The bat WILL do its talking

When the going gets tough, when you  have been grounded to the core, when all odds are stacked up against you, when every exit is doomed, when darkness looms, when you are in utter jeopardy, when uncertainty chokes, there is always something carries you forward, lifts you from the rags- something called hope. A common folly every human succumbs to.

In recent times, amid all the turmoil, the first line fits the master like a glove. The not so successful 2011-2012 season was attributed to the ‘gorilla’ behind his back and yet now when the albatross doesn’t need to be bore anymore, things seem to get only worse. In a belter, where the young guns were all ablaze and almost every batter breathed easily, the master found it treacherous.

He was either playing all over it or exposed the gate, from what the experts diagnosed. At the end of the day, the scoreboard wasn’t ticking. Coming back after spending ‘quality time with children’ and trying to cash in on the inspiration from Roger in the Wimbledon, one expected the wizard to wave his wand on the crease. What transpired was, three bowled from three innings and some unusual showcase of frustration on the final occasion.

Technical glitch a side claims, ageing another side says, obsession with off-field exploits another side predicts and finally, another side, the dominant one still continues to vouch for the master’s comeback. I am afraid I would fall in the final category, having idol worshiped the master from the days of cotton pants and canvas shoes. Being in a cricket frenzied nation, falling prey to such fanfare may be misconstrued to be a hypocrite. The group I fall  into isn’t in dearth of logic. Hitting the nail right on its head, the prevalent side, the side I take is what results from liner or straight thinking. Only when crookedness or tangential thoughts creeps in, does one jump to conclusions such as ageing, loss of eyesight or distraction.

In order to battle the physical demands as dictated by his age, he prefers to play selective series. This sends across an obvious message that he isn’t going to follow his contemporaries into the exile anytime soon and is looking at prolonging his career. This should put to rest all apprehensions about the dip in form in the ‘fag end of his career’. The very idea about the dip of form should be driven into some heads which are running overtime to sling dirt into one of the best careers the game has witnessed and will witness.

There is certainly a distortion in the master’s technique that has led to the breach of his castle three consecutive times by not-so-immaculate deliveries. Trying to cover up his pads, which was brought into the line and led to constant LBWs, the master might have resorted to plunging his bat into the line with the legs staying away, where in turn he missed the line or opened up the bat pad gap which disturbed the woodwork behind.

Perhaps this is what meets the eye of a viewer like me, whereas to the experts, there might be a whole new perception to the dismissals. However accurate the perceptions might be, one should come to terms with the fact that, having been in the middle for 23 long years, putting away generations of bowlers, playing along legends, now sharing the dressing room with lads who were in the paddies when he burst into the international scene, the master is the best doctor to diagnose the technical snag. A batsman’s career will be and should be plagued with such technical  errors and the redemption of such glitches in the nets is what makes him a better batsman.

However long one has been in the scheme of things, such mistakes do creep in and each bowler or each series might throw different challenges which needs to be adapted to. This now defines a key attribute of a cricketer, ADAPTABILITY. Being on top of the game for over two decades is a testimony to his ADAPTABILITY and it is just a matter of time the master masters the concerns marring him. How many of us would forget the 241* in Sydney where the off-side shots were cut out totally as he was being trapped in the corridor of uncertainty for the tenure of that series. Hence a technical faux in one series doesn’t demand the calling of his head for there are cool heads in the test team playing only with such hitches or flaws.

Age isn’t in favor of the master. At 39, redeeming a technical shortcoming or hitting form again could be an himalayan task as the fitness demands might be too much to bear for the ageing body. It is only the body that ages, not the heart. The fortitude with which he fights back, the tenacity with which he trains, the love with which he plays only gets better with age for that is which has kept his floating atop for this long. The razor sharp appetite for runs hasn’t faded and hence as history has it, the master would emerge all guns blazing.

To complement the first para of this piece of writing which seems like a snippet from a philosophy book, let us turn back the pages of the history. Every time the master has been pushed to a corner he has only come back stronger. The injuries from which he suffered a setback were all career threatening ones and each time he failed on account of these injuries, the newspapers were filled with articles suggesting him to hang his boots. As always, bringing back a billion smiles, the master made headlines for silencing his critics. Be it the tennis elbow or the dark period of 06, the master hit back hard, shattering the glass ceiling above and raising up the ranks. This has left behind something in the hearts of his billion fans that has kept them in expectations, fingers crossed and filled their hearts with optimism. HOPE. The hopes haven’t found the trash with Sachin Tendulkar at the helm. Every time he’s walked into the middle, he has carried the burden of a billions. Burden for him is what hope is for us. Every time a doom to his career has been predicted, the predictors where left to bite the dust with his bat speaking volumes. Yet, none of them shy to air their views this time around.

Cricket always being our religion and Sachin always being our God, hopes always runs high for the bat to do its talking. Hence I belive and we believe, the bat WILL do its talking.