Brisbane 2021 - A Testament to the New Age India

When Oldies Took The Centrestage…

Width offered outside the off-stump. The bat comes down like a Magic Wand, slashes the ball over Point region. No foot movement. Simply Stand and Deliver. Third Man doesn't get a chance to move. The ball wins the race, as it always has since 2001. That's Virender Sehwag for you.  

A left-arm Off Spinner flights the ball . The bat comes down in an arc. A full-swing. It’s a perfect connection with the white leather. By the time heads turn, the ball is soaring high into the night skies for a maximum. Umpire raises his hands, crowd loves it, opposition admires it. That's Yuvraj Singh for you. 

Last night’s match between Delhi and Punjab in the on-going IPL was one which gave us the sheer pleasure of watching two greats of the game coming together and construct match winning innings for their respective teams. Alas, there could be only one winner. But not often these days you find matches when Viru and Yuvi come together to give the crowd their money’s worth. What more could a person wish for than seeing two of the finest stroke makers of the game, find their lost touch and bat as if all’s too easy for them. It was a night when the ‘oldies’ shone the brightest. The strokes were back, the runs were flowing, they surely took the Centre Stage.

I would like to stick my neck out and say that the Match Fixing scandal was in a way a blessing in disguise for Indian cricket. It allowed new faces to emerge and take charge of a sinking ship, and redefine the way cricket was to be played in India for years to come. Of course, a big plus also was having a leader like Sourav Ganguly, who steered the team perfectly to the safe shores.  Ably assisted by fellow seniors like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble and Srinath, the Indian cricket team post-2000 was a cynosure for every cricket lover’s eyes in the country.  

Two youngsters, out of the many who made their debut in Ganguly regime, were to become the finest of their generation. One of them even went a step ahead and stamped his authority in Test Cricket as one of the All Time Great openers of the game. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.

A brief look at the history of Indian cricket over the last 15 years, would suggest that the Indian team’s success was often dependent on how these two cricketers played. If the team had a good day at the office, no deep research was needed to find out who turned the tables during the course of the game. It was often either of the two who had left his footprint on the game. India, in them, had found players who did not need centuries to win matches – suddenly their quick fire 30 or a 40 had found their way to admirable levels amongst the spectators and were enough to dent the opposition. No more the team depended only on Sachins, Souravs, Rahuls etc., who had the art of accumulating the big scores but lacked that Knock-Out Punch to run away with the game. Any statistician can figure out, that in the last decade or so, whenever the Indian team has gone through a lean patch, it has coincided with Viru or Yuvi’s loss of form. Such was their overall impact. With them, there was a belief that India can chase down any total or can put up a daunting one.

It’s hard to see, as a cricket lover, these two geniuses spending the latter half of their careers trying to figure out ways to get back into the Indian team. One which could not have been thought of for the better part of last two decades. Having been out of favour for far too long, it’s a distant dream, for them as a player and for me as a fan, to see them donning the Indian colours once again. Maybe a lot of us watch IPL because of the charm these payers bring with them to the field, evoking the cherished memories of yesteryears, telling the world that they still have it in them to take on the opposition. That their names are still the first ones for whom the teams plan out strategies. That the impact they have cannot be measured by the runs scored alone, it’s on the psyche of the bowler, who can get dispatched for a six or a four even when he has bowled a fine delivery. It’s the suspense attached to them, what’s next, that makes the game worth watching. There are plenty of amazing new talents in the frame these days, yet the name Viru or Yuvi is enough to attract crowds from far and near to fill up the stadiums. That there might be a Maxwell or a Miller waiting to unleash their powers, but it’s Sehwag’s dismissal which is enough to get people back to work. The cuts, the pulls, the drives, the glance – where artistry meets brutal force, that’s what these two have always bought to the table. That’s what they did last night. They say the memory of an Indian fan is a short one. If that’s the case, then those of all the great innings played in the last 15 years would have been refreshed in an instance. Somewhere you think, is this their last waltz or is there a hope to see them win games for India once again. You think that inspite of India’s brilliant campaign in the World cup, could their presence have made a difference? That did India went a bit too far in ignoring them for the Cup? It’s all over now so no use to mull over the past. If’s and But’s have made and destroyed a whole lot of careers. 

They both still have a more than a month of cricket to play and carve out such specials for their teams and fans. Who knows that by the end of it all they might find favour with the selectors. All I can do is sit back and enjoy each run scored by them. How I wish the Oldies take a Centre Stage each time they go out to bat.