THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF INDIAN CRICKET

I am not referring here to the 70s or 80s. Rather, what I mean here by 'THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF INDIAN CRICKET" are those days when I, as a kid, used to be glued to our UPTRON television set just to see how Azruddin (if I get it right, that's how Ian Chappel used to pronounce Azhar then) maneuvered his wrists to play his trademark FLICK shot. I am referring to Indian cricket when Azhar was reinstated as the captain in the early 1998. 

These were the days when the team used to be heavily dependent on Sachin. After he used to get out, an inexplicable sense of sadness and despair used to engulf every cricket loving fan in the country. This was more so true if India were chasing a big target (anything beyond 250 used to be considered a big target those days). Captain Azhar would make his way to the ground next and would strive to cement a partnership with the likes of Ganguly and Dravid. The deft touches he used to master along with Ganguly flourishing through the offside and Dravid endeavouring to play the perfect cover drive were beyond doubt a treat to watch.

These were also the days when Sachin used to go hammer and tong at Shane Warne (just how Chris Gayle does to every other bowler nowadays). His knocks in Sharjah shall always remain intact in our minds. Remember Henry Olonga who became a star overnight by getting Sachin out early in one of the innings. Well, as always, Sachin gave it back to him.We had a decent fast bowler in the form of Javagal Srinath who always used to run hard in order to be able to extract some purchase from the wicket. He was largely successful barring few occasions like the one in the World Cup Final 2003 when Ricky Ponting blasted him around for sixes (I must say we all felt sad at the way he was milked  !!!)

We also had a medium pacer in Venkatesh Prasad who, at times, used to rip apart even the highly attacking batsmen (remember how he showed Aamir Sohail the way to the pavilion !!). These were also the days when Nayan Mongia used to do apt justice to Anil Kumble by holding on to difficult chances which Kumble's unorthodox spin bowling used to exude.We were lucky enough to have a young fast bowler who goes by the name Ajit Agarkar. The way he went about achieving the feat of fastest 50 wickets in ODI cricket led to germination of big hopes in the minds of the Indian fans (Alas, his brilliance was short-lived !!!. He is still playing though- played for Delhi Daredevils in few of the matches this year in IPL and also managed to take few wickets). The team was privileged enough to have modern days's Michael Hussey in the avatar of Robin Singh. There must be countless incidents when he single-handedly stood between India losing and the opponents winning. There was something beyond comprehension about Robin Singh which made him highly popular with the masses. Then there were the likes of Jadeja who often used to do what Yuvraj Singh does today to bowlers- exterminate their spells! I cannot but mention Hrishikesh Kanitkar who will always remain alive in our hearts for that boundary he hit off the bowling of Saqlain Mushtaq. 

Watching cricket used to be a different exercise back then from another angle also. There were just two known Indian English commentators- the ineffable Ravi Shastri and the ever so critical Sunil Gavaskar. Tony Greig, Ian Chappel Geoffrey Goycott, Tony Cozier, Ian Botham etc. were the celebrated names in Cricket Commentary then. It was a pleasure listening to their use of words and their vivid analysis of the cricket being played on the ground. Perhaps, there would never be another Tony Greig.

India undoubtedly were bad at chasing totals then. With the openers gone and the middle-order batsmen not able to rotate the strikes and consequently the run-rate ticking over, the pressure and the tension gripping the fans also used to see a proportional rise. I still remember how my father used to irritate me by saying "....they need 7 runs an over..they are definitely losing...come on, sleep now...you have school tomorrow...there is no point watching this match any more.....". I used to relentlessly argue with him that anything can happen in cricket and a late strike by Robin Singh or Jadeja could turn things around in India's favour. Although I very well knew that the occurrence of such an event was quite unlikely, I kept praying that somehow India ended up winning. 

Perhaps, there was a greater attachment then between the game and its followers. The next day at school used to be earmarked for our analysis.We- namely Bishakh, RajKumar, Sataroop, Arindam, Partha, me, Sayan, Amit Bihari, Samitabh, Jogen, Sangam, Mridu, Manas, Ruka used to discuss and analyse every minute detail of the match.

I miss the good old days of Indian cricket- the days when the thin line between sport and entertainment stayed firmly erect !!!!!!