ofcourse loads more stuff to come..keep following
ReplyDelete