Saturday 2 May 2009

Cricket without apologies



At 5ft 6inches or so Kamran Khan does not possess a fast bowlers’ physique but his final delivery leap and sling action generates pace of above 140 kms per hour. Till last year he used to play tennis ball cricket in the gallis of Azamgarh. His father is a woodcutter. Poverty and lack of medical care led to the death of his mother. A few months back he used to travel without reservation and sleep in railway platforms. He is yet to play first class cricket or represent his state in any age category. Today at only 18 years of age, armed with a 12 lakh rupee contract, he is playing IPL in South Africa.

His biggest challenge- “How does one sleep soundly in a five star hotel?”

Does he know about the rave reviews he has got from Shane Warne? “Pata naheen, Englis bahut fast bolte hain.”

How does he feel with a 12 lakh rupees contract. “Thoda late ho gaya, apnee maa ko bachaa naheen paya.”

Welcome to India where cricket is religion and Sachin is God.

The good news is Kamran is not the lone case. There are scores and scores of them. Last year it was Ravindra Jadeja. He hails from a small town in Gujarat and used to live in a one room house with his four sisters and a widowed mother who worked as a nurse in the local hospital. Part of the under-19 world cup winning team he played IPL for Rajasthan Royals and then donned India colours. In financial terms his growth has been meteoric. He has now moved to a more than decent house, has told his mother that there is no need to work and when she would have voiced concerns about the future and the marriage of his sisters he probably might have said with a Shah Rukh Khan drawl- Maa….main hoon na.

The Pathan brothers are another case in point. A huge family living out of a single room in the premises of a mosque in Baroda, their dad used to work there and sell incense sticks to supplement their income. Today, Irfan and Yousuf are worth crores many times over.

Then there is Joginder Singh who bowled the last over in India’s historic 20-20 world cup final match. His dad has a kiosk and makes a living by selling paan in Rohtak- a small town in the outskirts of Delhi. Such rags to riches stories are part of the cricketing folklore.

With money flowing in to the BCCI coffers and with a Board that is willing to plough back the money, even first class cricket is gradually becoming financially viable for the cricketers. A first class cricketer who plays Ranji trophy, Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy matches can eke out a decent living provided he is physically fit to play the game for over a decade or so.

The real trick behind crickets’ success has been the ability of the game to mould, evolve and change according to the needs and tastes of the people. During childhood I still remember hitting a boundary through mid-wicket and yet being admonished by the coach for an ‘ugly’ cross-bat stroke. Hitting in the air or jumping out of the crease to smash the ball were also considered too adventurous and risky. Within a decade the so called copy book technique has been done away with. The high left elbow pointing towards mid-on during your defensive stroke, the foot moving towards the pitch of the ball, the proper batting stance, the head position etc. have all become minor and dispensable details. All that matters now is the ability to smash the ball to all corners of the park. The purists can still shake their heads in dis-approval but the game has moved on.

Five days is a problem? Then come over for a day. One entire day is a problem? Come over for half-a-day. Day time is a problem? Then come at night under the lights. Do you find the white clothes very drab? Wait a minute sir, the coloured and fluorescent clothes are ready for use. Red ball is a problem? Then let us go for a white one. Bored with the white one? No problems the orange/pink one is round the corner. Want spicy fun? Come on cheer leaders give it all you have. Want glitz and glamour? Bollywood, the red carpet is here.….. So no full stops and no excuses!!

The discipline of Marketing, the fine art of enticing sponsors and grabbing TV viewership was behind every stage of the evolution of the game. The prime-time slots were targeted and the battle for the eye balls began. Ad revenues are flowing in and the game is promising to become bigger and bigger. This years’ IPL shift to South Africa on security grounds is just an aberration. Ten months from now when it will come back to India it will no doubt be bigger.

But is it becoming better? Who cares? For the gen-next choices between better and bigger, good and bad, right and wrong is only an issue of semantics and not ethics. Choices are dictated by convenience, not by moral positioning.

So deep rooted is the love for the game that cricket even entered the world of diplomacy with India and Pakistan arguably coming closer because of this sport in early 2000. When Sachin drove through the covers Pakistan applauded and when Sohaib Akhtar ran in to bowl, India held its collective breath in awe! Imran Khan bowled our maidens over while Lakshmipati Balaji smiled his way into Pakistani hearts. So strong was the bonding that even General Musharaf approved of the flowing locks of Dhoni! Wow what a feeling! What a high!!

Is it a bubble that will burst?

I just have to walk down to nearby Shivaji Park to get convinced that it will not. The ill maintained Shivaji Park, where political parties hold meetings every week spoiling and littering the ground further, there are on an average around a thousand kids slogging it out with their anxious parents watching from the sidelines. Most of them are from middle and lower middle class backgrounds. After all, the fire in the belly comes from an empty stomach. You can see the hunger when they come in to bowl. You can see the burning desire when they whack the ball. You can feel the power of their dreams when after an afternoon of dust, sweat and toil they enjoy Mumbai’s iconic vadaa pav or ragda- patties in the pavements of Dadar. Mumbai is not alone. Hundreds of small towns of India are now part of this great Indian dream.

As long as this great Indian middle class dream is alive nobody can kill the great game of cricket.

For me the best cricket news of the month came from Afghanistan. They failed to make it to the next edition of World Cup by a whisker but gained recognition to play international one day cricket. For a country, ravaged by decades of civil war, cricket could still open a window to civil society.

And as long as kids in Afghanistan will be lured to hold a bat instead of a gun and be taught to hurl cricket balls instead of grenades why should cricket offer any apologies?
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19 comments:

Naresh said...

Arun Bhai

Well written ! The 'fire in the belly ' (literally ) is moving our middle class chunk to surmount hurdles and come out in flying colours !

One more article in the making for 'Intelligent Pune '

Maybe one day all your write ups can have a summation as 'Doon days- A collection of short stories '.

arun bhatt said...

Naresh,

The genesis of this article actually goes to about a month back when I was chatting with Vinita. I suddenly remembered that her son-in-law was a famous lawn tennis player of India. In fact during his junior days he was Mahesh Bhupati's doubles partner.

When I mentioned this to her she was no doubt happy but also chipped in by saying, "Strange, you remember names other than cricketers." That's when this article's basic idea was born.

Compared to other sports cricket offers the middle class a great escape route. Though boxing and hockey also have a potential but cricket outbeats them through sheer numbers and the ability to really make big money. Their governing boards are also very inefficient as compared to BCCI.

I was thrilled with the Afghanistan development also.

Enarkay said...

Arun a well thought out article as usual. You are right It is the middle and lower classes who are the movers and shakers of cricket in India. Cricket has replaced football as the opium of the masses The purists of the game have also changed with the times. I remember being coached in Cuttack by Hemu Adhikari(ex captain of India) and N N Swami(Ranji and East Zone) at Bam and both used to insist that the straightbat is the only proper cricketing stroke.We had one guy called Panda in our Blue Star team at Bam who would make a baseball player proud with his crossbat shots. But what the heck, in the end it was the number of runs that counted, apart from the effect his batting had on the line and length of opposition bowlers. Bam has a proud history in both cricket and football apart from other games As long as the money keeps flowing into the game it will spread its wings to countries like Afghanisthan and other poorer countries. The rags to riches dreams will continue to draw more kids.I am sure cricket will one day become a global game and nations will settle scores on the cricket field instead of the battlefield

arun bhatt said...

Enarkay,

I have heard many stories about the Hemu Adhikary camp at cuttack. Sanath once told us that because a guy was not properly dressed in the cricket attire he was 'punished' and made to run two rounds of the ground. His fault was that he did not wear long sleeved white shirts buttoned at the wrists!! He was a typical example of an orthodox coach belonging to the traditional era.

NN Swamy, your uncle, was one of my childhood idols. He was the first leg spinner I saw in my life. For us kids he was like Chandrasekhar of Orissa. I remember he had played against West Indies representing East zone. He famously edged Wes Hall or maybe Griffith for a four between slips and gully.

Stanley David said...

Great article, Arun --very insprational --I shall use it to motivate students in the soft skills training that I conduct.

On the lighter side, this story also pinfully reminds me of the cricketing talent that India has lost --yes, I am referring to the Cobra Cricket Club of Berhampur, and some "would -have been-famous" names come to my mind such as Arun Bhatt, Faiyaz, Anil, Jethanand, Stanley..........

Faiyaz said...

Stan Lee,...Bret Lee?????

Arun your great post reminds me of Ngaesh Kukunoor's Iqbal - Suresh Talpade.
Earlier it was the only the Rich who made it to the Pitch!
Not any more....

Nargis said...

Hi Arun....

Frankly speaking cricket and I are like chalk and cheese. Well, it was not so earlier but of late it's beginning to get on my last nerve. And yet I read this blog to the last word only because it shows a 'middle class' side of of a gentleman's game that 'was' and not what 'is'. I love the way you have ended it too :-}

But I totally agree with Stan. And beleive it or not right now I'm even shedding a few tears for the untimely death of the Cobra Cricket Club of India...*sniff*.. If given a chance to strike, they could have definitely lived up to their 'deadly'name! *sniff* *sniff*......

Enarkay said...

Arun :
Yes Hemu Adhikary was a real stickler for discipline I remember he used to keep a coin and would ask us to bowl on or around it. It really helped to focus on the spot instead of the batsman Along with Sanat there were other guys like Sribatsa Mohanty, Ramgopal and many of our schoolmates at the camp.
N N Swamy was not my uncle (though he was like one to me) but my uncle's friend and teammate.He was a great bowler who could bamboozle the best batsmen.He was a sharp fielder and useful batsman too

Omkar said...

Hey Arun,

Nice write up, but ...

As much as I like cricket (I officially retired from NTCA - North Texas Cricket Assoc. last year), other than 20-20 unfortunately, the game really has never and perhaps will not catch on anywhere else other than the 8-10 countries.

Long story short - India needs to somehow get beyond cricket, or else be humiliated every time Olympic comes around. Tennis, skiing, for crying out loud field hockey, ping-pong, badminton, basketball etc. should be played/sponsored/"obsessed by the middle class" as much.

Compared to many other sports, it does not produce athletic and agile sportsmen, not to be construed as "lack of athleticism is OK for cricket".

Actually the big and tall Afghans could have done themselves good by say going for basketball ;-)

Naresh said...

Folks

For that matter NN Swamy was my uncle, who was teaching Mathematics at Hinjilicut College and dont recall at Khallikote also maybe !

He lived at Park street and expired last year due to Kidney failure.
[Trust I am not confusing identities.]
Arun r u talking about the same NN Swamy ???)

arun bhatt said...

Sir Stanely,

Cricket sure is a great unifier. Look it has forced even you to come out of your self-imposed isolation!!

On a very serious note, I agree that Cobra Cricket Club could have spun out great cricketers but I just do not agree to you starting the paragraph by writing, " On a lighter note...

Nargis,

I am very happy for Aghanistan and its cricketers. I hope taliban ki nazar na lage.

FAB,

Both Stan Leee and Bret Leee are out of action. The comparison is very appropriate.

Enarkay,

I some how always thought that you were all related to each other. If I am not wrong he has moved on in life...

Omkar,

You are spot on regarding our poor showing in olympics. The blame squarely lies in their respective associations lack of marketing skills and the corrupt administrators. You should see the plight of these sportsmen who are robbed and cheated by their own officials who do not pay the sportsmen even the meagere daily allowance and make a cut even in their apparels and track suits.

arun bhatt said...

Naresh,

i just saw your comment. You are absolutely right. till about a couple of years back he was in touch with my father as they were still fighting a pension related case.

Enarkay said...

Naresh- Very sorry to hear that N N Swamygaru has passed away.He was a good friend of my uncle N Rama Krishna Rao who was a Lecturer in English at Khallikote College and later as Reader at Phulbani and Balasore.
I remember watching him play Ranji/ Zonal matches at Barabati Stadium and Poice grounds at Cuttack
My condolences.
BTW are you related to Ramdas and Gopal?

Naresh said...

Yes Enarkay,
they are my cousins !
In fact I was playing the so called ' Gilli - Danda ' cricket with them when they used to stay in the corner house at GIRI road near to the petrol pump.

The British archetypal house with a lot of bushes and overgrowth , a broken compound having access to many a burglar !

Ramu is settled in HYB and Gopal I believe is still at BAM.
Met Ramu a year back, when he came to Vizag for attending one of our relative's attending. Gopal no clues, as such .

Louis J Rao said...

Arun,
Too true !!

Naresh,
I was coached by Sir N. N Swamy, although for a week.I went on to captain Ganjam District team for 2 consecutive years , thanks to his coaching
Sad to hear he passed away .He was a great cricketeer , Orissa ever produced . Wish he had all the exposure what they have toady.
Wish we have some more from Bam today.

Faiyaz said...

Coached by Sir N N Swamy? - No wonder....That's where you acquired such style and grace Louis!

arun bhatt said...

Louis,

Captaining Ganjam is indeed a good achievement. It is good to know that in some way or the other we all were associated with Late Mr. NN Swamy.

Yesterday i did a google search on his name and stumbled across scoresheets of Ranji Tropy and Duleep Trophy matches played during 1959-1966. Although the performance of Orissa was not good NN had consistently taken wickets. All very nostalgic.

Enarkay said...

Hey Louis I too played for Ganjam district while at KK College along with Saba, Bulli, Nari, Potti Jagga and others and also attended that camp at Union Club where NN Swamy was the coach.I think Ramdas and Gopal were also there.
Nostalgic indeed

Venu N said...

NN Swamy (a.k.a. 'Swamy Mastergaru')was an icon in the cricketing domain in Orissa.
I did not know that he was Naresh's uncle.

I am aware of his sad death last year--my uncle informed me when I visited BAM in Dec 2006 that he was afflicted by a serious ailment. We even planned to visit him, but alas we could not.

During my Personnel Dept stint in VSP, I came across a famous judgement on a labour law journal which was titled 'NN Swamy Vs State of Orissa'. It was decided in his favour in the Supreme Court--it was regarding reckoning of past service in Khallikote (or Ravenshaw) when it was a private college for the purpose of seniority in the Govt College, after takeover.
I miss 'Swamy Mastergaru' a lot.