At its simplest level, sport is about possibilities. We fans dream up spectrums of possibilities. We align ourselves based on these spectrums, pledge our allegiances and set ourselves up for emotional and sometimes even physical reactions based on how things actually turn out. Most times our dreamt up possibilities are restricted by our citizenship - in itself a simple piece of paper, if you think about it. It is perhaps then all for the good that there still exist a few in the realm of sport who make you forget about these restrictions and think only about the sporting possibilities. It takes no special skill to surmise that I am talking about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and the possibilities that only he brings to the sport that he adores and so beautifies and typifies - cricket.
I lay the blame squarely on Sachin Tendulkar - for making it so hard to write yet another article on his prowess and achievements and landmarks, which show no signs of fading away. Superlatives pale. Praise falls flat and comparisons do not seem to fit, if only because we are finding it harder to find appropriate standards of comparison as time goes on. Cricket's prolific writing community has driven itself against the wall praising his two decades in the game. It has worked itself into a fury trying to explain to the layman about his passion for the game; his unsurpassed mastery of the art of batting. It has tired of continuously extolling his virtues on and off the field as a champion and a true sportsman. So much so that when you want to write about Tendulkar or his exploits it pays to take some time to think deeply to try and not repeat either yourself or the numerous others who have tried their hand at the same exercise over the years. I have a confession to make. Nothing seemed to suggest itself as exemplary enough. As momentous and unique enough to grace yet another occasion, yet another peerless achievement by the maestro. For a while I was stymied when trying to write about his latest achievement - that of scoring a double century in an ODI contest. Yet another time when he carried his bat through and batted for his team's entire quota of 50 overs.
I have heard it said that emotions tend to illuminate even the darkest paths where the light of reason fizzles out and leaves you alone. This is a case in point. If following sport is in essence a vicarious pursuit into which you throw not yourself but your faiths on individual players and/or teams, then nobody qualifies to be a Vicar quite as much as Tendulkar. The magnitude of emotions, enjoyment and realization he has been able to convey and amplify to millions and maybe even billions of people over the years across borders of nationhood, religion, economic means, caste, creed and colour ensures that it is so.
It is not difficult to describe the drives, the cuts, the pulls and the cutest of nudges that he essayed today en route to the first ever double century in One Day Internationals. But it would merely be superfluous. His supporters may very well be in the right if they argue that this was always on the cards. A splendorous 175 earlier this year had already tantalized his fans. Informed and tempted them about this possibility. And when a summit beckons, Sachin cannot be far behind. He finds a way to the top. And so it was today. 200 not out off just 147 deliveries against the 3rd ranked side in the world. A successful man cannot have people simply singing praises about him. Ask his detractors. They would point out that the Roop Singh Stadium at Gwalior had short square boundaries, lightning fast outfields and an absolute marble-top of a wicket. And they would be absolutely right. But here is something they might consider. Give a top class artist a canvas. Give him a room and give him a vista. See what he comes up with. For the art produced thereof we credit the artist himself; not the canvas for its whiteness and blankness. Not the room for the comfort it offered. Not even the vista for its having conveniently presented itself. They are all incidental. Art is transcendental. So too is Tendulkar's batting.
Much has been made of his drive for runs. Of the man's sheer hunger for putting bat to ball and staying on there at the crease much to the bowlers' bemusement. Forget the fact that he is largely peerless and matchless. He also appears tireless with the bat in hand when you observe his speed and skill when sprinting up and down the wicket putting pressure on the fielders at 36 years of age. Countless have been the questions posed to him about his desire to play the game and of the day when he wants to hang up his boots. Perhaps they have been posed in an attempt to find out just how long the game will be graced by his presence. The game's own need of his genius does not however go far when trying to explain his superhuman dedication to the craft of batting and of the sheer determination that has powered him to make several sacrifices in order to be there for his team. In typical Sherlock Holmes' fashion, if we eliminate the possibilities one by one it only leaves one last item. That Sachin Tendulkar needs the game just like we mortals need our oxygen, our daily fix of sports and the fount of vicarious joy it promises. That his bat is not an extension of his body as has been often said. Perhaps quite the opposite - that he is an extension of his bat. That his body arranges itself conveniently so that the bat may strike the ball at the most opportune time with optimum speed. All the better for our vicarious enjoyment. That he gives of himself every time through his bat so that we may once again experience the heady breathlessness that sports brings into our lives. So that over the years we all have a bit of Sachin Tendulkar in us. And that he suggests, in the true spirit of Vicar-ship, the existence of sublimation and transcendentalism in sport, also leaving us with the comfort that even after he ceases to perform his superhuman deeds on the cricket pitch he will live on in our minds - fuelling our dreams and defining our spectrums of possibilities.
Two moments probably told us all that this Test match was going to be far more exciting than your average limited overs contest. Or even the average Test match. In the 3rd over after tea, Harbhajan raised his hands towards the heaven before bowling the last ball of the over which again was bluntly and solidly smothered down by Hashim Amla. He was asking for divine intervention to help budge Amla from the crease. A couple of overs later, a half push off Ishant gently rolled down and disturbed the stumps at the bowlers' end. The bail lifted and fell back smartly into place, atop the stumps! Today was going to be special. We all knew it. And it was. India won at Eden. But South Africa did not lose. In Hashim Amla they won. Amla won the most hearts at Eden - India's premier ground for cricket - with his impeccable defense and almost preternatural concentration skills. At times one felt that he had gotten into the skin of the bowler and worked out exactly what variations are going to come up and when in each over. He never once looked like getting out. Which is precisely why India chose the smart route. They picked up everybody else leaving him stranded. Who said sport is fair?
The 22 yards
Now this is going to be tricky. If India had not managed to win this match, this is probably what would have been the assessment of the Eden track. Too much grass was left on the surface which meant that the wicket was solidly bound together. Perhaps too solidly. What we saw today was not a 5th day wicket. There was practically no wear. No rough areas. Not much spin. And it was not as if there was too much swing throughout the match - conventional or reverse swing. What this match did have was a spate of centuries - 7 to be exact.
Luckily for India the match ended in a result - despite Amla. But the result was by no means predestined. In fact I would go so far as to say that this was not a result wicket and hence not a good Test match wicket. There, I have said it.
But then India has won. So all this does not matter to most people.
The Game
As Ravi Shastri repeated more than once during his post match ceremony the match was squandered by South Africa in the first day's play - when Harbhajan made his triple strike. That combined with Zaheer Khan's canny post Tea spell put paid to South Africa's hopes of raising a huge first innings total and put it beyond India to win the game.
That apart we saw two blood and guts innings from Amla. He alone among the South African batsmen came to terms with the Indian bowlers, their nuances and their limitations. But that alone is not enough for a batsman to survive for over 20 hours in the course of a Test match. We can safely say that when Rahul Dravid hangs up his boots, the game will not be bereft of a 'over my dead body' type of batsman. Entrenched batsmanship lives on - thanks to Hashim Amla.
Graeme Smith's poor game (poor series as a matter of fact) had as much of an influence as Duminy's and Prince's 'all at sea' efforts in both the Test matches. However the South African bowlers - including the unheralded Paul Harris can hold their heads high and look forward to high marks for their unflagging efforts throughout.
Coming to the victors of the game, it is said that great teams win from difficult and near impossible situations. Things were close to being that desperate today. But when the chips were down, the No.1 ranked team pulled together and held its nerves better. Much will no doubt be made of India's achievement of winning the game with just 3 specialist bowlers - as they were without Zaheer Khan. A theoretical question though raises its head - did India necessarily need the extra batsman? Or would it have made more sense to include 5 bowlers? More on that later. Harbhajan and Ishant carried the day for India. Harbhajan's lion hearted performance was almost singularly responsible for this victory. In fact one is convinced that it was his frequent switching the line from over to around the wicket and back which planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of Morne Morkel who had been essaying a rock solid defense till then. Ishant did the hard yards and generally did the clean up work without any complaint. His bowling is ideally suited to be used as a stock bowler and that is what he was today. Ishant also deserves special mention for achieving the almost impossible feat today. He beat Hashim Amla's bat - once!
Amit Mishra's was a strange performance. It is not so much that he is not ready or fit to play at this level as his mental rigidity in continuing to bowl on or outside the off stump to right handed batsmen. In fact it probably helped Mishra on the 4th day that he was bowling to Smith first up and his line had to be outside off stump for the left hander. He got it spot on in that case. And then he got Kallis - the key wicket - with an almost perfectly pitched leg break. The key is to make batsmen play - leg spin or off spin. Or even spin or pace. A leg spinner bowling outside off stump will not take wickets unless they are given away by batsmen. At this level that is not such a frequent occurrence. And no matter how many times he beats the bat, he is unlikely to be very successful pursuing this line of attack. In fact with such a line, his most likely wicket taking opportunity would be with the googly. Just as he did in the case of De Villiers. It is almost as if he is a mentally scarred bowler - afraid to attack the leg stump. That will not do in the long run. I am sure Dhoni and the team management can coax the best out of this talented leg spinner.
Dhoni led his team adroitly, innovatively and in an unorthodox fashion. This statement is true for the post Tea session on the 5th day alone. He did all that he needed to do and some more when he needed to be most alert. However one felt that he did not have his hands on the pulse of the game earlier. More on that follows.
For now, the Indian team Test team will retire, tired but victorious and in great spirits. They have not only routed South Africa by an innings at Eden but also managed to remain the World's No.1 ranked Test team at the end of the series.
Emotions
There is an unwritten rule when you write about Indian cricket. Dont criticize the team, its captain and the selectors when a match is won. Criticism is reserved for those occasions where the team loses the match. And preferably when it loses badly. Not following this rule is an immediate ground for experiencing general derision, disbelief and at the minimum a quizzical look at your person as if to say 'You still have all your marbles?' If you want to break this rule you are either a brave soul or a proven fool. Because you can rest assured that you will not have company. You will scarcely find an 'expert' worth his salt wanting to dig up the negatives when India wins. The public does not want to hear about it. There are actually two ways of looking at this. This could be a good journalistic idea because it gives you a unique track to follow up on, theoretically. But see, in India, theory can only get you so far. Practically this is nothing but disaster and you are hardly going to get anybody to agree. Or this could be the inconvenient truth.
Now if only sport and journalism were about agreeing mutually...
In summary India drew a home series with South Africa. It was a pity that this was just a 2 Test series, not allowing each team to mark a clear margin of victory as is possible with a 3 or 5 Test series. The manner in which India drew the series as well as India's strategies throughout this 2 Test series leaves much to be desired.
The No.1 team in the world makes the play. It pushes the other team to match up to it. To do that it needs attacking team strategies. Stocking up on the batting even when you have talent and experience in the form of Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman was a strange decision. Especially when you consider that this left the arguably weaker portion of India's game - the bowling - even more weaker. Now, consider that the Indian bowling attack - especially the spin combo of Harbhajan and Mishra - did not have a great time of it against Bangladesh, should India not have added some additional muscle there?
It might even have turned out that in the final day's play here an extra bowler gets the wickets earlier and we may not have needed to endure the nerve wracking final moments. Yes, critics and supporters alike will point out that India won this Test. But that would be to miss the woods for the trees. India needs the ability to consistently take 20 wickets throughout the world on all types of surfaces. And considering India's excellent batting lineup - which was sans Dravid in this series - we ought to consider playing 5 bowlers to win matches. The argument that India does not have an all rounder does not wash well. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is our all rounder. He is the one man in this team who handles two disciplines of the game very well and holds his place down without question. That is the definition of an all rounder.
Yes - India won the game and are still the No.1 ranked team in the world. But this team should not get easily satisfied. They can go farther. Much farther. With attacking strategies and penetrative bowling in place, all they would need to do is get the big guns in the batting department to be consistent. Things are looking up - for India and for Test cricket. For South Africa, they ought to be disappointed they will not go back with a Test series win in India. They could very well have gone home with just that if the last wicket partnership had stayed on there for 2 odd overs. Approximately 12 balls were the difference between South Africa winning this series and India drawing level. Approximately 12 balls were the difference between the No.1 team and the No.2. This Test match was a fitting end to the Test season for India. Now they will focus on domestic ODI and T20 engagements with the IPL also around the corner. No better frame of mind to tackle those games than with a victory under your belt against the No.2 ranked team in the world!
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