The First Of Many More To Come..

It’s not even been a week but we have witnessed two young men rise up to the occasion and announce their arrival in a fashion only heroes can. Both were taking places that belonged to stalwarts from their respective teams, as much as the stalwarts belonged to those slots. The two stalwarts must have been their heroes as they conceived a dream of playing for their nation, therefore even bigger boots to step into. Comparisons were bound to happen and they did too, but couldn’t take the sheen away from the knocks that are going to be discussed for quite some time now. Yes, the young men are here to stay!

17^th August, 2012: England were reeling at 54-4 in a contest they needed to win to restore their Number One rank. They were without their Star – Kevin Pietersen but his absence wasn’t felt. The huge ‘text’ controversy was still afresh in every English mind as a popular topic of debate and discussion, the television commentators kept coming up with their opinions too but I’m speaking of his absence not being felt on that particular day, in the English batting lineup. Now that’s quite a statement. Pietersen brings to the table a fine blend of style and substance, of grit and arrogance, of authority and control, all of these which were never seen before in English cricket. Pietersen is a special talent indeed. But we are here to talk of another man who proved himself to be special, ‘as special as Pietersen or not’ makes the discussion futile and pointless.

Bairstow came in on the back of a splendid ton he scored for the England Lions but his international appearances in the longest format made for little impact and impression. “History has it that special men choose special occasion to showcase their talent and such was the case of Bairstow as well. He was caught napping against Roach’s bouncers on his maiden Test tour and that reiterated the fact that Test cricket is a different ball game altogether. He worked hard and came back, just like a hero would in a movie. The flamboyance was kept under check to begin with, unleashed just when he needed to put the opponents against the wall; there was grit that stitched a wonderful knock and there was perfect control too, to keep all the batting elements under check. Fierce pulls, wristy flicks, strong cuts, everything was present that day, just like it always is when he turns up for Yorkshire. A ton would have been perfect but sometimes imperfections make the moment beautiful, to some extent, romantic as well and above all, makes us human because that is essentially what we all are. From the anxiety of trying to figure out what would happen to England without a Pietersen in the batting lineup, to the discovery of Bairstow at the Lord’s, it was nothing but a wonderful moment for an English fan. In the truest sense, it seemed to be the second debut for young Jonny. England welcomed a young man with a lot of warmth and the timing couldn’t have been better than this.

23^rd August, 2012: Let transition be named something else for we have had enough of that word in recent times. Two of the most important names were missing from the Indian Test side after a very long time, something which we all spoke about but were afraid of facing. The only other time (in the last 16 years) the Indian Test outfit didn’t feature these two names together saw an annihilation (South Africa defeated India by an innings, 6 runs and a day to spare). The very thought of it was frightening. The think tank tossed up the best options possible and readied itself for the beginning of a new journey on a path unknown. The young men couldn’t have been served better as they began the rebuilding process on pitches and conditions known to them for years now. But there were spots to be taken which belonged to two people who made them their own with unimaginable hard work, inexplicable sustenance and a system which accepted successes and failures alike, for nothing should be taken for granted.

Kohli had been there in the setup for quite some time now (ODIs and T20Is) and had also recently exhibited his class and temperament in the longest format with his knocks down under. Until Laxman retired, Kohli was tipped to take Ganguly’s spot. It changed overnight with Laxman’s retirement. Dravid’s spot was left open and when Dhoni handed over the team list at the toss that had Pujara’s name, it was quite obvious that he would come in at number three, a position he is familiar to. His triple hundreds, match winning knocks and all that established him as the man for the future had come at that number. It was time to quickly elevate to the highest level and a few hours later, he had finished achieving that, or begun well to prove that?

In no time, the past transitioned to the future with Pujara and Kohli batting together, and India in a spot of bother. Kohli was at his confident best, as certain as he is when he plays with the colored clothing on. At the other end was Pujara, very little bothered with what the world was speaking of. He quietly marked his guard and went about his business. His first boundary stamped his authority (fierce slap through the point area) and his second marked the ease with which he can pull the ball. Very soon, Pujara added one spoke after the other to his wagon wheel, with utmost ease and elegance. The control over his batting, the determination to do well and the hunger to score runs were there for everyone to see. In perhaps no time, we were treated with the scenes of a young man sporting a smile and raising his bat aloft to soak in all the accolades, the first of many more to come. It was an artistic hundred with fine brush strokes on the canvas, knowing exactly where to draw the margins and where to pour the colours. When Pujara walked off the field unbeaten at stumps, there were many who jumped into conclusions and pointless comparisons, “India finds the New Wall!”, “Pujara is the answer to Dravid!”, etc. But all that Pujara had mentioned before the match and now after the day’s play were still the same, “It was like a second debut for me.” Pujara must be well acquainted with the cricket fans and media in India and thus he should be able to shrug away all these from getting to his head.

To call Pujara the next Dravid is unjust to both, for it took Dravid a decade and a half to be what he is called today – A legend! To flood Pujara with comparisons to Dravid would only put him under undue pressure. It’s time to celebrate a classy hundred, on only its true merit. Special talent needs special attention and India must know that they need to preserve and nurture this talent well. Like a wise man once mentioned, “For life in more ways than one, is about additions and not substitutions.”

Welcome to Test cricket, Bairstow and Pujara! May this be the first of many more to come.

This article was written on 24^th August and speaks of the arrival of two young men who promise us a bright future.

The music that we call, 'The Terrific Trio'

Indian cricket at the moment is going through its biggest transition, one which loomed large for the longer part of everyone’s discussion but to everyone’s surprise, the think tank didn’t show enough guts to address it. And as expected, the results have left the team unprepared and the entire thing looks unplanned. Given the fact that India has always been a batting superpower, the retirements of Dravid and Laxman have left a huge vacuum in the middle order. But for a change, I won’t delve deep into discussions about retirements and replacements, present and future, I would simply say, I’m sad. Yes, I’m sad about not being able to see the Terrific Trio in action anymore. The trinity that treated us with such mellifluous partnerships, match saving innings, winning moments, won’t be at work together anymore.

That for me ends the era which produced a galore of melodious moments, lyrical brilliance, silken success and flowing beauty!

Cricket for me, like many others who are reading this, is the first love; cinema comes a close second. And music is a regular in my day-to-day life. And strangely enough, I always manage to find something musical in both cricket and cinema. Music binds together both my love affairs.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music” – Aldous Huxley.

Huxley couldn’t have been more correct when he spoke about music in the aforementioned way. Music is a part of life to many of us. Especially, we, the Indians, have a big appetite for all forms of entertainment – cinema, music and cricket. Right from times unknown, there are traces of music deeply rooted in the Indian soil and not so surprisingly, there’s a song for every possible occasion in our lives too. A song on the birth of a child, a song on death, a song for love and a song for sorrow, all stages of life if not melodious literally, does have a musical background.

Coming back to my love affairs, the combination of cinema and music is outright obvious, but cricket and music is something different. On that note (hopefully, a musical one), I will strive to draw a parallel between cricket and music.

The chords, The lyrics, The vocals.

Spare a thought! The wonderful trio that Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman formed in the middle order of the Test outfit can be actually compared to the basic elements of a song. For starters, the three most basic and indispensable elements of a song are its chords, lyrics and vocals. Chords are better known as the dhun, lyrics are the bol or shabd and vocals is the awaaz. For any song, the chords frame the base or the body, lyrics immerse in the chords and vocals present the combination to produce the song as a whole. Take any of these elements out of the picture and you would have ‘nothing’. Interdependent on each other yet strong as an individual, all these elements don’t create the magic even if one goes amiss. Same is the case with the trinity we are talking about.

Chords frame the skeleton of the song, the base on which a song is built and creates space for other elements to come in. No one can think of anyone other than Dravid who fit the bill in this aspect. He set the tone, assessed the conditions, carved a platform and readied it for others to build on it. Chords and Dravid are synonymous to each other. Just like chords readily embrace lyrics to stitch the outfit of a song, Dravid, all throughout his career built the stage for others to perform.

Next in the process is the entry of lyrics. Poetic and meaningful, artistic and style coupled with substance, mark the very essence of lyrics in a song. The Very Very Special (VVS) Laxman brought all of this in one package. His batting brought meaning to the plans, his silken timing and wristwork talk of style, his memorable knocks showcase the substance he had and his overall batsmanship/craftsmanship was more often than not, regarded as elegance personified. Laxman for most of his career came late in the middle order, needing to embrace the situation upon him and he did that with aplomb. Just like lyrics dresses itself in the chords of the song, Laxman took the team forward by establishing big tasks with relative ease, on the platform laid down by his predecessors.

If not more important than the above two elements, the vocals are considered to be at least as important as them. The melody of the chords and the meaningful poetry which frame the lyrics would all go in vain, if the vocals don’t bring the soul to them. Vocals bring completeness to the song, so does Sachin Tendulkar to the team. For more than a couple of decades, Tendulkar has been the voice of Indian cricket. Just as a singer would lend his voice to a song after understanding the chords and lyrics, Tendulkar has lent his skills, expertise and an unchallenged vision to batting. For a chord to sound melodious and lyrics to be poetic, the vocals need to be spot on and that is what comes together to bring forth a mellifluous song. And in a similar way, Tendulkar is the one who sets poetry in motion.

At times, you might hum the tune. At times, you might find the lyrics enriching. And at times, the quality of singing is extraordinary. But it is only when all of these come together that the entire song becomes worthwhile. Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman have crafted so much melody together that the thought of it not coming together anymore is disheartening. This dulcet song of Indian cricket will always be remembered for the kind of magic it weaved for a decade and a half.

The music that we call, 'The Terrific Trio'

Without music (Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman), life would be a mistake. Words fall short when one strives to describe its true essence, it’s better to leave the magic do its tricks and be spellbound yourself.

At times, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture..”

This article speaks about the sadness of not being able to watch the Terrific Trio together anymore. This was written on the 18^th August, 2011.