Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
It has been a week of spectacular cricket, and more extraordinarily so, as it was emerging from an inane, inimical attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore. As general panic set in, and even in distant tranquil New Zealand a specter of looming gloomy fear psychosis happened, one was concerned about the immediate repercussions on the field. Within 168 hours, however, there has been a riveting transformation. India thoroughly trounced New Zealand in a merciless massacre in the ODI series, and Australia demonstrated with calibrated authority that their dominance of world-cricket was likely to have an extended run. These were superlative wins by champion teams, playing amazing cricket.
With England fielders ready to snip the frail tail of the West Indies at Queen's Park, Port of Spain, the usually predictable fragile bottom-end of Caribbean batsmen held their nerves, and 13 excruciating minutes later, the home-team had won the Test series, recapturing the Wisden trophy after over a decade in the wilderness. In a grueling game of great mind-play, England almost pulled off what India did against Australia in Eden Gardens in that famous Final Frontier series. Only Fidel Edwards became the insurmountable hero, a monumental climb along with Denesh Ramdin. Continue reading below
Over the last couple of years, amongst the many debilitating old-fogy traditions of classical cricket being challenged is the wobbly cipher image of lower order "batsmen" resembling impotent sacrificial chickens awaiting a first-ball duck. In fact, I remember, when India batted in the days of the famous spin trio or the four square of S Venkatraghavan, E Prassana, BS Bedi and BS Chandrasekhar, as school-kids we used to count our batting scores commencing with 0 for 3 (usually one august gentleman was resting). No more!
If one were to do a thorough statistical assessment of the changing role of night-watchmen category players, we will find that they are no longer just treated with cursory contempt as inept batters with a clueless expression requiring a double-helmet. Nothing manifests that better than the Indian tail-enders like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who virtually thwarted Australian plans repeatedly last year in the Test series. The historic South African victory against Australia was largely on account of late rearguard action, totally unexpected and defying traditional prudence, just a few months ago. Jason Gillespie, looking like a lanky modern-day failed Shakespeare in the wrong profession, did serious damage with the bat, and like our own Anil Kumble, had a heroic century to boot. And Shane Warne had the flamboyance with the bat akin to his beguiling charms off-field.
Whether it is due to the deep entrenchment of the limited overs format or the T20, most individual players have raised their own personal bars. I think perhaps that has been the most salutary effect of the slam-bang game; it has put a premium on every ball, every run, every dropped catch, and most importantly, every wicket. And with commercial stakes high and competition stiff, everyone wants to be a "value" cricketer, whether branded as an all-rounder or otherwise. Even a perceptibly awkward Ishant Sharma held his own against the Australians last year. And the story runs along a familiar plot in most teams.
Of course, one swallow does not make a summer. But now they are becoming like a flock; increasingly more consistent. The late-order fight-back by the tail-enders has become less surprising a twist than yesteryear tales, and is no longer breaking news stuff. They literally fight to the finish. Every time.
The number 11 on the back of the jersey wants respect.
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