Vinod Kambli’s never-ending train wreck

Vinod Kambli needs work, and he wants it on his terms.

He doesn’t want to leave Mumbai or Maharashtra for a coaching assignment.

He believes that without assignments, former players can’t make a living.

He says he will get health insurance soon (scary thought for someone with two heart surgeries behind him and a young family to support).

He says he is a social drinker like most people when asked about his supposed addiction to alcohol.

Currently, a BCCI pension of Rs.30,000 is what supports him. Given Kambli’s penchant for bling and the fast life, it’s hard to imagine him living on Rs.30,000 a month.

None of this is fiction. You can see the video here:

Vinod Kambli’s story must be the longest-running soap opera in Indian cricket. After his rambunctious start in international cricket with back-to-back test double centuries in tests, his career experienced a calamitous dip and never recovered. His weakness against the short ball was ruthlessly exposed in a tour of the West Indies, and his test career ended when he was 24. He then make a slew of comebacks, many of which were possible with his childhood buddy Sachin Tendulkar’s help. At one point, he alleged casteism was behind his ouster from the Indian cricket team. While the selection was a dubious process in the 90s, that was an allegation that took it too far.

By 2000, his career was all but over.

If Kambli managed to make a mess of his playing career, his post-playing career is no different.

He first tried his hand at acting, and that didn’t go anywhere.

He then took a shot at politics and gave up after he lost.

He then put himself on reality television and accused Tendulkar of not helping him enough in his playing days.

He then said the 1996 semi-finals against Sri Lanka was fixed but offered no proof to back his claims.

When Tendulkar was playing his final test match, and the country had come to a standstill, Vinod Kambli came close to death. He suffered a heart attack while driving and was saved by an alert policewoman.

He then grabbed a couple of small-time coaching assignments at Sachin Tendulkar’s academy and the Mumbai T20 league, and it seemed he had turned a corner somewhat.

In all this time, he made news for the wrong reasons too.

He was stopped by the police for driving drunk and hitting a car in his apartment.

A video surfaced of him tottering on the road, and by the looks of it, it was broad daylight.

Let’s dig a little into his request for the Mumbai Cricket Association to give him a role:

Today, coaching is a specialized job. The National Cricket Academy in Bangalore trains aspiring coaches. Rahul Dravid coached the Under 19 team for four years, mentored and coached multiple teams in the IPL before being handed the head coach job. Granted, Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri landed the role mostly on the back of their stature, but that looks increasingly harder. Take VVS Laxman, for instance. Word has it that even he was vying for the head coach role but didn’t have enough coaching credentials to make the cut. Now, he has coached the national side in a few low-key tournaments and travelled with the U-19 team as a consultant. In simple words, he’s building up his coaching resume.

Vinod Kambli isn’t asking for the head coach job. But by the looks of it, he has no coaching credentials. The coaching opportunity he got as a part of Tendulkar’s academy seems to be more like a friend trying to help another get back on their feet. He says players can benefit from his experience. This seems to be a tall claim for someone whose heydey came and went in the blink of an eye.

When asked if his arch nemesis, alcohol, has kept him from achieving his full potential, he boasts about a time when he had 10 pegs of whiskey and woke up the next day to smash a century, surprising his coach. He claims to be a social drinker, but DUIs and videos of him staggering on the road seem to refute his own claim.

If anything, Kambli has served as a cautionary tale for cricketers. A couple of years back, parallels were drawn between Hardik Pandya and Vinod Kambli. Pandya went on a talk show (when will cricketers learn that nothing good will come out from these shows) and boasted about his sexual exploits, among other things. What has changed from Kambli’s era to now is that cricketers openly lead flashy lives. But the incident made Pandya realize something important – without cricket, hedonism is pointless. While he hasn’t lost his swagger and has battled injuries that have kept him out of action for long periods, he’s made an inspiring comeback. He led the newly formed Gujurat Titans to an IPL win and is an integral part of the national team. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose his way again.

But what to say about Kambli? By the looks of it, he’s running out of chances and seems to think cricket owes him a favour.

In sports, nostalgia sells, especially when it rekindles happy memories.

For Vinod Kambli, nostalgia is a case of what might have been, and it doesn’t seem to have too many takers.

Shane Warne wore his greatness, and flaws, on his sleeve

The ball that launched a legend – the ball of the century that got Mike Gatting out

Back in the day, Shane Warne and Allan Donald inspired me to wear sunscreen. Not that I had any clue what it was supposed to do. Aunts who visited from abroad would leave behind bottles of Nivea cream. I would stand in front of the mirror and apply it on my face in the same way that Shane and Allan did. It was irritating. Of course, it was a thick moisturizer, not sunscreen. And when I started sweating, the cream would sometimes get into my eyes, making them burn.

In sport and life, there are journeymen. And there are the unforgettables. Shane Warne belonged in the former. Cricket in the 90s was a simple affair. There were ODIs and tests. The battle lines were drawn between great batsmen and great bowlers.

Shane Warne

Muttiah Muralitharan

Curtly Ambrose

Courtney Walsh

Wasim Akram

Waqar Younis

Glenn McGrath

Anil Kumble

Allan Donald

Shaun Pollock

VS

Brian Lara

Sachin Tendulkar

Aravinda DeSilva

Saeed Anwar

Inzamam Ul Haq

I might be missing a few names but that’s a fairly comprehensive list.

In the 90s, Indian cricket stuck to a template:

They lost abroad by big margins.

They won comprehensively at home.

If Sachin Tendulkar played well, India did well.

Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad never found a third seamer to bolster them.

And there were few moments worth savoring.

Go back in time to Desert Storm ’98. The sight of Shane Warne’s stunned face when Tendulkar came down the pitch and smashed him over his head is something we’ll never forget. After the tournament, he said he would get nightmares of Sachin coming down the pitch and hitting him out of the park.

In the 1998 test series against Australia, at a time when laptops and data weren’t commonplace in cricket, Tendulkar had L Sivaramakrishnan bowl leg-spin to him in the nets to prepare facing Warne. And he came out on top. In the 2001 test series, Shane Warne found two more nemeses in Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. For whatever reason, Shane Warne couldn’t conquer Indian conditions. But few players have great records in every country that they play in.

Warnie belonged to one of the greatest ever teams in the history of cricket. Australia lost the ’96 World Cup to a resurgent Sri Lanka. In the ’99 World Cup, Warne took four wickets in the final against Pakistan, turning it into a tepid, one-sided affair. While his relationship with Steve Waugh was tempestuous as best, the team went from strength to strength, their legend growing stronger with every series. Few players have the luxury of their personal greatness coinciding with team greatness, and Shane Warne lucked out in that regard.

As a player, he was fiercely competitive. As a retired player, he shared his knowledge freely with youngsters. In the inaugural IPL, he led the Moneyball team Rajasthan Royals to a stunning victory. In some strange way, Shane Warne, for all his greatness, managed to play the underdog and get people on his side. While the ball of the century launched his legend, it’s something I saw on youtube years later and wished he had bowled it at a time when I started following cricket.

The thing about Shane Warne that endeared him to fans, in my opinion, was that he wore his flaws on his sleeves as much as he wore his greatness. In his era, fitness was an afterthought and Warne didn’t even remotely belong in that category. It was long after his playing days got over that he went on a fitness trip, shedding a ton of weight, trying to look like the fit player he never was. He once took money from a nicotine patch company on the pretext of giving up smoking. Sure enough, he didn’t live up to his end of the bargain and was caught smoking by fans. In the end, will power lost and the smoking habit stayed.

There’s immense pressure for athletes to be role models. They need to say the right things, avoid controversy like plague and live like monks (more or less). Shane Warne didn’t hide behind any veneer. He was content with the world seeing him as a flawed genius

In baseball great Mickey Mantle’s funeral, sports commentator Bob Costas said “In the last year, Mickey Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero. The first he often was not, the second he always will be.” I think the same applies to Shane Warne. He was a hero and inspiration to millions but fell short on the role model front.

In a speech, Harsha Bhogle spoke of an article where Shane Warne’s ex-wife said “Shane lives in a bubble.” She was referring to his numerous infidelities that had become tabloid fodder and caused their marriage to fall apart. Warne pushed the limits on and off the field. He and Mark Waugh were fined for giving valuable information to bookies in the late 90s. On the eve of the 2003 World Cup, he tested positive for a banned diuretic and was banned for a year, effectively bringing down the curtains on his ODI career.

The words used to describe Shane Warne are “he lived life to the fullest” and “he lived a Hollywood lifestyle.” But what is remarkable is how he didn’t let his off-field life eat into his game. He had dalliances with bookies, was banned for doping and his personal life (especially during his playing days) was a mess. Yet, he never lost sight of cricket. And that’s a huge achievement. On the other hand, you have someone like a Vinod Kambi who dived headlong into fame and never recovered, consigning his career to flames.

It’s a sight we’ll never forget.

Shane Warne has the ball in his hand.

His run-up is more of a walk-up. He walks a few steps. Then he jogs a little fast, saving all his energy for the delivery. And then all hell breaks loose.

Shane Warne bowled the Ball of the Century.

He was also one in a million, a star that shone brighter than most, and then crashed and burned a little too soon.

New Zealand scales the summit, at last

New Zealand’s journey to winning a major championship has been a long one. And India again trips at the final hurdle.

The Black Caps finally accomplished what Sir Martin Crowe tried to in 1992. Remember that World Cup? I do because it was the first one I watched after we had got a colour TV at home (damn you nostalgia). In that edition, they had a dream run. Martin Crowe’s inspiring captaincy took the team to the semi-final where a young and marauding Inzamam ul Haq laid waste to their dream run.

The New Zealand team take a lap of honour after their heartbreaking exit in the 1992 World Cup

Over the years, New Zealand have always punched above their weight in a quiet and unassuming manner. In 2003, 2007 and 2011, they made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. In 2015, they made it to the finals and couldn’t get past the final hurdle called Australia. In 2019, they made it to the finals and lost to a rule no one knew existed.

The New Zealand’s team metamorphosis began in 2013. In his MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture, Brendon McCullum describes the moment after the side was dismissed for 45 in a match against South Africa. That defeat led to a period of soul searching and rebirth for the team. He describes it in these words:

The significance of what occurred that evening day was that we recognised that we had to change. We wanted to personify the traits that we identified in New Zealanders – to be humble and hardworking. We wanted to be respected by our long-suffering fans in New Zealand. We wanted to be respected by our opposition; and before we could demand this we had to learn to respect them.

Sport has a winner and a loser. But it doesn’t have many nice winners. Who’s a nice winner? Someone who you root for. Someone you want to see come good. Too much winning can make a team arrogant. When the sandpaper scandal hit Australian cricket, knives were out. “They deserve it, those arrogant bastards”. It isn’t often that you don’t mind the opposition actually winning. You might shed a few tears for your team but you also have a smile ready.

Teams don’t win hearts only by winning matches. They do it by the way they play the game. New Zealand cricket isn’t filled with super stars. They don’t have characters that make for media fodder. Their bounty of talent is nowhere close to a country like India. Yet, in their quiet and unassuming way, they leave an indelible mark on the game.

A few days back, there were a few flashback photos of India’s win in the 2013 Champions trophy. It was also their last major victory in an ICC tournament. Ever since, they have stumbled at critical barriers.

Yuvraj Singh tied himself in knots in the 2014 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka.

A top order collapse in the 2015 World Cup semi-final halted India’s great run.

In the 2017 Champions Trophy final, Mohammad Amir steam rolled India’s top order within half an hour and rendered it a no-contest.

2019 saw a top order implosion against New Zealand  that again halted a good run.

And now, a loss in the 2021 World Test Championship. Big match days are becoming a hurdle, and a tic, for the Indian team, one they need to find a solution for.

There is no photo of Sir Edmund Hillary atop Mount Everest. Incidentally, he’s a New Zealander. According to Tenzing Sherpa, Sir Edmund refused to have his photo taken. Instead, he took Sherpa’s photo and that was what the world saw.

New Zealand may be one of the most self-effacing cricket teams around. But even if they wanted to lay low, this time, the glory was all theirs.

13 vs 1,013

Social media is abuzz with videos of players who returned home from Australia. T Natarajan, who went as a net bowler and made his debut in one of the greatest test matches ever, is welcomed by a massive crowd in his village. There is no social distancing and no one is wearing masks. But Natarajan is wearing gloves and a mask, standing atop some sort of a chariot.

From a net bowler to playing in the T20s, ODIs and the test match of a lifetime. What does that do to your heart?

Ajinkya Rahane is given a hero’s welcome by the people in his apartment. He went about his job as captain without much fuss. At the presentation ceremony, the standout moment is usually the winning team in the throes of celebration. Here, it was Nathan Lyon receiving a shirt autographed by the entire Indian team in honor of his 100th test. If he hadn’t won enough hearts already, he won a few more when he refused to cut a Kangaroo shaped cake on his return home. He will now slink back to vice-captaincy without much fuss.

From vice-captain to sagely guide who leads a team to do the improbable. What does that do to your heart?

Mohammad Siraj goes straight to his departed father’s grave after landing. During one of the tests, cameras showed him tearing up during the national anthem. While fielding at the boundary, he endures racial abuse from spectators and reports it to the umpires.

From stardom to grief. What does that do to your heart?

On a beautiful Saturday at Adelaide, our hearts were crushed. Perfect moments are hard to come by and Josh Hazelwood, Mitch Starc, and Pat Cummins had one that Saturday. Edges carried. Drives were punished. Dutifully, a nationwide meltdown followed. There were calls for Rahul Dravid to be flown to Australia without any delay. Rajeev Shukla actually clarified that Dravid wouldn’t be flown. What was Dravid going to do anyway? Pad up and play?

The tryst with winning a series in Australia began in 2003-04. A mistimed declaration and a Steve Waugh special in his final match meant India had to settle for a draw. In 2007-08, factitious umpiring in an ill-tempered match at Sydney crushed all hopes of a win. Though the side came back miraculously at Perth, they lost the series 1-2. In 2011-12, a decade’s worth of work was torn apart in a 0-4 annihilation. It was the last time we would see VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid donning the whites. In 2014-15, India almost pulled off a heist in Adelaide. In the same series, MS Dhoni finished a press conference and without any fuss, called time on his test career. In 2018-19 they conquered a summit that had eluded them thus far – a series win in Australia. It was nearly 20 years in the making.

2020-21 was different, yet the same. Australia crowds have still not realized that the term code of conduct applies to them as well. Virat Kohli is set to return after the first test match for the birth of his child. India is fielding one of its best bowling attacks ever, most of whom will watch from the sidelines as the series progresses. Mohammad Siraj is told about his father’s demise at the start of the tour. He chooses to stay on. T Natarajan misses the birth of his daughter even when he isn’t a certainty in the playing XI.

At Melbourne, the side regroups under the aegis of Ajinkya Rahane. When you’re captain, it’s always time for a captain’s knock. In the first test, Rahane is involved in a mix-up that sends Kohli back to the pavilion. He has a few monkeys to get off his back. Shubman Gill makes a confident and assured debut. Rahane’s century is like the balm of Gilead. There are no over the top rub it in your face celebrations that are synonymous with Virat Kohli. Just like it happened at Perth all those years back, the side strings an improbable victory. There are no calls for Rahul Dravid to board the next flight to Australia.

At Sydney, Hanumana Vihari and R Ashwin defy Nathan Lyon, Tim Paine’s chatter and injury to steal a draw. The 36 all out is slowly receding from memory.

Brisbane is the last stop of a tumultuous tour. All of India’s frontline bowlers, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah, are injured. A statistic says Australia’s bowlers have 1,013 wickets between them. India’s bowlers? 13. Washington Sundar and T Natarajan are handed their test caps. Shubman Gill misses a century by 9 runs and Cheteshwar Pujara becomes a punching bag. Rishab Pant, who is coming off a lacklustre IPL and whose attitude and fitness are always in the firing line, rises like a phoenix. According to reports, no one from the dressing room told him to go for victory. He just did. Towards, the end, he commits hara-kiri by going for a big hit. The heart stops and the mind goes back to 1999 when Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket triggered a heartbreaking collapse that hurts to this day. This is 2021. But anything is possible. Once Washington Sundar departs, it’s all on Pant.

The final shot is a punch through long-off. The camera stays on the ball and no one can see if there is a fielder. When the camera finally catches up with the ball, it has crossed the boundary.

Even though Rahul Dravid didn’t take the flight to Australia, he was all over Twitter, garnering praise. Two of his proteges, Pujara and Rahane were critical pivots around which the team revolved. He played an important part in Australia after all.

The series was a lesson in storytelling

David vs Goliath

A sagely guide who helps them make the treacherous journey

Overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles

Winning against all odds

We live vicariously through sport. We wish we can be a part of closely knit team that defies the odds. And when we don’t find it in life, sport delivers us from the humdrum of the everyday.

To be invested in sport is to subject yourself to heart surgery every time the team takes the field. Apart from actual heart surgery, sport is the only other thing that can rip our hearts and put it back together.

Diego Maradona – More God than saint

In a piece written a few years back, commentator Harsha Bhogle said this about Vinod Kambli:

“If there is a God, he drove a hard bargain with him; gave him the kind of talent others crave for but took away a lot of the skills you need to make the most of the talent.”

The difference between Kambli and Maradona is that Kambli didn’t scale the heights that he could have. He succumbed to the ravages of fame before that. Maradona touched the peak before he plunged into new depths of despair. But what Harsha Bhogle wrote about Vinod Kambli applies to Maradona as well.

If you were born in the 80s, you probably didn’t get to witness Maradona in his prime. You heard about from your dad, read about him, and with the proliferation of the internet, saw clips of his genius.

Through clips, we saw what is one of football’s most flagrant foul ever – the hand of God. A few minutes later, he went onto score the greatest goals ever in the history of the game after dribbling past 5 players. While he almost led Argentina to a second world cup win in 1990, he was ousted from the 1994 World Cup when he tested positive for a banned substance.

His post-playing career resulted in him trying to recreate the highs of the game by abusing substances. That seldom ends well. More than cheating and scoring a goal with his hand, what is remarkable is the number of times he cheated death. He suffered a cocaine overdose and came back from the brink of death in 2000. Gone was the lithe figure who could glide through the field and score goals with impunity. In that place was a morbidly obese figure who didn’t know how to live a normal life outside of football.

Coping with fame is a skill in its own right. And for sports icons, their post-playing days outnumber their playing ones. While they can live off their playing days fame forever, they still have to navigate them keeping their wealth and dignity intact.

For someone like Maradona, a lot of the normal rules don’t apply. This can be fatal when you don’t know where to draw the line and your fans can’t get enough of you.

In 2008, Maradona was appointed coach of the Argentinian football team. It was a match people were waiting for – Lionel Messi, one of the greatest footballers ever, coached by the greatest ever. It ended in ignominy. Argentina lost to Germany 0-4 in the quarterfinals and his international coach days came to a grinding halt. He coached and managed teams in Argentina, Mexico and UAE. Most of them didn’t do much to boost his coaching credentials.

The last the world at large saw Maradona was at the 2018 World Cup. He was his usual ebullient self, cheering wildly when Argentina scored and even collapsed after watching a match.

There are very few people who can get away with what Maradona did and still be revered. Wherever he went, he was the center of attraction, a man who never quite knew how to go quietly into the sunset.

Diego Maradona’s life veers more towards a cautionary tale than an inspiring one. His all too real struggles played out in front of the whole world and this endeared people to him. He might have been a god to millions, but he was more sinner than saint.

I see Maradona through his numerous videos on youtube, through documentaries, and all that has been written about him. And what I see is this:

Diego Maradona – the man who could conjure magic with his feet on the field but struggled to find his footing away from it.

Rahul Tewatia vs Netflix

Picture courtesy – Espncricinfo

“I’ll watch the first 5 overs and then switch to Netflix.” That’s what I told my wife. She isn’t a big fan of cricket and I don’t like ridiculously high-scoring games where the scales are tilted unfavourably towards one side.

If Rajasthan Royals had to have any chance of making a contest out of the game, the first few overs would set the tone, if not for a victory, at least for a contest.

When Steve Smith fell, everyone braced for Robin Uthappa to enter the fray. Victory was still a distant dream, as distant as they come. In walks Rahul Tewatia. Remember the 90s, when Javagal Srinath used to walk in at the fall of a wicket and used to throw his bat at everything? The experiment rarely paid off. In a batting line-up that was used to imploding after Tendulkar got out, that was a move to delay the inevitable. I thought the concept of the pinch-hitter was done and dusted in the 90s. You know when you’re not getting anything right? When everyone wants you to get out. The job of a bowler is to take wickets. But when someone like a Tewatia is like a deer caught in the headlights, the ploy is to keep him on strike. At least that’s what it looked like Ravi Bishnoi was attempting. He wasn’t blowing at the stumps or pads. Just keep him on strike and let him waste deliveries. Dot balls are gold dust when you’re chasing 225 in a T20 match.

Do you know when you’re having a bad day? When you can’t even get out. Everyone from the commentators to Sanju Samson at the other end was imploring Tewatia to hit out or get out. And to be fair, that’s what he was trying. Coming down the pitch and missing.

The Skip Intro function on Netflix enables you to bypass the intro and begin watching the show without wasting time. While the highlights will only show you Tewatia’s six blitzkrieg, they won’t show you the initial struggle. They will skip the intro and go the good part. But that misses the entire point of the innings. Without the initial torturous struggle, there is no story to tell.

There is something about not being able to take your eyes off someone having a bad day at the office. If you’ve ever had a work experience where nothing seemed to be going right for you and everyone around was feeding off your misery, you understood what Rahul Tewatia was going through. Netflix beckoned. “Just one more over” I told myself.

The Kings XI Punjab didn’t just do everything right, they went beyond that. They were like the student who is over-prepared for an exam. Mayank Agarwal had played a blinder to set up his team for what seemed like imminent victory. Nicholas Pooran’s incredible save at the boundary was rated as one of the best ever by Tendulkar on twitter. That one moment was enough for Punjab to win the match.

One of the trending movies on Netflix is the Social Dilemma. It’s about how social media companies work over time to keep you hooked onto their services. Rahul Tewatia did more or less the same thing. His struggle followed by redemption kept you hooked and on tenterhooks at the same time.

There are some moments you never forget. Yuvraj’s six sixes in the T20 World Cup against England in 2007. Carlos Brathwaite hitting three consecutive sixes against Ben Stokes in the 2016 T20 World Cup final. And now, Rahul Tewatia’s five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell in one over to erase the deficit. There were two things he did – overcome his fruitless start and bring distant victory within sight. In the final moments of the game, the impossible had been reduced to a canter.

The beauty about such a moment in sport is that everyone has their own interpretation of the innings. To some, it’s about not giving up. To others, it’s a classic never underestimate the small guy story.

The IPL is a breeding ground for one hit wonders. Kamran Khan was touted as the next big thing by none other than Shane Warne. After being reported for a suspect action, he returned to his village and went back to farming. Paul Valthathy played a blinder of an innings against Chennai in the 2011 edition of the IPL and then went AWOL. It remains to be seen if Rahul Tewatia can build on his scarcely believable innings. It’s also a near statistical impossibility for someone to pull off such a heist again. Even if he doesn’t do either, the innings will linger in our memories for sometime at least.

The skip intro function on Netflix enables you to bypass the intro and begin watching without wasting time. While the highlights will only show you Tewatia’s six blitzkrieg, they won’t show you the struggle. They will skip the intro and go the good part. But that misses the entire point of the innings. Without the initial torturous struggle, there is no drama, no story to relive.

At the end of a record chase, the score read:

Rahul Tewatia – 53

Netflix – 0.

MS Dhoni – The Keeper of Dreams

In 1993, after the Chicago Bulls won their third consecutive NBA title, Michael Jordan announced his retirement. It would be the first of his three retirements. After a couple of years playing baseball in the minor league for the Chicago Sox, Jordan decided to return to basketball. The documentary ‘The Last Dance’ on Netflix describes plans to announce his comeback. Drafts were written and re-written and Jordan wasn’t satisfied with any of them. Finally, he took him upon himself to tell the world about his return to basketball. He said it with two words:

“I’m Back”

Nearly 3 decades later, MS Dhoni announced his retirement using 16 words. “Thanks – Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 19:29 hrs consider me as Retired.”  More than two words but short nonetheless. Just the day before, images of Dhoni landing in Chennai for the IPL preparatory camp were everywhere. It was the first glimpse people of him in months.

There are few ways to retire:

a) Retiring when you’re on the top of you’re game

b) Fading away from memory

c) Being forced to retire

d) MS Dhoni’s way to retire

Dhoni has been out of the public eye since India’s heart-breaking semi-final loss to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup. In early 2020, he was dropped from the BCCI’s list of contracted players. But the man himself was silent. Everyone speculated that the IPL would be his launchpad for his return to international cricket. Then a pandemic brought the world to its knees.

MS Dhoni’s ascent to the stratosphere has been recounted countless times. A lad from Ranchi who moonlighted as a ticket collector and then went onto become one of the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket. In his 5th ODI, he smashed 148 against Sri Lanka. It can be said that in a single swoop, he cut short the wicket-keeping dreams of Dinesh Karthik, Deep Dasgupta and Parthiv Patel. His 183 against Pakistan a year later sealed the deal. Dhoni was the Adam Gilchrist like figure India had been looking for all along.

Then 2007 happened. India suffered an ignominious first round exit in the 50 over World Cup and mobs in the guise of fans took out their life’s frustrations on the players. Dhoni’s house in Ranchi, which was still under construction was attacked by mobs. A tired Rahul Dravid announced he was quitting captaincy and Dhoni was appointed captain for the limited overs formats. The BCCI, which didn’t even want to send a squad to the inaugural T20 World Cup, finally relented. Those two weeks in September would go on to redefine cricket as we know it. India won the first T20 World Cup and cricket changed forever. Dhoni was now the toast of the town. A few months back, he had to stay back in Delhi until they found a safe passage for him home. Now, he couldn’t go home because everyone wanted a piece of him.

In their book ‘The Power of Moments’, the Heath Brothers write about a phenomenon called ‘The Reminiscence Bump’. According to this theory, some of the most memorable moments in our lives happen during the ages of 15-30. This is only an estimation and doesn’t apply to everyone. The reason is simple – most of our firsts happen during this time period. Leaving home. First job. Falling in love. Getting married. Having children. “Novelty changes our perception of time” they say. It’s true. While everyone remembers him finishing off with a six to give India its first World Cup win, here are some Dhoni ‘reminiscence bumps’:

a) Dhoni smashing 148 against Pakistan and 183 against Sri Lanka

b) Dhoni handing the ball to an untried Joginder Sharma in the final over of the 2007 T20 World Cup

c) Dhoni leading India to victory against Australia in the CB series in 2008

d) Dhoni rushing to the stumps to run out Mustafizur Rahman in the 2016 T20 World Cup

e) Dhoni exalting after India won the 2013 Champions Trophy

f) Dhoni walking into bat for CSK and the crowd losing it

g) Dhoni stealing another single

i) Dhoni falling short of the finish line in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand

Just as our most memorable moments occur relatively early in life, Dhoni’s greatest highs came in the first six years of his captaincy. He led India to wins in T20 and 50 over World Cups in 2007 and 2011 respectively. India reached No.1 in the test rankings in 2009. In 2013, he led India to victory in the Champions Trophy. He was captain when India lost the T20 final to Sri Lanka in 2014 and the Champions Trophy finals to Pakistan in 2017. In 2015, India lost to Australia in the 50 over World Cup semi-finals after being unbeaten throughout the tournament. In 2016, they were hot favourites to win the T20 World Cup at home but lost to West Indies in the semi-finals.

For the longest time, one of the preconditions for greatness was being a test great. While Dhoni played 90 tests, it wasn’t his preferred format. It is a known fact that then BCCI head honcho N Srinivasan stepped in to stop him from being axed as captain after disastrous overseas tours against England and Australia in 2011-12. In many ways, 2011 was 2007 for Dhoni all over again. In 2007, an incredible low was followed by an exalting high. In 2011, an incredible high was followed by forgettable lows. While he didn’t let in on why he quit test cricket, the multiple overseas losses must have bogged him down.

It can be said that after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni is the most popular cricketer that India has produced. How else can someone from Ranchi find a second home in Chennai? And after Kapil Dev, he was the next person from small town India who gave an entire generation the license to dream.

So that’s how one of India’s greats pulls down the curtains. With an instagram post in the midst of a pandemic. This means he is in a bio-secure bubble somewhere, away from the media hounds and die-hard fans. Even a glittering ceremony, if it ever should be conducted, is some time away. So all we will have to live with are the memories.

In Michael Jordan’s eulogy to the late great Kobe Bryant, he said “when someone dies, a part of you dies.” Something similar happens when a sporting hero retires – a part of you goes with them. It’s an inexplicable feeling. In some strange way, your life and their deeds on the field are intertwined.

I keep thinking – why is it that when some players retire, it hits us hard? I think it’s because we trust them with our dreams. We hinge our happiness, peace of mind and a good night’s sleep on how they play on the field. It’s a huge responsibility and our dreams and wishes don’t always come to fruition. That’s life. But we wake up the next day and put our dreams in their hands again. That’s why we watched as long was Dhoni was at the crease. That’s why the rising run rate didn’t matter. As long as Dhoni was there, there was reason to keep dreaming.

Dhoni will go down in history as a great captain, fantastic finisher and astute keeper.

But more importantly, he was the keeper of dreams.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Thani Avartanam

Encores are hard, in sport, and in life.

How ever hard we try to manufacture happiness, seldom are two moments alike.

When you think of it, most of our lives are spent searching for perfect moments and then recreating them.

But what is an encore, really?

Is it repeating the same thing again?

The same shot, the same feeling, the same taste?

When the band walks away from the stage, you beg for an encore because no show is complete without an encore.

But can you repeat last quarter’s glory this year?

What about trying to recreate the feeling of a rookie who has nothing to lose, after climbing the corporate ladder has left you looking at a hollow version of yourself in the mirror?

Isn’t almost everything we do trying to recreate a happy memory?

We know this, but don’t want to believe it.

How do you do perform an encore in sport where no two days are alike?

An encore isn’t about consistency.

It’s about replicating a magical feeling to the t.

In the summer of 1998, Sachin Tendulkar played the near perfect encore.

He scored 143 to help India qualify for the final.

In the final, he scored 134. Even the scores were identical.

This was 1998. There was Sachin Tendulkar who walked on water, and the rest who struggled who struggled to find their feet.

In 1998, in another corner of the world, another God disguised as a basketball player led a team to a famous second three peat. Michael Jordan was the fulcrum around which the Chicago Bulls revolved. After that famous Bulls dynasty was eviscerated after the 1998 NBA finals, the Chicago Bulls haven’t won a single title. 6 titles in 8 years. 0 titles in 22.

Geniuses have too much of a burden to bear. They need to rise to their own unrelenting standards and carry their teams along with them. Many geniuses are mired in mediocrity, waging lonely battles that never end. Think Brian Lara and the West Indies.

But it’s tough, even for a genius, to do an encore on two different days.

Sachin Tendulkar coming down the pitch and hitting Shane Warne for six. Warne swatting off a fly and trying to come to his senses at the same time.

Everyone feels what Shane Warne is feeling – “did I just see that?”

You can’t see Tony Greig but you can imagine him standing up from his seat and trying to follow the ball. Did he fall off his seat like you?

“Whaddaplaya!”

“They’re dancing in aisles.”

Damn, we were all dancing in our living rooms.

Out of nowhere, an actual desert storm stopped play and India’s target was revised. But Tendulkar was going for the jugular. Seeking to merely qualify is for mere mortals.

In the first match of the Desert Storm limited series edition , a familiar tale played self out. Tendulkar perished and along with him, so did the chances of an improbable victory.

But there’s an encore. The finals against the same opposition.

April 24, 1998. Sachin Tendulkar turned 25 and he’s already a bonafide legend. And he’s about to play another innings that will forever define his career.

Australia set India a steep target of 273. Think of it in terms of money. If someone owned a house that was valued at 10 lakhs in 1998, how much will it be worth today? Now think of it in terms of runs. What is a score of 272 in 1998 worth today? 400?

At the start of the chase, Tendulkar almost played on. If that had happened, a lot of electricity would have been saved that night.

Michael Kasprowitz, Damien Fleming, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, all deer in the headlights, being taken to the cleaners.

There was one part where the similarities ended. India won the final. Sachin took the team closer to victory, leaving the finishing to Ajay Jadeja and Hrishikesh Kanitkar.

If you look at those two knocks, so much is the same.

The raucous crowd.

The garrish yellow worn by Australia.

Tony Greig’s commentary that still rings in our ears after all these years.

In a Carnatic music concert, there is a part where only the percussionists play and take centre stage. It’s called TANI AVARTANAM. Tani loosely translates to rhythm and Avartanam means repetition. The kanjira, mridangam and ghatam, all come together in near perfect unison. Sadly, in many concerts, the audience get up when this begins. As the Tani Avartanam comes to a close, the main performer jumps back into the fray and the concert nears its end.

Over those two nights Sharjah, in Carnatic music terms, Sachin Tendulkar played his version of a Tani Avartanam.

Rhythm + repetition.

And unlike in a Carnatic Music concert, no one dared leave their seats.

Hype is good but test cricket needs gasoline

In November 2013, Sachin Tendulkar played his final test match in front of his home crowd in the Wankhede. There were tributes galore and everyone wanted one of cricket’s biggest stars, a touchstone for an entire generation, to be given the farewell he deserved. A few questions were posed on how a player, even if he belonged to an elite club like Tendulkar, got the farewell he wanted. The BCCI truncated a tour to South Africa to accommodate a hastily arranged farewell series for the great man. The West Indies, a depleted force in test cricket for ages, ensured the competition was a no-contest. Winning in front of your home crowd in your last test match is what any player dreams of.

Sachin’s last series was all about him. The opposition was incidental, almost forgotten in the melee.

Six years later, the Eden Gardens is playing host to the first day and night test match to be played in India. Again, there is a lot of excitement about the match – but the opposition is not up to the mark. India steamrolled Bangladesh in the first test match and barring a miracle, no one expects a shock or surprise in the second match, even if it is the first day/night test being played by all the players.

Cricket is the only game that has constantly made itself shorter to stay relevant. From 5 days to 50 overs to 20 over and now, to T10, a format that is being experimented with.

The problem in test cricket is this – there are only three quality test cricket sides in international cricket – India, Australia and England. West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, all of them have inefficient boards that haven’t invested in test cricket. The shorter formats are more of an even playing field (remember West Indies are the reigning T20 champs). MS Dhoni retired from test cricket in 2014 to extend his limited overs career. Though no one knows what the future holds for him, the fact that he chose the shorter formats over test cricket says something about what some players really feel about the format.

The first day and night test match was played in Adelaide in 2015. It was a success, but it hasn’t moved beyond the novelty stage. The BCCI, the world’s most powerful cricketing body, has always been late to the party. Indian Standard Time applies here too. They kept T20 at bay until India won the first T20 World Cup and then dived headlong into the format with the IPL. They didn’t agree to the World Anti-Doping Authority testing players during off-season as they said it was an infringement on privacy, not understanding that out of competition testing is more important than testing during competition. Only recently did they cede to be a part of WADA. They rejected day/night tests because they felt the pink ball was hard to spot.

It was only after Sourav Ganguly took over as BCCI President that he pushed for the Day/Night test match.

The litmus test of a cricketer’s ability has always been test cricket. That’s what the greats of the game dreamed of – earning a test cap, winning a test match abroad, getting your name up on the Lord’s honour board. It is the format that lays threadbare a player’s ability. While its relevance, especially after the ascent of T20 cricket, has constantly been questioned, it is still around. There is no greater joy than watching batsmen navigate the first 15 overs on a fast pitch with the pacers steaming in and the slips in position.

Some see Day/Night tests as the last roll of the dice to preserve test cricket and get the crowds to come in and make it viable for sponsors. While it will not replace regular test cricket, tours might have one Day/Night test match in their itinerary.

For test cricket to flourish, boards must make it a priority. The recently concluded test series against South Africa was a no-contest and such tours only reveal the yawning gap between sides, all of which make for boring viewing. Weak and inefficient boards mean fewer quality test sides – something day/night cricket can’t solve.

The first Day/Night test match in Eden Gardens has a lot of razzmatazz to back it up. Former greats will be in attendance to discuss some of the most epic matches played there – Kolkata 2001 against the invincible Aussies.

In his brilliant daily blog, musician Gabe Anderson wrote this amazing post titled ‘Hype and Gasoline’:

Hype is really fun when you have the stuff.

Because when you have the stuff it isn’t hype, it’s gasoline.

So it’s important to remember: you’re in the business of fire not gasoline.

Keep building it.

What test cricket needs now is a little hype and a lot of gasoline.

Hero worship

We don’t worship our heroes as much as we do the images we have of them in our heads.

That’s why, for me, and for many others, it was easier to consider people like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath as our heroes. They were all far from perfect, but when you look up to anyone, the tendency is to turn a blind eye to the not so savoury stuff.

Virat Kohli is different. And back in the day, in his prime, so was Sourav Ganguly. Unlike many of their peers, they also polarize opinion. You might like or dislike Tendulkar, but calling him a polarizing figure is a bit of a stretch.

Virat Kohli polarized opinion from the moment he made his debut. He made things worse for himself and fell several notches down my list of the ‘invincibles’ when he jostled my hero Anil Kumble from his position as coach and turned it into a powergame that only he could win.

You wanted a Tendulkar, or a Dravid, or a Laxman to succeed and I’ve seen people celebrate when Kohli loses his wicket because they deem it as one way for him to come back to earth from the orbit he inhabits. Even my mother says “asshole, serves him right (just to be sure, her thoughts, my interpretation).

These days, data is the new buzzword, though I am quite sure most people have no clue what it means. They praise data to high heavens but don’t do anything of use with it (exit interview forms anyone?).

According to the data, Virat Kohli is a modern great. You can’t dispute fact. Sure, he is yet to lead his IPL side, the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a victory and yet to win a major tournament as captain. But he’s good. Really bloody good.

He has transformed from a pudgy party boy who always seemed a step away from going off into the deep end to a lean, mean machine who scores runs like an ATM that never runs out of money. When you look at a young Prithvi Shaw who is apparently sitting on the sidelines because fame got to his head too quickly, you can imagine how difficult it is for a player to put the game before madness.

I always had a wrong notion about heroes. That they had to be perfect in every which way, that they had to cede to the ten commandments in my head to earn my respect. I now realize how flawed that thinking was.

Tomorrow, I will still tell my children to model a Dravid or Laxman when it comes to balancing greatness with humility.

Is Virat Kohli my hero? I’m not sure. But it will be foolish of me not to acknowledge his greatness and incredible prowess.

I may not worship him but I respect him. He is one of the greatest players to ever grace the game of cricket.

More importantly, he taught me to distinguish between worship and respect.

You don’t worship your heroes, just the image you have of them in your head.

Happy Birthday, Virat Kohli.