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Stump vision
R Mohan
Quite the fashionable thing to do is to rubbish modern cricket, with its preponderance of one day internationals. Personally, I have nothing against it.
The limited overs international capsules all the thrills of cricket, even if it is unable to bring out the nuances of the game. There is an exciting vibration to the game, that makes compelling watching.
As we swing further into cricket's new season, Pakistan has a new captain (in fact, an old one in that Wasim Akram has been reappointed). And there will be more and more one day internationals. So nothing has changed, really.
The lights, the sheer colour of players in their bright and trendy uniforms over which designers are obviously spending more time, the artificial excitement of line decisions with the aid of the third eye and many other trappings of modern cricket make it a spectacle to be enjoyed.
There is an immediacy to the one-day game that goes towards making it so attractive. The quadrangular tournament at the somewhat inappropriately named Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, which begins on November 1, will feature four of the top seven teams in the world.
If only the Pakistan board had included Australia and India while retaining South Africa, we would have had the quintet of World Cup winners in action, plus a team that is yet to win the cup but has the capacity to take the next one in England. Had that been done, this cup event to commemorate the jubilee of Pakistan's independence would have been totally fantastic. Also, why not England, twice a failed finalist?
The Sri Lankans are past-masters in the art of limited overs cricket. Their understanding of its requirements has been fine-tuned into a majestic calm in a stormy sea of incessant demands for instant action. And it is not only their skipper Arjuna Ranatunga who has the patience of the Zen masters.
The West Indians have their own problems, with the personality squabble afflicting the skipper Courtney Walsh and the brilliant, if mercurial, Brian Lara. They still have the flair for this game, if not quite the consistency to be the world beaters that they clearly were once.
The South Africans play what we like to call Total Cricket. This calls for a fierce commitment to all aspects of the game, that is not easily found even in ultra-modern cricketers who are more and more like athletes tuned to the minute. Surely, Hansie Cronje's men have some claim to be the world's most combative one day side, though their batting is not always their strongest suit which is a pity, since so many of these internationals are won by the batsmen.
Pakistan are only a shadow of what they were under Imran Khan in the World Cup of '92, and still they are capable of delivering a few hefty blows with the bat, as we saw in Ijaz Ahmed's famous innings in the series against India.
It might seem too strong an opinion to hold, that Saeed Anwar should not be allowed anywhere near the realm of captaincy on a cricket field. But his inexperience and his lack of imagination were responsible for Pakistan coming a cropper in the third Test to South Africa.
Students of the game, who would have watched the match with great interest, would have had their flagging enthusiasm for Test cricket rejuventated. It was the kind of game which had everything, thanks to the groundsman leaving a bit of grass on and producting a pitch with some encouragement for cricket's great toilers -- the bowlers.
The one secret to the game was the use of Kookaburra balls. Now, these balls are just not as good as the Duke and the Reader brands from the UK, nor even as consistent in quality as the SG brand from India. The balls were going soft so quickly on the scarred outfields of Pakistan that bowling with the older ball became a chore. The amazing recoveries we saw were owed to this use of the red Kookaburra.
The South Africans have failed to win series abroad so often that their commentators sounded horribly pessimistic on the climactic morning of the Test. Fourth innings targets are an enervating challenge, and Pakistan is just the latest victim of the syndrome. That left the South Africans worthy winners and they should be confident enough about beginning to take on the emerging challenge of living up to their one-day rating.
There is a vibration to modern cricket which pleases the eye, while the more traditional game still holds a certain enchantment for the aesthete. Cricket will keep changing. There will be progress in terms of competitive aspects of the one-day game.
It may not hold the old worldly charm we grew up on. Nevertheless, it will continue to fascinate as a game for the mind's eye, to be cherished and savoured. The quadrangular will see to it that we stay entertained, and captivated.
(Ed's note: Beginning this week, R Mohan will write a weekly column for Rediff On The Net.
The man himself needs no introduction to those who follow cricket -- Mohan far and away outpaces the field as the most widely read cricket writer in India today. As for the column, what he plans to do, in his own words, is "...write an original column of say around 750 words apiece, which will keep track of contemporary events, emerging trends, comment, analysis etc."
All part of Rediff's bid to bring you the best of contemporary cricket writing all under one umbrella. Cheers... and hey, Happy Diwali to all of you out there -- Prem.
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