On the Write Line

As South Africa’s players celebrated and posed for the shutterbugs after their victory against England, one man definitely was missing from this revelry. The man who, without any recrimination, can be penciled in as the architect of this win. The man whom Indian cricket owes a lot to, too. Gary Kirsten, India’s erstwhile coach and the current coach of Team South Africa.  Kirsten played a pivotal role in India’s World Cup triumph last year. Since his departure, things haven’t really gone well for India. Not that we are pointing fingers here or hinting at names.  One usually gets a false impression of the man; unassuming and almost detached, as he stood proudly watching the celebrations at Lords. But beneath lies a shrewd and clever student of the game. Someone who has the knack of uplifting the game of even seasoned players, let alone fledglings.  Case in point, Jacques Kallis.  One of the finest all-rounders of the game, Kallis was show...

At the end of the First Test between England and South Africa, it was quite evident, English cricket was showing signs of injuries- more mental than physical. Tiredness and fatigue had the better of a team that had reduced Australia to 96-6 in an ODI, just a few days ago.  England’s problem in those sunnier times was not taking wickets but which of the fast bowlers to leave out. Since then, the team has gone from an embarrassment of riches to bankrupt in confidence- in just few weeks.  Post-mortem throws up obvious reasons- poor selection, lack of tactics, under-performance, over confidence and so on. But there’s a fundamental problem that seems to plague modern day teams. It’s called ‘Too much cricket’. Many a great players have been vulnerable to it.  Today, players travel way too much. The most by any in the history of the game. Thanks to the gruelling international schedule, peppered with IPL and other T20 tournaments that keep popping ...

As the First Test unfolded between England and South Africa, one got a feeling; the hosts were in for a long leather chase. Thanks to Amla and Kallis; their display of batsmanship was in its purest form. While we take nothing away from Kallis, it was his partner in crime, Hashim Amla, who stole the show. This brings us to the most elementary question of all: If form is fleeting and class permanent; what then is greatness? Greatness, as one would imagine, is akin to class. It is the ability to rise above the pack. To make an extraordinary task seem pedestrian. It can be more instructively rationalised as the capacity to bend and shape events by will, to dictate history rather than be dictated to by it. In this case, it was Hashim Amla, who defied the hosts in their own den. Watching him cut, pull and drive  en route  311 was like watching unadulterated batting. He went about his business like a thorough professional. Public emotion is not his thing. ...