Line & Length
R Mohan
A year of incredible highs, impossible lows
December 23, 2007
It was a year of incredible highs and impossible lows. It was the year of the Gen Next, of the funky new heroes of Indian cricket. It was also the year of the older generation, specifically it was the year of Dada. It was the year of memorable Test triumphs but also a year in which India were knocked out of the World Cup as if they were a Goliath slain by a David.
It was a year-long roller coaster for Indian cricket, but one in which the best vignettes were also the most memorable ones, as when Yuvraj, the sheikh of the new rock star lifestyle, struck Chris Broad of England all over the park, six times in an over with what seemed the broadest bat in the world.
The six of the best from Yuvi ensured that India carried the momentum into the semi-final against Australia, the invincible foes, and on to the final against Pakistan. What better moment for us cricket-crazies than to see Dhoni and his lads crowned the champions of the world in the newest, most fashionable form of the game, the T-20 in which there is no time to catch the breath between huge slices of action.
A Test series win in England after 21 years followed by the T-20 triumph and then, perhaps even sweeter, a home win over Pakistan after 27 years completed what was the grandest treble Indian may have landed in any given year, certainly as fantastic as the twin wins in the Caribbean and England in 1971.
It was not all sweetness and light though. For a couple of days after the World Cup fiasco, Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain entrusted with the hopes of a billion for a World Cup campaign, stayed shut in his room in Trinidad, taking no calls and ordering only room service. That was the darkest period of the year as the captain brooded over how his team had let him and the nation down.
The skipper may even have contemplated stepping down at once, owning responsibility for the poorest World Cup finish since 1992. Then came the hyenas who demanded their pound of flesh. Effigies became the most combustible material in the land, posters of stars worshipped only months ago were consigned to flames, adoring adjectives quickly gave way to invectives as a nation railed against its cricket team.
The admin men were not far away, They demanded, among other things, a performance-based fee structure and, far more foolishly, called for restrictions on number of endorsements per player, as if this were some quota raj to be policed by amateur administrators to keep indomitable market forces at bay.
The see-sawing year saw normal service soon restored in board-player-public relationships, with the popular cricketers quickly transforming into galacticos. Bollywood came to the party with Shah Rukh Khan bringing in the Chak de spirit. With king Khan around, the molls could not be far away and the emerging divas were seen on the arms of the preppy leaders of the new generation, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
Before the year was out, we saw another glitzy show of T-20 thrills, this time on home soil, as the media house of Zee successfully completed its first season, at a remote location and after overcoming many a stumbling block and crushing prejudices. The ICL may become the ultimate golden handshake of the game as the circus resembles more the seniors golf tour than the Real McCoy.
There was, however, no doubting either the quality of the cricket or the commitment of the Indian players in ICL who lapped up the opportunity to be on prime time television while also having the security of an assured income. Having seen the success of Twenty20 and learnt from ICL how the star system must be run with money in figures with an adequate number of zeroes, the leviathan BCCI had also to wake up after having criticised the very concept.
The IPL is the establishment's answer to the ICL threat, which will have all the current stars although how they will cope with all this additional workload when they are already cribbing about the scheduling of international cricket is to be seen. Truth to tell, cricket will race on from here to cash in on the T-20 craze. By winning the first edition of the world championship, Team India has given the sport in the area as big a boost as the '83 World Cup win may have offered.
With his hands raised above him like some Roman emperor after another conquest in Gaul, Sourav Ganguly acknowledged the cheers for his first hundred at the Eden Gardens. His conquests continued into the highest score by an Indian left-hander and 300-plus runs in the penultimate Test of the year.
The nervous 90s dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar became the most talked about serial of the year. The little master took relief from the fact that at least the team was winning. Within the same dressing room of galacticos, the one to have the toughest year was Dravid with The wall himself showing signs of crumbling under the personal pressures of abdication and so on.
2007 will be remembered as the year in which Indian cricket threw up heroes of all ages, sizes, shapes and fitness profiles.
The captaincy blues of the reluctant Dravid, the resignation of the "spade-a-spade" Greg Chappell before he could be asked to go and the writing itch of chairman Dilip Vengsarkar were the most awkward moments of the year. The three memorable wins more than compensated for all the turmoil. The year's incredible highs will be remembered for many more calendar years to come.
Republished with permission from The Asian Age
It was a year-long roller coaster for Indian cricket, but one in which the best vignettes were also the most memorable ones, as when Yuvraj, the sheikh of the new rock star lifestyle, struck Chris Broad of England all over the park, six times in an over with what seemed the broadest bat in the world.
The six of the best from Yuvi ensured that India carried the momentum into the semi-final against Australia, the invincible foes, and on to the final against Pakistan. What better moment for us cricket-crazies than to see Dhoni and his lads crowned the champions of the world in the newest, most fashionable form of the game, the T-20 in which there is no time to catch the breath between huge slices of action.
A Test series win in England after 21 years followed by the T-20 triumph and then, perhaps even sweeter, a home win over Pakistan after 27 years completed what was the grandest treble Indian may have landed in any given year, certainly as fantastic as the twin wins in the Caribbean and England in 1971.
It was not all sweetness and light though. For a couple of days after the World Cup fiasco, Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain entrusted with the hopes of a billion for a World Cup campaign, stayed shut in his room in Trinidad, taking no calls and ordering only room service. That was the darkest period of the year as the captain brooded over how his team had let him and the nation down.
The skipper may even have contemplated stepping down at once, owning responsibility for the poorest World Cup finish since 1992. Then came the hyenas who demanded their pound of flesh. Effigies became the most combustible material in the land, posters of stars worshipped only months ago were consigned to flames, adoring adjectives quickly gave way to invectives as a nation railed against its cricket team.
The admin men were not far away, They demanded, among other things, a performance-based fee structure and, far more foolishly, called for restrictions on number of endorsements per player, as if this were some quota raj to be policed by amateur administrators to keep indomitable market forces at bay.
The see-sawing year saw normal service soon restored in board-player-public relationships, with the popular cricketers quickly transforming into galacticos. Bollywood came to the party with Shah Rukh Khan bringing in the Chak de spirit. With king Khan around, the molls could not be far away and the emerging divas were seen on the arms of the preppy leaders of the new generation, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
Before the year was out, we saw another glitzy show of T-20 thrills, this time on home soil, as the media house of Zee successfully completed its first season, at a remote location and after overcoming many a stumbling block and crushing prejudices. The ICL may become the ultimate golden handshake of the game as the circus resembles more the seniors golf tour than the Real McCoy.
There was, however, no doubting either the quality of the cricket or the commitment of the Indian players in ICL who lapped up the opportunity to be on prime time television while also having the security of an assured income. Having seen the success of Twenty20 and learnt from ICL how the star system must be run with money in figures with an adequate number of zeroes, the leviathan BCCI had also to wake up after having criticised the very concept.
The IPL is the establishment's answer to the ICL threat, which will have all the current stars although how they will cope with all this additional workload when they are already cribbing about the scheduling of international cricket is to be seen. Truth to tell, cricket will race on from here to cash in on the T-20 craze. By winning the first edition of the world championship, Team India has given the sport in the area as big a boost as the '83 World Cup win may have offered.
With his hands raised above him like some Roman emperor after another conquest in Gaul, Sourav Ganguly acknowledged the cheers for his first hundred at the Eden Gardens. His conquests continued into the highest score by an Indian left-hander and 300-plus runs in the penultimate Test of the year.
The nervous 90s dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar became the most talked about serial of the year. The little master took relief from the fact that at least the team was winning. Within the same dressing room of galacticos, the one to have the toughest year was Dravid with The wall himself showing signs of crumbling under the personal pressures of abdication and so on.
2007 will be remembered as the year in which Indian cricket threw up heroes of all ages, sizes, shapes and fitness profiles.
The captaincy blues of the reluctant Dravid, the resignation of the "spade-a-spade" Greg Chappell before he could be asked to go and the writing itch of chairman Dilip Vengsarkar were the most awkward moments of the year. The three memorable wins more than compensated for all the turmoil. The year's incredible highs will be remembered for many more calendar years to come.
Republished with permission from The Asian Age
