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DEAR REDIFF

Mind over natter

Harsha Bhogle

Coming to Mohali for a Test match is bound to be a delightful experience. But this time, it's been made even more heartening by the performance of a wonderful, and terribly misunderstood, cricketer.

With youngsters snapping at his heels, and the media invoking the past tense, Navjot Sidhu proved everybody wrong with an innings of great solidity.

There are two aspects to Sidhu's batting that stood out in the first Test. One was technical, the other mental. Well as Sidhu tackled the spinners, it was his cover-driving that was extra-ordinary. He rarely got it to go into the air, and his timing was so crisp, you could almost hear the crunch.

It was also wonderful to see that great determination to do well. When he went out to bat, it was almost as if he was on trial all over again. That is, sadly, one of several inexplicable aspects to our cricket. Geoffrey Boycott's eyes popped out when I said there was a debate surrounding his selection. "The only class opener in your country," he kept saying, and Sidhu proved him right.

If you are on trial at 34, it requires a very big heart to be able to come out fighting. But Sidhu has always maintained that playing for India is the biggest honour he can hope for. And you could see that desire in his performance.

Interestingly, it wasn't just Sidhu, the batsman who had a few points to prove. Sidhu, the fielder, was a complete revelation.

Over the years, we've all had a few things to say about this lack of fluidity on the field. We've made him the subject of a few unkind remarks, we have even called him a specialist at mid-on (which is a bit like telling a cook he's an expert at making Maggi instant noodles!). At Mohali, Sidhu dirtied his trousers more than anyone else. It was like he was in the swimming pool, as he hunted and dived and cut off balls that night, earlier, have passed him fairly unhindered. And every save was accompanied by a smile and a slap on a colleague's palm that was so full of vigour, it might have injured someone!

If Sidhu's batting form is a wonderful sign for Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar's curiously defensive mode is a great cause for worry. There can be few sights in the world more majestic than Tendulkar driving on the rise. Here is a batsman who was born to attack; to invoke fear in bowlers. Instead, we are now seeing a different player, one who appears to have forgotten the meaning of the word aggression. It's a bit like Bollywood movies -- the searching, cautious Tendulkar of today is a bit like a long-lost brother of the earlier aggressive, dominant one. This Tendulkar of today is a great batsman allowing himself to mix with the ordinary.

It is all bizarre and it is inexplicable and maybe, he just needs to be provoked again. Maybe the fires need to be ignited again. Or maybe he needs small personal taught to aim at. Fast bowlers one like that sometimes, and ever so often captains cleverly provoke them into playing the role of a bully. Does Tendulkar need that, I wonder....

There was a third event at Mohali. One that was as beautiful to watch as Sidhu's hundred. On a pitch on which every bowler searched in vain for some form of life, Javagal Srinath bowled as fast as a man recovering from injury can. The return to big cricket was one of those moments that seem to be just round the corner, but which keep stretching further always. He coped with it marvellously, though, and even suggested that the lay-off might just have made him a better bowler.

He bowled a little too short initially but recovered to bowl a superb length and more often than not, he made the batsmen play. And, from time to time, he would make the ball leave the batsman, thereby making his stock incoming ball more dangerous. But, most vitally, he seemed perfectly happy bowling within himself. There seemed far greater control over emotion, and he is now a more patient man.

Those are wonderful signs for a fast bowler. And for Indian cricket. How nice that inspite of a pitch that didn't measure up to its normally outstanding level, it was Mohali that saw the return of Navjot Sidhu and Javagal Srinath.

Harsha Bhogle