Wristy Values--Nostalgia revisited

Nostalgia has many names, styles, meaning, time and values. For me Nostalgic feelings most of the time, started and ended with a Cricket Match. Again, these feelings have been same and centred around something which was like hearing music in Flute, Violin and Veena all at the same time. This again was something which not many of the batsmen whom I saw playing over the period of 40 odd years, were capable of. It was a style which every batsman wanted to emulate but fell short either losing the "strings" or the "ragas". For me it was all bliss. Even remembering those moments gives me "goose pimples" and the "soul" simply refreshes once more. I call these "Wristy Values". Men of Wrists which were not made of steel but of pure Rubber which can be moulded into any type of melody as dictated by the time. Most of the times  the melody was related to "Crisis" and just like anyone would vouch, when in crisis, just listen to a music and you will simply forget the crisis ever happened. I am writing about none other than the three wizards of Indian and World Cricket, Gentlemen in their own right, Greats among the Greatest (and I don't really bother what anyone else says or feels) and True Musicians. G R Vishwanth, Mohammed Azharuddin and V V S Laxman. For me they were the true pillars of Indian Cricket, real Match Winners. I'll share some moments of the nostalgia and believe me most of you readers would get back those memories and start appreciating these men of Music (and Honour) once more. All of them from South India, unassuming and Simple down to earth men. Azhar probably changed according to the world. But still remained a nostalgia all through his reign in the crease. The most common attribute for them was that all the three of Musicians started their music in their First test effectively on Debut. Vishy with 137 at Kanpur after a duck in the first innings, Azhar, a Century on Debut at Calcutta and 2 more to follow and finally a Very Very Special debut at Ahmedabad against South Africa but with a Fifty. A resurgent VVS, later came back to the team in Sydney in the year 2000 with a superb 167. This innings seemed more like a Century on Debut as the resurgence happened after a crisis in the middle for him. Since then, VVS was a pillar till the time he retired 12 years later.

G R V, Gundappa, Vishy, Vicchu (for most of the true South Indian cricket buffs), "The Little Big Man", "Best batsman India has ever produced". The last two titles were given by none other than "Wisden" and a not too small a person by name "Sunny". My first match ever was seen on ALL INDIA RADIO, that 1974 match at Eden Gardens, Calcutta. The 139 on a wicket which was true and with Andy Roberts and Bernard Julian going all out along with Lance Gibbs, one of the greatest ever Off-Spinners to grace the pitches and the only batsman to stand up against these "Demons" of another world. That's what we all felt. Hearing Suresh Saraiaya was simply esctatic. It was as if I was watching the match. Hearing the ball-by-ball was simply superb. "Here is Andy Roberts running in from the pavilion end, 3 slips, a gully, point, cover, Mid-off and third man (that's eight on the off), bowls to Vishwanath and that's another four. A superb square cut between Gully and 3rd slip to the boundary, no chance for the point fielder Keith Boyce to stop it" Just short of good length, bowling at a pace of about 96 Miles per hour with 8 fielders on the Off side and still being hit on the off side for a boundary. We used to feel the shots being played. There were times when a bowler like Gibbs was almost sure that he had got his man with all the fielders around the bat lifting their hands in anticipation, only to see Andy Roberts at the thirdman boundary picking up the ball outside the boundary line since the cut was so late that no one even understood what hit the ball. And to top it all, the musician without batting an eyelid, would go to the place where the ball had pitched and start tapping and getting ready all over for the next ball. I had read about  Tony Greig, a 6 ft 7 inch tall man just lifting Gundappa off the ground to congratulate him on his 2nd century of 113 in Bombay against the English. Then came the "Real" match I have ever seen again on "All India Radio" Pongal time January 11th to 15th 1975 at Chepauk Madras. Balu Alagannan, one of the slowest ever commentator I have heard. Simply put it was Balu's ball-by-ball which was nothing but Melody. "Andy Roberts bowling to Gundappa Vishwanath, and it's a boundary". Vishy was simply superb that day, 97 not out out of a total of 190 and with last man Chandrasekhar. I remember my cousin taking "arathi" with camphor lighted on a plate and doing the rounds to the Bush Radio, the mantra..Vichhu please take 3 runs, I love you man, please do it for my sake. etc., etc., It was a sight to behold for a 8 year old and that's where I started liking the "Music" played by the real genius of Indian Cricket. I had the opportunity to even bowl to him in a Cricket Match for the senior division league in KSCA. I was just going crazy just imagining running into bowl to my only Idol. I will never ever forget you GRV..you had made my life during those formative years. I just can't imagine Vishy thumping the fists in the air, throwing a few expletives which the modern day Virat Kohlis and others do before even removing their hats. His centuries used to be match winners always. He had scored 14 centuries and India never lost a match. I used to cherish his 50s even more. His 97 not out at Chepauk, 95 at Wankhede's first ever test, 114 at Melbourne, 113 at Lords, 112 at Port of Spain, 222 at Chepauk, 179 at Kanpur, 163 at Bangalore, 112 at Faisalabad and many more. I had seen it all, on All-India Radio and BBC world service. Never once did he do anything more than give a hand to the non-striker and go back to his crease. He had scored a century against every Cricket playing nation then. For him, he was just doing a duty he had set out to do. It was like God had made him to Bat. I will rate him above Sachin in all respects. I don't really care what others say. The first demi-god and Man of Real Wrists had real Values and these were "just keeping it Simple".

Mohammed Azharuddin

The most mistaken person of Indian Cricket is Azza. Centuries on the trot in the first 3 tests he played. Scored a century every time he played in India's most difficult ground to play in Eden Gardens, both in terms of the expectation of a lakh odd crowd as well as in terms of a difficult wicket to play. Wrists like a rotator ready to strike the ball from the off to the leg in a flash. The best captain India had in terms of number of wins in Indian grounds. 21 Centuries in tests, every single one of them a gem of an innings. 199 against Sri Lanka, 163 against Australia, 163 against South Africa, the first three centuries against England and many more. But the one I always cherished was the 105 which he made against South Africa at Kolkatta and another 105 against the same opponent at Cape Town. The first one came of 74 balls and it was one of the greatest innings I had the privilege to see and his partnership with Anil Kumble who scored 88 during the course of that innings. Anil Kumble in his post innings interview, summarised the whole innings in a single sentence, "Azhar was just blazing while I was just watching". The other 105 made the "God" look a pedestrian at the non-striker's end despite he also scoring 169 odd runs during the course of a great rear-guard attack on the South Africans. It is said that even till today there has not been any greater innings or partnership on SA soil. The fastest ODI centurion was "Azza" with a 62 ball 100 till Virender Sehwag recently crossed his record. Some of the most scintillating innings were played by Azhar. He also was one of the safest catchers in the slips or one of the best fielders the world has seen. Just like his predecessor in this column "GRV" he was one of the best slip fielders the world had seen. He was truly the first captain who made winning by India in India (atleast) a habit and the world beaters had to bite the dust whenever they played against India since the time he took over captaincy. Anil Kumble truly blossomed under his never interfering leadership. While Venkatesh Prasad and Srinath may have truly cemented their place under his astute leadership, Rahul Dravid got the due support a youngster needed under him. I am not really sure if all these Cricketers (barring Anil Kumble) would come out in the open and support this statement, but truly their careers took off under his tutelage to say the least. Unfortunately, Azza was in the news for only the wrong reasons personal or the match fixing allegations and ban thereof seemed that there was quite a bit of targeting the man. Time only will tell the truth. But to me "Azza" was another great Indian Cricketer, period.

Very Very Special Laxman

Instead of what the name suggests, he was actually a Very Very Simple individual who seemed to "talk cricket, walk cricket, think cricket and sleep cricket" and during this also he would have probably done only one thing which he knows best Bat with real solid Wrists. He sort of replaced his other hyderabadi colleague, the predecessor in this column Azza. In the initial years, we felt that he copied Azza's style and copy he did with elan. Simply superb. The real Crisis man after Vishwanath. He could turn around a match upside down just by his wristy displays. Whether it was Kolkatta, Adelaide, Sydney (debut) or Durban. 281, 148, 167 or 96 every Innings was a "Gem". It was like "Ruby", "Diamond", "Pearl" and "Topaz" all high quality innings, 3 of them match winning ones and one great innings on debut. It is ironically true that each of these greats scored a Century on Debut. Vishy in Kanpur, Azza in Kolkatta and Lacchu in Sydney. All against top class bowling and under difficult circumstances personally as well as for the Country. One of the most under-rated batsman was VVS. Probably  it was because he was playing alongside his more flamboyant greats in Sachin and Sourav while Dravid's discipline got the better of a slightly laid back Laxman. Yes all the three were sort of Laid back. It was mentioned in those days that "GRV" had taken a peg too large as large as a barrel before the Chepauk test and he scored 97 not out against the fastest bowling display the world had ever seen and those were days when there was no bowling speedo meter to gauge the speed. Laxman may not really be able to match the mug for mug, but he was simply equal to wristy shot to wristy shot when compared with either GRV or Azza and he truly donned the mantle from these two greats in a manner that it was very difficult to shed a tear when he recently announced his retirement. Again each of these greats were very good fielders and Azza was one of the best fielders. Too many commonalities amongst these greats. It was as if God had prepared them for Wristy batsmanship and to entertain. Azhar followed Vishy's exit in 1984 while VVS came when Azhar's time was getting cut short. They were prepared with utmost care by God to provide "Just entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!!!"

MY SALUTATIONS TO THESE WRISTY VALUES. SIMPLE, UNASSUMING MEN OF REAL HONOUR. THEY PLAYED ONLY TO ENTERTAIN AND DURING THE COURSE OF THEIR ENTERTAINMENT, INDIAN CRICKET GAINED AND ONLY GAINED.