Opinion The men and the waterboys
What lay behind the crowd jeering Yuvraj Singh...
-
Share -
-
-
As much as perfecting the 1-2-3 of batting backlift,defence and drive when young,coaches in Indias mushrooming cricket academies insist you learn how to record scores in the traditional scorebook,and also try and inculcate the habit of serving drinks. That helps to keep your feet on the ground,they say,and not look down upon anyone. Point taken.
So theres nothing offensive about being a waterboy. Its an act of courtesy towards your teammates,people who are bearing the brunt of the sweltering heat and humidity and,quite unlike it used to be,serving water around the ground in leather costrels or kupis in old-world Sri Lanka,what Yuvraj carried in was a cute flashy orange tray with custom-made drinks in every possible colour.
Clearly,Yuvraj understood that the jeering spectators had gone beyond the literal meaning of their chants and responded by raising that unnecessary finger. What lay behind it? Flaunting your brashness can be irritating,but being brash and not performing is seen as intolerable. Would V.V.S. Laxman or Anil Kumble have got jeered had they carried in drinks? Most certainly not.
Laxman had failed to convert promising starts in the series until he played one of his characteristically very special innings to help India retain their top-ranked status over the weekend. Rahul Dravid,unfortunately,couldnt make this series his own a rarity,that but both remain dignified as ever. During one of the tours off days,the two of them decided,impromptu,they needed a throwdown session,and even as others were lazing around in hotel rooms or shopping for clothes,they had bowling coach Eric Simmons and a few local bowlers have a go at them in the nets. When you are above 35,the margin for error gets minimal; but,for their work ethic and public conduct,the fans show them a great deal of patience.
Such patience with colourful,big-mouthed characters is often short-lived,and closely related to their statistics on the field. At a time when Team India was talking about supreme fitness,Yuvraj walked in with a brace on the knee and a potbelly. When Team India was mourning its early exit from the World T20,Yuvraj was scuffling in a pub. He was walking the ramp when he was supposed to be running laps. When the world was talking about his poor form,he feigned ignorance and tweeted about Octopus baba and Andy Roddick.
Clearly,Yuvraj had been dropped for a leaner,sharper and in-form Suresh Raina,and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni,realising it would kickstart discussions and packaged drama on TV news channels,kept the decision quiet all the way till the toss as a favour to his one-time deputy. Yuvraj has often spoken about his fancy for Test cricket,recently even admitting he was partly responsible for his interrupted career in flannels,but has never walked the talk.
Brashness will boomerang. There are several examples,and none better than Ravi Shastri,who in his heyday was as much of a poster boy. Shastri was often booed by the crowd,so much so that he became almost synonymous with a slow run-rate they jeered him even when he wasnt in the squad of 14! Shastri could never understand why,and later he even joked about it,by asking if the crowd remembered him. Sreesanth is another example; difficult even within his team,and with a state association that moved a resolution to take action against him unheard of otherwise.
Crickets had its colourful,brash characters,but theyve always linked it to their pulse on the field. Viv Richards,Ian Botham,Dennis Lillee,Aravinda De Silva are still remembered for their achievements as players,as theyve always ensured.
Shoaib Akhtar couldnt; and he joined the notorious gang.
Humility is the new codeword for success,if it wasnt a keyword before. And Yuvraj could do worse than learning that first,even before he gets on a treadmill. Remember,nice guys neednt finish last anymore.
gs.vivek@expressindia.com
-
Share
-
-
-
Share
