"Before Lillee had completed his follow-through, the ball had hit the ropes" - Talat Aziz recalls battle between the bowler and Sobers
Famous Ghazal singer and composer Talat Aziz recalled how a tussle between Sir Garfield Sobers and Dennis Lillee drew him to cricket. Aziz watched the match between Australia and World XI in his school, where Sobers scored a magnificent 254* in the second innings.
In an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook page, Talat Aziz mentioned how his generation of cricket fans witnessed high-quality action between great bowlers and batsmen. He stated that the wins and the losses did not matter at that time, but the fans enjoyed watching the player battles.
Talat Aziz describes the great 'tussle' between Garry Sobers and Dennis Lillee on the cricket field
In case you did not know, Talat Aziz tried his hand in cricket and was a promising fast bowler in his teenage years. However, an unfortunate incident involving nepotism in the game led to his cricket career's demise.
Describing his love for cricket, Aziz said that he enjoyed watching the player battles on the field, like Sir Garry Sobers and Dennis Lillee, in January 1972. In the third Test played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sobers smacked 254 runs in the second innings and helped World XI win the match by 96 runs.
Recalling the iconic contest between bat and ball in that era, Talat Aziz said:
"In those days, we did not have television. It was a film shot, and I saw it in school, Sobers playing against Lillee. He had a long run-up and was the fastest bowler in those days. Australian wickets are hard and bouncy. Garry Sobers hit him like a tennis ball in that 254."
"If you see that footage, I remember a lot of shots. Lillee coming in from his long run-up and a ball rising from the good length, Garry Sobers doesn't move his feet. He had that eye, he just went on his toes and slaughtered him straight, slaughtered him straight. Before Lillee had completed his followthrough, the ball had hit the ropes," he continued.
Aziz concluded by saying that the game's result did not matter to him, but the tussles between the great players attracted him to cricket.