India & its Cricket: Mirror Image

India & its Cricket: Mirror Image

Much ink has been spilled by many a note-worthies writing on various aspects of this game of cricket, which has long been a passion in India. Keeping with the philosophy of “what others can, I can too - and what others can do better – I can better them too!”… Here I am, trying to bring another perspective to it by correlating the way Indian Cricket progressed over decades to the general/political situation in the country then! This is frankly my father’s thought which I am trying to elaborate upon with my apologetically “limited” views and conclusions along the way.

During Independence – 1930s to 40s

As Indian freedom fighters (the Non-violent group) concentrated on “Round table conferences” with British PM and his delegates around 1930s, and as majority of the country was seething with anger at hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Raj Guru in 1932 particularly – the first Indian Cricket team embarked on a historic trip to UK, to play their first Cricket series with an international team. It was to be a series with only one test match with English team and that too of only 3 days (against the norm of 6 days prevalent then). They played some 25+ First class matches on the tour though! This test was given official status later-on and is hence officially India’s first official Test Match.

But what a match it turned out to be! Filled with anger and retribution – the Indian fast bowlers wreaked havoc in the famed English batting line-up. The English team was bowled out for a paltry total of 259 on the first day itself! Infact, at one time English scoreboard read 19 for 3 – thanks to some skillful bowling by Indian fast bowlers! India’s fast bowling pack was ably led by Mohammad Nasir and L Amar Singh! Nasir, in first innings of the first test match of India, took 5 wickets… etching his name in the history books as the first Indian bowler to do so! He was fast… really fast and was infact compared to the fearsome Harold Larwood by many English & international players playing cricket then. Phew. That is serious talent. Must be some feeling to make English players duck and jump and then see their stumps shattered! It does not matter that we did not win the test match eventually – no body in the right mind expected that!

In all this, we should also not forget the indomitable captain of Indian team on that tour (and many more after that) – CK Nayudu! He was strong and well-built. He was one of the fittest players of all times – who infact went on to play first class matches (Ranaji Trophies) till the age of 62 yrs.! Beat that! He was aggressive and loved to play attacking cricket. Infact he once hit a six at Edgbaston (England) which landed way outside the ground in River Rhea (in another county “Rhea”). Since then he was known as a man who could hit balls from One County to other!!! He is also famously credited to have suggested to Douglus Jardine the line of bowling that he thought would make run-making extremely difficult and would eventually aid in getting wickets. This seed of thought was later converted into action by Jardine (the English Captain) and which went on to become his famous (infamous?) “Body-Line” tactics – used against Australians! Nayudu by the way was also awarded Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1933 itself! Such was his overall impact!

Anyways, coming back to the first test-match… To the credit of our bowlers – we did almost bowl out England in both innings. We eventually lost due to our batting not being up-to-the mark ofcourse. England won by just 150 odd runs. If not for 50+ scores by their Captain Douglas Jardine in both the innings – the result could have been very different! For a nation taking baby steps into the world of cricket this was a tremendous effort against the country which was the originator of the game itself many years before!!!

Forgive my digression here… ofcourse the intention is not to talk about that test in detail here. However, it was important to understand the psyche/ make-up of the players then to correlate with situation in the country prevailing in those times. Here was a country, which was in shock after shameful hanging of the great sons of motherland. They wanted revenge and were baying for blood of British rulers. That anger reflected in the way our players played that test match. They infact scored runs at a better rate than English team in that match. If ever there was a team that could be called aggressive – this cricket team would come close on top.

After Independence – 1950s

Things changed in the later part of our independence struggle where we increasingly adapted non-violent ways to protest against British rule. Mahatma Gandhi took center-stage in those times. That obviously had a profound impact on the thought process of people in this country. We were calmer and started to learn to curb any instinct to visibly show our anger and replace it with the virtue of tolerance/patience. Well, how could cricket be behind? In came the era of “slower” bowlers. The seeds of famous spin-era of Indian cricket started being sown. What started with Vinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed then continued for few decades to come with many stalwarts donning the role of front line spinners in the team. We will come to the breed a little later.

Note that, even in batting – we started producing batsmen who were more technically correct and would love grinding runs than going aggressively after bowling. We produced batsmen like Vinoo Mankad (who was also an opener along with being a great spinner), Pankaj Roy, Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare and so on. Infact, Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy in 1956 scored 413 runs against New-Zealand which was a record then and remained unbroken for another 52 years, when it was finally broken by Graeme Smith & Neil McKenzie of South Africa in 2008! Anyways, the point being that the period of consolidation post-independence on political front, had its reflection on type of cricket we played and the cricketers we produced.

Coming back to bowlers, quiet assassins (non-violent?) cricketers like Subhash Gupte (a spinner, who took 9 wickets in an innings once), Chandu Borde, Salim Durrani, Bapu Nadkarni etc laid the building blocks of the “spin-fort” for us. This was a “breed” that believed in patiently working on bowling out the opponent batsmen. And who did we have as fast bowling option? None… just no one! Infact, I believe, till the advent of Indian cricketers of that era, bowlers would either be called a “Fast Bowler” or a “Spinner” or perhaps a few of them would be called “Fast-Medium” bowlers. But perhaps it was for Indian “fast bowlers” that “Medium-Fast” tag was originally coined. And this often ignored band was led in intervening decades by Polly Umrigar, Dattu Phadkar, Rusi Surti and can you believe it - Ajit Wadekar too! There were a few others who came and went… doing the job of somehow getting the ball “old-enough” for our spinners to take over for the remaining innings/match. Ofcourse, we were treated to some brilliance in between like Ramakand Desai. “Tiny” as he was lovingly called by people who knew him (given 5’4” height with a stout body), this man could bowl deceptively fast and picked quite a few wickets upfront – a rarity in Indian cricket in those times! He for some time was the hope of fast bowling in India who I am sure inspired future generation of Indian cricket aspirants to pick-up fast bowling. Tiny though he was – he was nevertheless heroic. Here was a man who in 1967 (while India was touring New-Zealand) came into bat when scoreboard read 300/8 was bombarded with barrage of bouncers from NZ bowlers Motz and Taylor, from both ends. Remember, batsmen in those times did not have helmets to protect them till then. Anyways, one of the bouncers hit this little man and broke his jaw. His face swell like a pumpkin… yet he continued playing and scored vital 32 runs to gain a lead in the first innings for India. Thanks to that mammoth effort, India finally went on to win the match! People on the ground would remember this tiny man forever - who was knocked out, had blood, had swollen face and was visibly in huge pain… and yet he did not retire-hurt or go away. He continued to face the bouncers and help score those vital 57 runs with No 10 & 11 players in 52 min, came back and bowled a few overs and left smiling at the end. Desai never played for India again.

Defining Phase – 1960s & 70s

But for such small and pleasant digressions – there were not many fast bowlers in the Indian scene. That was not about to change for some more time to come. However, in the meanwhile India was in my view in a very critical phase of its journey as a nation. We had aspirations to be considered global power based on our size and population and unique form of democratic governance. We had also faced 2 massively unnecessary wars (against China and Pakistan) in a span of few years and within the same decade. Our way of thinking, domestic and foreign policies and such defining initiatives were governed by the lessons learnt during war. Leaders then took certain critical decisions which we could execute without much help from others and set into motion various plans to help make the world see what India was capable of and realize that we belonged to the top nations of the world. Steps like critically increasing number of armed forces/personnel, DRDO was provided with unlimited funds to ensure we became self-reliant on defense systems, they initiated nuclear armament program, brought in experts from willing partner countries to build Industries etc.

On the cricketing front too India “discovered” Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi! He came and changed the entire mindset of Indians playing cricket then. He was perhaps the first aggressive captain we got for a long-long time. He asked Indians to feel proud of the fact that we had some of the world’s best spinners rather than feeling bad about not having any notable fast bowler. This was an important change in the mindset of Indian cricketers. India went on to perhaps become the first country to play 3 – sometimes 4 genuine spinners in the team. These “Spin-hunters” would hunt in pairs and get their prey by meticulously planning their downfall! And you know what – we started “drawing” and importantly winning more matches. In home series, Indian curators were asked by Pataudi to prepare spinning tracks to help Indian bowlers as Australians and English curators did to help their bowlers in their home series. He wanted to win – and he was willing to use/exploit every rule in the book to achieve that. That’s aggressive leadership for me. This approach of Pataudi was an eye opener for Indians. Play fair but use every inch of space in the battleground to lay your plot.

Pataudi became captain in 1962 (while India lost to China in that forgettable war, leaving Indians hurt and angry) and just like whole of India, started defining a new form of playing cricket as Indians got used to living a new way of life. He would always tell his team that nothing but total commitment on the field and playing to win would be acceptable. Without surprise then, India won its first overseas Test under him (in New-Zealand – the same match where Ramakant Desai played that valiant innings) and went on to win 9 out of 40 Test matches he captained – a great record by any standards in those times of Indian Cricket. He was also the one responsible for bringing in the biggest weapons India had had till then - The “Spin-quartet” of Bishen Singh Bedi, EAS Prasanna, BS Chandrashekhar & S Venkatraghvan! Along with Salim Durrani, Pataudi brought the aggression slowly back into Indian cricket – where they were not afraid to loft the ball over the fielders (something of a norm today) or gesturing at opposition players, mocking them on their inability to handle spin and with 5-6 catchers around the bat – letting the batsmen know that their dismissal is all planned and it was only a matter of time! By gosh – India was changing (reflected also in the way India crushed Pakistan in 1965 war). Indian Cricket was following suit!

Whereas, India kept producing reasonably good cricketers in the coming years, there came a man – again short in height, stoutly built, who wanted to be a fast bowler like Desai – but ended up becoming one of the finest batsmen India ever produced. Sunil Gavaskar, was a good reflection of a cricketer who represented changing India – a far more intelligent India, which again had won a fiercely fought war with Pakistan in 1971 and which went Nuclear by 1974! This guy – marginally taller than Desai would bat with Buddha’s calm – but would remain steadfastly resolute while facing upto cricket’s fearsome fast bowlers of West Indies, Australia and England! He would stare back at bowlers; talk back to the opposition in the same tone as they did, would smile when bowlers bowled bouncers – to virtually kill him – since he was difficult to get out! He too played as if he would rather prefer to die on the pitch than give his wicket away. G VIshwanath, Hanumant Singh and even Mohinder Amarnath to some extent were representative of this breed of batsmen. This was very akin to the way Indians in general were in those times. India with its win over Pakistan (in war), was all gung-ho about its military strength. With testing of indigenous built nuclear bomb, it thought of itself as one of the leaders of the global community – which it indeed was given that only 5 countries before that had such capabilities. India always considered itself as a world power frankly and was doing everything in its power militarily, strategically (in UN) and on the scientific front (building industries/arms/weapons and N-Bombs) to keep building on the thought.

However, India was yet to produce a genuine fast bowler. That again was about to change, when another great son of India would serve it and fulfill the yearning need, of not only the team – but of the entire nation. Kapil Dev was by far the fastest bowler India had seen till then. A well-built Haryanvi, with thick moustaches – he quickly brought a lot of joy to Indians who were craving for a bowler who could bowl at the heads of opposition players as they would to ours. Kapil represented the revolutionary youth of the country which had just survived a rule of “Emergency” and who were again a very livid lot. This is the same time when Amitabh had started ruling the roost – and in cinema represented the anger felt by many in real life! It is with same love and passion that people welcomed Kapil into their lives. For them here was a man who showed no mercy, was always ready to fight and would only play to win. Something everyone in those times wanted to be like… especially the youth.

Kapil inspired a host of next-gen fast bowlers and dashing cricketers, like Navjot Siddhu, Kris Srikanth, Sandeep Patil, Ravi Shastri and bowlers like Balwinder Sandhu, Manoj Prabhakar, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad etc. India since then has always had one or the other fast bowler who could exploit the initial moisture on the pitch, swing the ball in England like conditions, hit-the-deck and bowl fast on bouncy tracks etc. This fast bowling lot gave Indian cricket the much needed boost for Indians to start winning more overseas matches. Infact Kapil Dev’s entry marked a tectonic shift in the equations of test playing nations. Indian Cricket has never really looked back ever since.

The Transition – 1980s

1982 Asian Games (“Asiad”) and 1983 Prudential World Cup was a big game changer in sporting history of this nation. It was the much needed energy booster this country so desperately needed. We finally felt we could win international sporting competitions and events. 1980s though, on the political front, were a turbulent period in the history of this country… a typical transitional phase. From the time of Gavaskar scoring 36 runs in 60 overs (facing 174 balls) in 1975 World cup match, we were transitioning to an era of run a ball (or even less) kind of display by people like Kapil Dev. Kapil, in 1983 world-cup match against Zimbabwe, scored those famous 175 runs in unimaginable 138 balls (unimaginable i.e. in those times). The country was moving towards more vocal and physical approach in general in India. What with a Prime Minister getting killed for her act of allowing battle-tanks in “Golden Temple”, people demanding more de-controls on economy to compete in the world… Defense scams, Ram Mandir issues, Mandal/ Kamandal issues leading to violent demonstrations! All these were signs that Indians were not ready to take things lying down. They wanted change and they were ready to be the change if need be.

This was reflected in our sports too… especially so in cricket. Players of 80s and early 90s like Sandeep Patil, Kris Srikanth, Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar, Navjot Singh Siddhu were the transition guys for Indian cricket. They would not sulk under pressure and believed in counter-attacks and abashedly so. Even Gavaskar, legendarily in 1987 world-cup, played that blinder of an innings against New Zealand – where he outscored Srikanth for perhaps the first time! In doing so, he scored his only ODI (One-Day International) century that too “uncharacteristically” – in 85 balls! Coming from Gavaskar – that was way too phenomenal! But such were the times. Siddhu is again a case study of the changing times. In 1983 he played 2 tests for India – and was quickly dropped after being called a “Strokeless-Wonder” (Rajan Bala, who was one of the most celebrated writers on cricket, gave him this name after Siddhu’s debut series). Siddhu resolved to remove that stigma and for years to come he gained in physical strength and mastered the art of hitting sixes (shots played to help the ball clear the boundary rope while in air)! And the result, he got selected again in the team for Reliance World Cup in 1987. His performances in that epic tournament (50+ scores in 4 out of 5 matches India played) made Rajan Bala headline his article in Indian Express as “Sidhu: From Strokeless Wonder To A Palm-Grove Hitter”! That for me is an ultimate transition!

Millennium – Before and after

Yet, there was something missing. It’s like you look at Lord Ram in contemporary times and think – hmmm… there is something missing here… if only he was a little more astute (cunning?), if only he did not believe so deeply in value systems etc. And then you think of Lord Krishna and it’s an “Aaha” moment! He is complete in all sense. He has all those aspects in his character that you would want a man to perhaps have today. Similarly, there was a feeling that something was not right. There was too much of chaos, India was in turmoil in later half of 1980s and we had also lost the Cricket World cup (1987). People felt we were not in the right direction, not changing with times. They needed hope on all fronts, a hope which will take India to next level of growth. Sure enough, from cricketing perspective the Krishna of Cricket was waiting and grooming himself in the backyards and streets of Mumbai. Political field was not so lucky – but a bunch of revolutionary/great thinkers and policy makers came together to make the India that it is today. And mind you, the change started in late 1980s when Prime Minister VP Singh heralded some key initiatives into his Government policies that were to change the face of the nation for ever (implementing Mandal commission recommendations on reservations to SC/ST and Backward Classes for example). He was clearly challenging the existing social framework. In cricket too, a boy who was challenging the current establishment (established cricketers) and who at the age of 16 years was hitting bowlers like Kapil Dev out of the ground in Ranaji Matches. He was none other than the most adorable son of India – Sachin Tendulkar… the Boy, the God and the phenomenon!

Sachin changed the equations in the Indian dressing room. So much so, that this awestruck, button-eyed boy quickly became the cynosure of all eyes in India – and a painful thorn in the ones of opposition teams. Much like Sachin in his first test (where he got hit by a Pakistan’s Waqar Younus bouncing delivery, but continued to play with blood on his shirt), India too was bleeding with most of the youth on streets protesting against the reservations. Sachin though quickly became the backbone of Indian cricket team and took India to next level of growth. He started scoring centuries after centuries and battering every other bowler (especially the ones who would be foolish enough to publically incite or challenge him). As a result, India started winning their matches more regularly.

Something similar was happening to India too – with Congress Government bringing in fresh wave of revolutionary economic policies, in the process liberalizing the foreign investment path to India. Old & stale, state-controlled economy establishment were slowly being dismantled… layer by layer. India quickly though set itself loose on path of growth to stumble & correct itself… fall and stand back again. With social fabric re-aligned and economy now set on a winning track – India never looked back. It was a true progressive model – one that retained its old charm of cautious roots of the past albeit also opening its arms to welcome the world descending on the Indian Market! No wonder we were likened to and Elephant – who is cautious while taking every step forward – but when it does, it sure leaves a deep imprint and never looks back! On cricketing front too, new crop of Indian cricketers emerged – many of them came – showed aggression and intent – but perhaps lacked the talent to succeed at international level. But in the process, Indian team got a settled look eventually where a Sachin, Ganguly, Sehwag, Jadeja, Prabhakar, Kumble etc would be the aggressors whereas Md Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sanjay Manjarekar, Srinath, Arshad Ayub, Venkatesh Prasad etc would be the more old-fashioned characters who would bring tranquility to the proceedings.

Over time, as India took its economy and military strength from mid to high level growth in late 1990s & early 2000s – Indian cricket saw emergence of players like Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Md Kaif, Zaheer Khan, who were far fitter, were willing to take risks and in a lot of occasions converted impossible situations into a winning one! This was indeed the “nuke” generation of India. Along with Sachin, Ganguly, Anil Kumble they wanted to just blast the opposition away every single time! However, to represent the serenity of then PMs Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh, there were people like Dravid and Laxman, who served the game selflessly and with dedication & humility, staying away from controversies – yet providing that important reassurance every time team needed.

In Present times…

After almost one and a half decades of economic growth – the needs of the nation were changing. Mere economic belligerence did not make them feel happy. They wanted to “rule” the world and be heard. The Mittals, Tatas, Airtels, United Spirits of the country did just that. They went on a shopping spree and started acquiring international companies’ big time – and reputed ones at that. In cricket, this era of ruling the world came to be represented by none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team. Here was a man who started playing cricket late and who, once he got selected, quickly closed the doors of Indian team for any other wicket-keeper batsmen in the country! If there ever was a player and a captain who completely represented the people and fulfilled their thirst & hunger to be at the top of the world – it is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He came, he saw, he truly conquered – and thankfully for many in India – he is still playing! He has won every known cup/competition that is being played in world-cricket. He is talented, he is laborious, he has attitude and yet he remains calm in adversity – always looking for ways to win. He even smiles when others find it difficult to come out of a lost match. He smiles because he has the confidence of winning for India every other time.

This team under Dhoni has the eternal hunger it would seem to win matches. They are aggressive, are far more clever sportsmen than their previous generations… they know they are the gifted ones & they just do not fear losing! The country continues to step into new territories and win them over invariably. Ofcourse internationally, India’s image was dented by some catastrophic corruption scandals and scams and so was our cricket team in the same period when they got washed out in couple of big series (England and Australia)! But India soon regained its ground on the economic front with wave of new policies and so did the Indian Team – which went on to win the World Cup and recently win missing Champion’s trophy!

Summarizing...

India continues to show healthy growth rate when major developed countries have had negative or a flat rate! Similarly, while quality of cricket in some other nations seems to be reducing, India with its mammoth production machinery of cricketers is producing gems after gems. What more can one say about the synergy? It has been an interesting journey of evolution of the country and so it has been for cricket here. Today we are one of the top countries in terms of economic growth, investments, infrastructure development, educated/skilled people, armed forces, nuclear capabilities, etc. Indian Cricket team too is the top team in ODI and in top 3 in Test Matches!

As I bow every single time to every small achievement of the country – I stand and applause, jump with joy, party and silently thank every player of my cricket team – every time they win crucial matches and international tournaments. Both have truly given me my identity and immense sense of belief and confidence to face up to the world.

Its Montoo..

10th Jun 2013’ to 4th Jul 2013’

Ps: As stated at the start this article itself was originally written by my Dad. I have only added a few more details and made it “as usual” longer (from his 2 pages to my 5+). But I hope I have been able to keep the essence of his thought intact and that he will forgive me if I exceeded my brief!