Sir Garfield Sobers

 

Sir Garfield Sobers (1936-2026)

Cricket was not always as widespread a sport as it is today. For several decades, it was activity limited to very few countries; most of them British colonies. It was played only in England, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. It was played in the Carribean islands like Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Jamaica and several other small islands spread over the area. Though they are separate independent countries and participate as such under their respective flags in Olympics and similar other sports, they come together as a single team while taking part in cricket contests. They are collectively referred as a "West Indies" team, to distinguish from the India (East India) team. 

Cricket was played in countries like Sri Lanka, Rhodesia (Later became Zimbabwe), Afghanistan, Nepal, and many other countries, but they did not have test playing status until much later. Partition of India brought in Pakistan as one more cricket playing country. From the original seven Cricket playing countries now there are several test match playing countries. It has spread to other parts of the world also and now there is much money in Cricket. Today Cricket is 24x7x365 day sport. It was not so fifty years ago. There were specific seasons in which it was played in different parts of the world. Now it has even become a profession for many aspiring youngsters. Things were not like this until fifty years ago. 

South Africa was under "Apartheid Policy" and hence played most of its cricket against England and Australia.  Leading a West Indian team in those days was a far greater challenge than leading any other country's cricket team. It was in this background that one has to see the efforts and legacy of Sir Frank Worell, the great West Indian cricket captain. The legacy of Sir Frank was passed on to Sir Garfield Sobers, who passed away three days ago, on 17th July, 2026. 

For further details of Sir Frank Worell's personality and achievements, Please click here to read a blog post titled "Black and White" written six years ago. The life and times of Sir Garfield Sobers can be truly appreciated only when one understands the background in which Sir Gary Sobers became a cricketer. 

******

Born on 28th July, 1936 in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sobers's father was killed in a boat accident ("torpedoed" as he used to say) when he was only five years old. Sobers as a young boy was good at many sports. In fact, he was good at any sport or game he played. The moving ball captivated him and he was  good at Football, Basketball and Table Tennis. His quick reflexes made him a wonderful player against any moving ball. When he was stationed as a goalkeeper in football matches, it is said that not a single goal went in! He loved football and used to say "You play for 90 minutes. Even if you don't kick a ball, someone will kick you!". Yet, he chose cricket as he believed that by playing cricket "You can see the world, without paying for it".

As a 12 year old boy, he was already recognised as a good player in cricket. Sobers was more of a bowler in his younger days, though he batted very well too. His brother was considered a better batsman. His mentor Frank (not Frank Worell) made him sit on the bar of the bicycle and took him to practice sessions. Frank kept a one shilling coin on the pitch and told him: "You hit the coin and it is yours". The urge to get the shilling coin instilled accuracy and consistency in him as a bowler. Those were the days of uncovered pitches and no helmets. The big fast bowlers were more interested in knocking him down than getting him out. But his sharp eye and lightening reflexes often saved him. 

Sobers was included in a Police Band at that young age so that he could be included in the Police cricket team. Once he was hit on the face while playing cricket and had a swollen cheek. He did not go to police band practice for three days because he could not blow a trumpet. Police band captain had a daughter and she was troubled by some young boys in the neighbourhood. He suspected that Sobers was one of them and had been hit in some brawl among the boys!

*****

Sobers always wanted to be active on the field. Those were the days when fast bowlers bowled when the ball was new and were usually stationed at deep fine leg or deep third man on the boundary line, for the rest of the fielding time. What to do to be always in action? He started bowling spin as well and took more interest in close catching positions. As a bowler who could bowl five different varieties (speed, swing, varieties of spin and chinaman) captains often called him to bowl. Being in close catching positions always made him to be in the eye of the captain!

He was already a talking point in cricket circles of Barbados by the time he was 15 years old. He was selected to play first class cricket at the age of 16. Next year he was called to play for West Indies in test matches against England! Ace spinner Alf Valentine had reported sick and Sobers was picked as a bowler for the last test. He went to the test venue (Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica) two days before the test. As he entered the dressing room, there was Everton Weeks on the left side, Clyde Walcott on the right side, Frank Worell in front, and Jeff Stollmeyer on the other side. He himself summed up his reaction in an interview four decades later: "Oh, Boy! You have made it!"

Chosen as a bowler, he got a wicket in his first over, and took 4 wickets in first innings. Batting at No. 9, he made 14 not out and 26 in the two innings. West Indies lost the match, but his utility as an allrounder at the highest level was thus established. 

*****

When Australia toured West Indies in 1954-55, Sobers missed tests when senior players returned. As luck would have it, Star opener Jeff Stollmeyer twisted his ankle while fielding in a match before the fourth test and the team needed a opener for the test match. On the day of the match, Captain came to Sobers and told him to open the innings! Sobers had batted at No. 9 till then, but was now to open the innings against the feared fast bowler duo of Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall! 

Sobers walked into open the innings with JKC Holt after Australia had amassed 668 in the first innings. Incidentally Miller (137) and Lindwall (118) had both scored centuries in that innings! Their confidence was too high after such scores. Young Sobers went in and took guard from the umpire, marked it and looked up. There was only Keith Miller behind the umpire ready to bowl, but there were no fielders! Sobers wondered what happened to all the fielders and looked back. There were four slips and two gully on the off side. There were two leg slips and short leg on the leg side!

Sobers thought this indeed was some opening slot! He instantly decided; he would hit anything looking red. He made 43 and had 10 fours in that. That made him fearless. Australia won the match but Sobers, the batsman, had arrived. No one sledged him (not even the greatest sledging Australians) for the rest of his career. The opponents knew that he won't talk when sledged but will only make his bat talk. 

*****

Sobers was now a regular member of the test squad, but had not scored a century so far. Pakistan toured West Indies in 1958. Third test was played in Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica on February 26 - March 4, 1958. It was a 6-day test with a rest day in between. Pakistan made 328 in the first innings with a century by Imtiaz Ahamed (122). Conrad Hunte opened the innings with Rohan Kanhai. Kanhai was out for 25, when the score was 87. Sobers walked in one down. Sobers and Hunte added 446 runs for the second wicket, when Hunte was unfortunately run out for 260. Sobers added another 69 for third wicket with Everton Weeks (39). Score was 602-3, a lead of 274. Sobers thought declaration would come now.

Clyde Walcott walked in instead. As he crossed Sobers on the pitch, he told him: "Son, you need another 90 runs. Go on". Sobers well and truly went on. He got past the long standing individual record score of 364 in the name of Sir Len Hutton. As he finished his 365th run, spectators invaded the field and match was stopped. Sobers had added 188 runs for the unfinished 4th wicket with Walcott (88). West indies had to declare at that point. Otherwise, no one knows how long Sobers would have chugged on, especially since Walcott was also in sight of a century.

Match resumed after repairs to the pitch were carried on. Pakistan made 288 in the second innings with Wazir Ahamed making 106. West indies won by an innings and 174 runs. Sobers's first hundred in tests was a big 365. He went on to make another 25 centuries later on.

*****

As Sobers took over as captain of the West indies team, the firm of Conrad Hunte and Garfield Sobers marched on. There were also Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher and Seymour Nurse. They became a formidable batting machine. Clive Lloyd joined them later. Then there were others. With bowlers like Wesley Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs, they became a world beating team. 

At the end of Day one of the Manchester test in England in 1966, we as schoolboys remember the newspaper headline. "Hunte gets a century. Sobers in sight of it" it said. So it happened on the next day. 

Sobers came to Bangalore in 1966 as captain of the West Indies team. We as schoolboys were unable to see him in action as he did not play against South Zone team there. We were utterly disappointed. 

There was a test match at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay on December 13-18, 1966. Wankhade stadium was not yet constructed then. B S Chandrashekar had taken seven wickets in the first innings and all the four of second innings. Last day of the match was on 18th December, a Sunday. Clive Lloyd was playing his first test match. Sobers walked in when nightwatchman Gibbs got out as the fourth wicket. Score 4-90. Another 102 to win. 

As he crossed Lloyd on the pitch, Sobers told him: "It is Sunday and race day at Mahalaxmi. Hurry up!". He himself smashed a quick-fire 53 not out. Lloyd was 78 not out. West Indies won by six wickets. 

Mahalaxmi Race Course was a ten minute drive. Some eight miles away. Sobers was at the race course well in time for the first race. He played his game like he lived his life!

*****

Sobers played for South Australia in local cricket when Sir Don Bradman was administrator. Whenever South Australia was in trouble, Sobers was there to rescue the team. 

When English counties were allowed to hire overseas players, Sobers was approached by eight county teams. Nottinghamshire won him. It is said that they paid him one GBP for every run he made. A century would get him a bonus of 100 GBP. It was big money then. The joke was: One pound for every run, but 101 for the 100th run!"

His quick reflexes and standing totally still till the ball was delivered gave him ample time for playing any ball. He had two or three shots for each ball. Even a defensive push could become a scoring stroke by a mere twist of the wrist or angling of the bat at the last minute. He could go forward to a ball, change to back foot in the last second if it fell short, and yet hit it. His footwork was an absolute delight. Great fielders like Ross Edwards or Paul Sheahan, stationed 40 yards away at covers found the ball whiz past him when hit by Sobers, before they even bent to stop it. 

In 20 year period, he played 93 test matches and scored 8,032 runs with 26 centuries and 30 fifties. He averaged 57.78 runs per innings. Took 235 wickets as well along with 109 catches. 

He cannot be compared to the statistics of today, when cricket is played non-stop and many test playing countries. As he himself used to say: "the game has changed a lot". He even lost a test match with a sporting declaration, which cannot even be imagined today. He was a true ambassador of the sport and rightly knighted for his services to the game. 

He guided Brian Lara in the initial days when Lara had problem with outside off stump balls. Lara later on beat Sobers's record by scoring 400 not out. 

*****

The best innings ever played by Sir Garfield Sobers was his 254 against Australia at MCG for a World XI in 1972. Better not to talk about it and watch an analysis by none other Sir Don Bradman. Bradman said it was "probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia". 

Spare a few minutes and watch that innings here, (click on the link)  along with Sir Don Bradman's comments:

Sobers gave pleasure of watching cricket to generations of cricket lovers. He has left a rich and long legacy. He was indeed unique!

Black and White

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character", is a famous quote of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. A bright example to the spirit of this quote is found in the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy. 

The Frank Worrell Trophy (picture given above is taken from the internet) is awarded to the winner of the Cricket Test Series played between the Australian Cricket Team and West indies Cricket Team from the 1960-61 series onwards. The life story of Sir Frank Worrell (Knighted in the year 1964 for his services to Cricket) is worth remembering in these days when George Floyd Protests are raging all over the world.

The period was during the years 1960-61. Those were the days of "White Australia Policy", where blacks in Australia did not have the right of a full citizen. A 5-match Cricket Test series was played in Australia between the Australia team and the West Indies team. Members of the West Indian team were welcome as cricket players, but not as citizen. The two teams played under the leadership of Richie Benaud and Frank Worrell respectively. All the matches were played with record number of spectators thronging the stadia.  The series started with the great "Tied Test" at Brisbane, the first ever tied test between two cricket teams where both teams had equal number of runs at the end of two innings. This is as against a draw where the match is inconclusive and ends due to expiry of the time allotted for the game.  Australia won the second test at Melbourne but West Indies won the third test at Sydney. Fourth match at Adelaide was drawn leaving the final match at Melbourne to decide the series winner. The series could have gone either way till the finish in Melbourne. Last test was viewed by over 91,000 spectators in the Melbourne Cricket Ground with many disappointed viewers being unable to get entry into the stadium. The 5-Test series was ultimately won by Australia 2-1, with Australia winning the last match by two wickets.  

Sir Donald Bradman was the Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board of Control. He commissioned a former cricketer and jeweller by profession, Earnie McCormick to make a trophy to be awarded to the winner of the series between these two teams. The Ashes was already a well-known name for a trophy played between the England and Australia Cricket Test Series. The new trophy was to be on similar lines for series played between Australia and West Indies teams. The trophy was named after the captain of the losing team, considering the popularity of the visiting team and the great leadership qualities exhibited by Frank Worrell. That the trophy was named after the captain of a visiting cricket team of predominantly black players which lost the series is a testimony to the great values that Frank Worrell stood for. 

*****

It is a sheer coincidence that the lives of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Sir Frank Worrell run parallel to each other. Frank Worrell (01-08-1924) was born 5 years earlier to Dr Martin Luther King Jr (15-01-1929) and died (13-03-1967) one year before him (04-04-1968). Both lived a short life before events cut short their life. Worrell lived for 42 years before Leukaemia ended his life. Dr King lived for 39 years before his assassination. For a period of 38 years they lived in the same era (1929-1967) during their short lives, but remembered for their great contributions to the society. 

"We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now" is a famous saying of Dr King. Sir Frank Worrell practiced this all the way in his life, both on and off the cricket field. 

"A genuine leader is not a searcher for Consensus, but a moulder of Consensus" is another famous quote of Dr King. Sir Frank Worrell showed this in his efforts as a leader of men not just in Cricket, but in diverse fields of life as well.

*****

What is so great about Sir Frank Worrell that we have to remember him during the times of George Floyd protests? George Floyd Jr was an African American who was killed by a white police officer during an arrest in Minneapolis, USA, on 25th May, 2020. The killing was due to use of excessive force as shown by subsequent investigations. This has led to protests under BLM movement (Black Lives Matter) in several cities. The protests spread to several parts of the country and required Special Police forces to be deployed to bring calm to the surcharged atmosphere.

*****

What were the accomplishments of Frank Worrell? Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell was born in Bridgetown, Barbados on 1st August, 1924. He later moved to Kingston, Jamaica. He was a Right hand Batsman and Left Arm Bowler, bowling both seam and slow types. He played First Class Cricket for both Barbados and Jamaica. He scored 15,025 runs with an average of 54.24 and got 349 wickets in first Class matches. He was associated in two 500-run partnerships in first class cricket. He played 51 test matches for West Indies (1948-63) scoring 3,860 runs at an average of 49.48 and 69 test wickets. He scored 9 test centuries and 22 fifties. He also carried his bat through a test innings, opening the innings and remaining not out at the end of the innings. The games were played in the days of no helmets, uncovered pitches and no additional protections. The above statistics themselves is enough to show that he was a successful cricketer in an era when matches were not played throughout the year like present times. 

More than the quantity of his statistics, it was the way he played and inspired others to play that made him a great name to remember for ever. His great leadership qualities enabled him to become the first black captain of the West Indies team. All Cricket Teams represent a country unlike West indies which is not a country, but a combination of various island nations in the Carribean islands. Frank Worrell was able to combine players from different island countries into a formidable team to challenge the great teams of that time. Along with Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weeks, Sir Frank Worrell formed the great 3Ws group of players who earned highest respect from the opponents on the field and off it as well. The 3Ws memorial, picture given alongside, is a living testimony to their accomplishments.

The 1960-61 series between Australia and West Indies was played when test cricket was at its dullest periods and there were days when even the team totals did not reach 200 runs. The slow tiring games were driving the spectators away from cricket grounds. Both Worrell and Benaud encouraged aggressive cricket. Aggression was in the way they fought with skills and not the physical show of aggression we see in many today's players. The teams fought hard on cricket field, but there were no sledging or exaggerated celebrations as we see today. Celebration on the field were more when an opposing player achieved a milestone. The players were darlings of the crowds. There was never a moment of dissent on the field against umpires rulings. In one such instance, in the last and delicate moments of the deciding test at Melbourne, an Australian batsman (Wally Grout) was ruled not out when the bail had fallen to the ground and the batsmen were running between the wickets. A mere look from Frank Worrell made the teammates get on with the game without a murmur! 

The Trophy was not just named after the visiting defeated team's captain, but over half a million people came out on the streets to bid farewell to the West Indies team taken in an open car procession. As one player (Conrad Hunte) recalls, the ticker-tape parade was a response normally reserved for Presidents and Prime Ministers. There were people on the streets, roof tops and balconies, waving and greeting the visiting players. A reception was given at the Melbourne Town Hall to them attended by many dignitaries. Another player recalls that they had lipstick and kisses marks allover their body with shouts of thanks and appreciation of the players cricketing skills as well as their exemplary conduct.

Worrell had many qualities that made him acceptable to everyone around him. He was the first player to donate blood when Indian cricket team Captain Nari Contractor was injured (3rd February, 1962) while facing a bouncer from Charlie Griffith. He treated everyone equally but had a special talent for identifying young talents and nursing them. Cricket's greatest allrounder of all times, Sir Garfield Sobers (again knighted for his services to Cricket) was Worrell's find and mentee. Worrell was made a Senator of Jamaica after he retired from cricket. He became a warden of Irvine Hall at the University of West Indies. He was diagnosed with Leukaemia while on a tour to India in 1966-67 and died a month later after return to Jamaica at a young age of 42 years. He was laid to rest the University of Barbados. His grave is visited by several people every day and remains a place to inspire people to follow the values he stood for. He taught a generation of people to play the game hard and fair, and end with good humour. He stood for political, economical and cultural cohesion and lived with a genuine smile. Not a put on one. The legacy of Sir Frank was carried on by his successors like Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd.

Sir Frank Worrell had an Indian connection too. He was on a tour of India with the cricket team in 1966 (not as a player) when he was identified as suffering from Blood Cancer. He made many friends in India during that visit. That was the series in which B S Chandrashekar came into prominence by bowling 93 overs and taking 11 of the 14 West indies wickets that fell in the first test match at Bombay.  

There is a Hindi Movie by name "Around the World" (1967) starring Raj Kapoor and Rajshri. The song "Around the world in 8 dollars" from the film is famous. The sum 8 Dollars refers to the amount of Foreign Exchange allowed to Indian travellers in those days! The film is dedicated to Sir Frank Worell as can be seen in the beginning of titles. He can be seen in the film for a short while, when actor Om Prakash talks to him. 

*****

Luckily for the present generation, some of Worrell's actions can be seen on YouTube. A three part recording of the 1960-61 series is available on it. The third part (33 minutes) especially records the final test followed by the Trophy presentation by Frank Worrell to Richie Benaud in the presence of Don Bradman. There are scenes of the procession and farewell as well. Please click on this to see it. Click on this link to watch the cricketing greats of yesteryears Gary sobers, Neil Harvey, Colin McDonald, Alan Davidson, Bob Simpson, Rohan Kanhai, Wesley Hall, Alfred Valentine, Lance Gibbs, Gerry alexander, Cameroon Smith and Conrad Hunte recall the great qualities of Sir Frank Worrell.

The words of the captain of the opposing team, Richie Benaud, at the conclusion of the 1960-61 series, after receiving the Trophy and Worrell's cap, tie and blazer, sums up the whole episode: "He gave us his scalp (Cap), neck (Tie) and upper half of the body (Blazer). But he himself will remain in the hearts of cricket lovers in this country for many long day."

******

People like Sir Frank Worrell and Dr Martin Luther King Jr are indeed more relevant today, in the background of George Floyd protests.

To retire or not to RETIRE?

One of India’s finest opening batsmen, Vijay Merchant, announced his retirement from Test Cricket in Bombay.  When he arrived in Bangalore airport on the next day, press reporters asked him why he retired when he could have continued to play for some more time.  Vijay Merchant replied, “It is better to retire when you ask why? than Why Not?”.  Recently Ian Chappell advised older players to “jump before they are pushed”.  Some players were lucky to have announced their retirement, played well in their last match and faded into the background in all glory.  Some others announced their retirement and stuck to it despite failure in the last match.  Bradman’s dismissal for Zero in his last innings is one such example.  With an average of 99.96 he was not tempted to continue playing with the carrot of a century in averages dangling before him.  Who knows he might have achieved it if he had played a few more matches.  Or he could have even ended with a lower average with each passing match like a gambler in Las Vegas, after a bumper win, keeps losing until he realises it is very late.  He was fortunate to have lived in an era sans computers and statisticians churning out all nonsensical figures and thus deny enjoyment of the game itself.

Purists say that there are three vital components for a perfect shot; timing, power and placement.  In the course of an innings a batsman gets all the three together in his shots many times in some innings, sometimes in some other innings and sometimes he is gone even before he gets the three together even once. When he gets all the three together many times and quite often, we say he is in good form and he gets a big score and it is his day.  When he gets them together sometimes, well, he gets along.  Many times two of them desert him and he may stay on the pitch due to sheer grit or due to dame luck smiling on him repeatedly.   There are days when he gets an exceptionally good ball early in the innings or a fielder takes a blinding catch and the best of his life.  Or his dear colleague at the other end runs him out or the pitch plays a dirty trick!  Sometimes even the crooked finger of the Umpire may go up wrongly.  With age catching up, reflexes slow down and sighting the ball becomes difficult and the tiring legs do not allow the luxury of a quick single to get to the other end and relax.  Judgement is another important dimension; whether to hit a ball or leave it, whether to make an attacking stroke or to defend, front foot or back foot, all along the ground or lofted shot.  On his day everything falls into place; timing, power, placement and judgement as well.  On some days everything goes awry and the mightiest of players looks very ordinary; sometimes even pathetic.  Getting out on such days will be a boon then and not a curse.

As in the course of an innings, announcement of retirement also involves three components, timing, place for the last match and judgement.  Power is not required here but some may cling on to the power they wield to postpone the retirement.  Timing and judgement may appear the same but it is not so.  Judgement is to decide when to retire and timing is for the announcement part.  Few players have the luxury of actually retiring. The best example is of Dr Roy parks of Australia.  His test career lasted all of one ball.  He took guard while his wife watched in the stands.  She dropped her knitting ball and bent down to pick it up. Before she lifted her head he was out, first ball and never played test cricket thereafter! (Click here to read the blog about him titled  "Was he a failure?")   There are many other players who are one or two match wonders.  Wonders because we wonder why they were selected at all in the first place or we are left wondering why such fine players repeatedly failed at the highest level.  There are many players who are retired even before they settled down.  There are other unfortunate ones who spent many years waiting for recall and when they finally announced their retirement eyebrows were raised as to why at all they are announcing their retirement.

The burning issue of retirement of three of our finest cricketers is to be examined in this background.  Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are under relentless attack during the past two weeks.  Sachin Tendulkar is not under such severe attack as he is being attacked on another front, the one of not scoring his hundredth century.  Statisticians are not prepared to accept his insuring the house for 100 crore rupees as the 100^th century.  Wasim Akram has today gone to the extent of saying that these players have disgraced the sub-continent!  There appears to be no statement made by him in the past stating that these players are the pride of the sub-continent.  How have they disgraced the sub-continent then?  Did they involve themselves in match fixing or spot fixing?  Did they show dissent when they were given out? Did they break furniture or TV in the dressing room?  Were they involved in a drunken brawl in a night club?  Or did they sledge their opponents?  Tendulkar and Dravid have been the most gentlemanly figures the game has ever seen.  Their work ethics and behaviour on and off the field are exemplary lessons to budding cricketers.  Can batting failures in three matches be an ample justification for such sweeping remarks?  This only shows that active players should retire because they can say anything and get away after retirement as they are accountable to none!

Did they really fail and deserve to be condemned?  Tendulkar is playing sublime cricket and even in this series his shot making is breath taking. Agreed, he is short of his own high standards but he still better than others.  Rahul Dravid was the best batsman last year, which is only three weeks ago.  The selectors even found it fit to recall him to play one day cricket to his own utter surprise. It did provide him an opportunity to retire from limited overs cricket. And against which standards their failure is measured? Batsmen all over the world are failing to score runs in the last six months.  South Africa had its own failures.  Australia lost in South Africa and even at home against New Zealand.  England which is number one team miserably lost to Pakistan yesterday.  Ricky Ponting and Michael hussy were under attack till last week.  Runs are at a premium nowadays and it is the season of the bowlers.

These players would have retired by now had the younger players measured up to their standards and pressed their claims strongly.  The selectors found them fit to play.  It is not the players fault.  Retirement is the players’ choice and not selecting them is the selector’s privilege. Let the prophets of doom wait for a few days. They may get the answers even before they raise the questions.

The lessons of retirement in Cricket or Sports is also applicable to life.  Some unfortunate ones are dead before they are born and some live for only a few days or months.  Some declare premature retirement by resorting to suicide. Some await retirement after due preparation and some others try to postpone it though they are destined to fail..  Many more believe in the judgement of the selector or creator, leave it to him and wait for his call! 

Change the rules, silly!

Indian Cricket Team Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a Socrates like philosopher yesterday.  The same media which hailed him as an ice-cool leader till recently has now started finding an extreme "Inertia" in his leadership.  His strategy or lack of it in the present series between India and Australia has been attacked left, right and center.  And yet the unperturbed Dhoni gave a wonderful solution to arrest the free fall of the Indian team. "Getting a parachute will help (laughs). By parachute, I mean good performance in all the three departments - batting, bowling and fielding. It's something we need to address as quickly as possible. In recent times while playing abroad, we have found it a bit difficult to bowl the opposition out and also failed to consistently put runs on the board", he said.  I remember my mother's proverb; a housewife once said: "If only I had Til I would have made chigali, but I do not have Gud".  Chigali is a sweet made using only two ingredients, Til and Gud.  She did not have either, just like runs on the board and opposition's wickets, the only two things required to win a cricket match, which Dhoni does not have too.

Dhoni cannot be criticised for not giving answer to the point.  In fact, he should be credited for being very practical.  He has suggested a Parachute, not a light air (Hydrogen or Helium) balloon which can lift the team.  He is himself probably convinced that such a balloon may not be useful in the present circumstances!  Fall cannot be averted; what best can be done is to make the fall slow and secure.  As the famous advertisement said:  "Zor ka dhakka, Dheere se lage!", he believes fall may not be averted.  He has said something about batting, bowling and fielding only; he has not said anything about the fourth dimension - on field behavior.  What about Kohli and company?  It is well known that Australian players, fans there and their media believe in getting under their opponents skin.  They prick you and instigate you; their players themselves stay just within the limits of penal action.  For Australians it is a fourth generation perfected art, after all.   Remember Douglas Jardine, former England capain and himself the inventor of "Bodyline" bowling attack to control Don Bradman, once played and missed a ball.  An Australian fielder in the slips sledged him by saying "Oh, you lucky bastard!".  At the end of the day Jardine went to the Australian dressing room to complain about the sledging.  Vic Richardson, vice-captain then, heard him and went inside the dressing room with him and asked his team members nonchalantly, "Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?".  Vic Richardson was the grandfather (mother's father) of the Chappell brothers and that art has been perfected over the generations now.  Also remember that Greg Chappell, the captain asked his younger brother and player Trevor Chappell to bowl underarm delivery to deny runs to a batsman and win a match.  Greg was a coach and got away but Kohli, the player,  crudely imitated Greg Chappell and got fined.   Should not our boys and veterans be taught the same art and if necessary by hiring past masters of the same Australian sledging team by paying some million dollars?   Or by making the Australian IPL players give compulsory lessons to Indian players in controlled sledging as part of their contract to play in IPL?

This is the same media which was baying for the heads of Ponting and Hussy ten days ago.  They failed for long and would have faded into history but for our injured bowling attack.  No, no, I am not referring to injured bowlers, but the injured attack itself.  Ravichandran Ashwin with single digit test matches behind him became the spokesman of the team on strategies and strengths even before his first lesson, that the best of the bowlers have to sometimes concede over hundred runs without a single wicket in a long test matches, was learnt.  Media had lessons for Ponting to learn from Dravid and Tendulkar and Hussey to draw inspiration from them ten days ago.  Two defeats and now Tendulkar and Dravid have to learn from the same Ponting and Hussey?

These are the perils of taking a game too far.  And of converting a game to a trade and business.  Four or five decades ago we watched the cat and mouse game called test cricket and 200 runs a day was never complained of.  Today ten dot balls cannot be tolerated.  We traveled  300 miles by overnight train in an unreserved compartment just to see how G R Viswanath moved into the line of the ball and let it go past him to the wicketkeeper in the last fraction of the second, let alone see his square drive hitting the boundary ropes even before the bowler and fielders realised what was happening.  He had no helmet or arm guard and yet was never hit by Lillee, Thomson, Roberts or Holder.   I mean Vanburn Holder, who was one of the finest old ball fast bowlers and not Michael Holding who came a year or two later. An attacking stroke was as much appreciated as a defensive stroke when Bill Lawry squeezed the ball to submission and jammed it between the ground and the bat, never letting it travel for more than a yard or two.  Or Ian Chappel and Doug Walters dancing on the pitch to Prasanna and Bedi's flighted deliveries.  It was a game played by  amateur gentlemen (barring some who were not gentle) and watched by amateur spectators and reported by amateur media, and of course, no television.

Two decades ago all members of our family were meeting in a common place to celebrate festivals and functions.  Lunch had to be served in at least two batches.  Many members of the family would say they would like to sit in the second batch.   Many spots in the first batch would lie vacant and filling them was a real task and members had to be coaxed to complete the line.  I would jocularly suggest starting service with the second batch straightaway.  Someone recently wrote that Indians should start overseas series with the second test match to avoid losing the first test match, reminding me of starting serving food with second batch.  All of us can come forward with some suggestions to improve the performance of our team in Australia, before it goes further down under.  Here are some of them.

• Opposition team batting should be restricted to 50 overs whereas our team bats just like in a test match.
• As we have "Creaking terminators", as Rahul Dravid said in his famous Bradman Oration, in our ranks and running between the wickets is not as free as in the case of youngsters, they should be credited with one run if the ball passes close in fielder and two runs if it goes beyond 30 yard circle.  For the opposition there should be no change in the rules.
• For all Indian players above thirty five years old (hereinafter called senior most players), fifty runs should be considered as a century, twenty five as fifty and scores below twenty five should be doubled.
• If the senior most players get their fingers or palm to the ball while fielding, it should be treated as a clean catch even if they drop the ball.
• Seniormost players will be declared out only when they are out third time in an innings.
• DRS will be accepted only when the decision is in favour of Indian team.  

This is only the beginning.  I know many more suggestions, some even better than these, will come up shortly.  Let the BCCI use all its powers, money and muscle, to implement them. Because it does not believe in the laws of nature that old will make way for new and that it is better to lose with younger players than continue with players whose reflexes have long back deserted them.

Even with these words, it is still a game and I would not be surprised if the veterans click together for one last time and win one or two matches.  But the danger is that the selection committee will continue to hope for the same miracle, forever thereafter.