Perils of ignoring the amateur era

Virat Kohli, who, along with M.S. Dhoni, was the only Indian player who displayed the guile needed to score on turning tracks against New Zealand on Tuesday. (Photo: AP)

One of the advantages of playing cricket in the years of the amateur was that there always was a story that one could refer to in times of need. This was because we loved and lived the game and discussed it with our seniors and listened to their stories. Tales of valour, tales of genius, how GR Vishwanath scored an unbelievable 97 in Chennai against the fearsome pace attack of Roberts and company or on Sunil Gavaskar’s mastery on a turning track in Bangalore against Pakistan. Then there are the tales of batsmen going out to bat with red stains on the popping crease, blood of their mates, felled by the likes of Charlie Griffith and others. Moments spent with our seniors were not just breath-taking stories of technical competence and valour but also discussions on how to play under different conditions. Each story was a dream in the making for us youngsters, and it remained fixed in our minds for life. By the time we started to play the first class circuit we would not only know of the bowler and his guile but also the character of each wicket. Playing at M A Chidambaram Stadium or Chepauk Stadium in Chennai, we would dread batting on the third day. The pitch was designed for Venkatraghavan, who was unplayable on turning tracks. Each venue had tales of valour and horror for the batsman, and it was these tales that the amateurs of old, gentlemen cricketers, relied on to overcome adversity. The masterly adaptations of Vijay Manjrekar to spinners on varying surfaces is folklore known not only to those cricketers that played with him but also those that were part of the crowd that met every evening, after a game, or after practice and discussed nothing but cricket. Today forget discussing cricket, some superstars do not even know who Vinoo Mankad is and they certainly do not know how to play on wickets considered regular turning tracks till the seventies. Had they listened to the stories they would have known what made the Indians the best players of spin on the world. And then they would have worked on their technique instead of making complete comedians of themselves against New Zealand at Nagpur.

What happened at Nagpur was sad. We were outmaneuvered, outsmarted, outgunned and outplayed. The New Zealand captain read the wicket to perfection and proved it by bringing in three spinners, whilst we, the home team threw in our seamers.

The Kiwi think tank knew that the top order batsmen had to attack the new ball, for once it started to spin, it was over for them.

They recognised their strengths and weaknesses and accepted that the best chance of winning lay in their top order going at it from the first ball itself, even at the cost of wickets. Whilst we relied on our momentum to win, the Kiwis came with a well worked-out strategy and annihilated an opponent that was over confident, cocky and worse, completely sans a plan. Further whilst the Kiwis had planned exactly where their inexperienced spinners would bowl, our batsmen forgot the very fundamentals of batting on turning tracks. Virat Kohli and Dhoni were the only two that gave us hope, for they displayed the guile needed to score on such tracks. They waited for the ball to come. Whilst Dhoni ran out of partners, Kohli fell to a brilliant delivery.

I have been screaming from the rooftops for a few years now that the BCCI should get all the stories out of the cricketers of old and tape them. We need these to recognise and understand how these great stalwarts played cricket without helmets, on uncovered wickets that turned square from the second day itself. Without these stories, proper technique on challenging tracks will soon become a mystery, lost in the haze of defeats at home as we continue, home advantage lost, to make fools of ourselves in the coming years.

To me a win or loss is irrelevant, playing the game in the spirit of the game is of prime importance. And that’s why, amongst the ruin, as we were thrashed by an unassuming opponent, the purist amateur cricketer in me applauded Kohli for walking. Way to go Virat, we are proud of you.