Imran Nazir was blazing away when Pakistan decided to return a favour to the Lankans and lost two quick wickets to run-outs. Hadn't we seen this one time too many? This phenomenally talented team from the other side of the border self-destructing after a bright start. A cramped Nazir was done in by his 'runner' Afridi who took off for an impossible third and was caught woefully short by an accurate Jayasuria throw. Nazir departed for a quickfire 38 which included a viciously pulled six off a Malinga (who else?) no-ball. As usual the Lankans were alert and agile in the field and a fierce throw by Kapugedara found Butt in no man's land after a yes-no exchange with Mohd. Yousuf. Yousuf couldn't make amends as he was soon deceived by a seemingly innocuous leg-cutter by Maharoof. The ball appeared to be suspended in space and the batsmen merely watched it rattle onto the off-stump. The Pakistanis were now four down for 105 and a brilliant start had all been undone.
Somehow, this was familiar territory for Pakistan as well as Sri Lanka. The Lankans have been past masters at strangulating their opposition during chases, and the Pakis have been known to squander gift horses with reckless abandon. All this must have preyed on skipper Shoaib Malik's mind as he strode in and was joined by Kamran Akmal in the middle.
Pakistan needed 131 off the last 20 overs with Malik and Akmal desperate not to yield an inch. But then the unfortunate happened. Continuing the spate of mix-ups Malik was run out by a brilliant retrieval at the boundary by Tharanga. In walked Afridi, who was offered a few words of advice by his skipper as he was leaving the arena.
Times aplenty Shahid Afridi has flattered to deceive, but even he would have admitted that the situation was tailor made for his brand of cricket. Two good overs would have swung the pendulum the crescent's way. He took cautious singles off the first few balls. The asking rate of barely over five runs an over did not demand any batting calisthenics.
And then all hell broke loose. He unleashed a flurry of boundaries - Jayasuriya for consecutive fours, Bandara over cover and then straight back, but the best was yet to come. Afridi had something special planned for Bandara's last over – Two screeching fours followed by four stupendous sixes – one of which was barely four feet above the
ground in its flat journey to the advertisement hoarding. It was a 32 run over (4 4 6 6 6 6). Suddenly, a match which promised much more drama was turned into a no-contest by a man capable of ferocious hitting. This was what the world had waited for with bated breath during the World Cup. But then Afridi has a penchant for being unimaginably talented and infuriatingly callous. He also belongs to that rare breed of batters who try dispatching every ball to the boundary irrespective of the situation/ bowler/ pitch/ weather etc.
Needless to say, the Pakistanis raced to the target with 5 wickets to spare as Akmal smashed the winning boundary and reached 50 in the process. The Pathan ended with 73 off 34 balls (8 fours and 4 sixes.) Many thanks Shahid, for the unadulterated, unbridled power that you bring to the game in an age dominated by bare statistics.
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Enfant Terrible vs. Mean Machine
Kunal Diwan
Sport is a microcosm where laws of nature are intensified manifold and put on display for the benefit of lesser gifted individuals. The Darwinian theory of Natural Selection is even more vividly exhibited in individual sports which are a tussle of skill, strength, endurance, perseverance and personalities. Tennis is perhaps a sport which tests all quarters of human physicality – hand - eye coordination, power, speed, athleticism, and stamina. Through the 1980’s, professional men’s tennis was dominated by two contrasting players who mesmerised the world with their paradoxically opposing routes to sporting immortality. One was a tempestuous sorcerer blessed with sublime skills. The other was a cold-blooded robot with a maniacal work-ethic from across the Iron Curtain.
John McEnroe stormed into limelight in 1977, when he made the Wimbledon semi final as an amateur, after having glided through the qualifiers. It was the start of a very special career. McEnroe reached his first Championships final in 1980 setting up a title clash with the icy Bjorn Bjorg. In a match often called one of the greatest sporting events in history, McEnroe saved five match points in the fourth set tie-breaker and won it 18-16. Unable to break the Swede’s serve, McEnroe went down 8-6 in the deciding fifth and gave Borg his fifth successive Wimbledon title. The next year saw the American at his tempestuous and artistic best. Wielding the racket like a Stradivarius he conjured magic at the net and exacted revenge on Borg in the final to win the first of his three Wimbledons. Adding ignominy to success was the fact that he became the only first-time champion not to have been given an honorary membership of the All England Club. This was an attempt to chastise McEnroe’s unpardonable behaviour in the earlier rounds where his retorts to officials and umpires reached iconic status. Disputed line calls saw McEnroe, hands on his hips, mouthing infamous lines like – “You cannot be serious” and “You are the pits”. Later, this is what the American told the press -
“I wanted to spend (the evening) with my family and friends and the people who had supported me, not a bunch of stiffs who are 70-80 years old, telling you that you're acting like a jerk.”
Being branded a ‘Super brat’ and ‘Motor-mouth’ only seemed to spur the man to exalted levels on the court. Deft volleys and soaring lobs had opponents and viewers hypnotised with their other-worldly beauty. His shot-making ability and sharp reflexes made him one of the great returners of serve the game had seen. Crowds flocked to see him play even though they booed him most of the time for his un-sporty behaviour. In direct contract to the natural ability and abhorrence of training and practice that McEnroe brought to the game, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a work horse was trying his utmost to extract maximum yield out of god-given ability.
Ivan Lendl would forever be known as the ultimate professional tennis player. He was the thinking and planning man’s tennis player. Lendl raised baseline-tennis to an exalted level, refashioning it from a defensive, plodding exercise into a display of massive power unleashed along the flanks. He was the pioneer of the inside-out forehand from the ad-court. Lendl’s backhand was like the lash of a whip – a single handed recoil of power with the entire body perfectly positioned – no longer would the backhand be an instrument to merely topple the ball into the opposing court and keep it in play.
“I did not invite you to the net”, he is rumoured to have hissed to hapless opponents as he sent the green ball whooshing past them.
His obsession with preparation and practice compelled him to lift weights for strength, use scientific methods to gain power and endurance, keep notes of the strengths and weaknesses of other players, and carry multiple sets of polythene wrapped rackets to court. Ivan was the ultimate professional. He once said, - “If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can”.
Having lost his first four Grand Slam finals had led Lendl to be branded a choker. All this changed in the 1984 French Open final where he played McEnroe. McEnroe led by two sets to love but proceeded to lose his cool, the next three sets and the trophy to Lendl who put on a show of amazing resilience and determination. It was like a change of guard. McEnroe was soon enamoured by the guiles of Hollywood and drugs while Lendl went from strength to strength.
Lendl reached 19 grand slam finals, winning eight of them. But the most coveted trophy in tennis continued to elude him as despite several single minded attempts, he could never go all the way on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon. Early in his career Lendl had by-passed Wimbledon on a number of occasions saying – “Grass is for cows”. Destiny has a way of making people eat their words, and the emotion-less Czech spent most of his playing days striving to win at the All England Club. Following a typically planned approach, he skipped the French open twice to concentrate on playing on grass. He hired Tony Roche in an attempt to learn the nuances of serve and volley. Unfortunately, for a man of his athletic skill, Lendl was surprisingly stone-footed and frozen in his approach to the net. His efforts yielded two Wimbledon final appearances but never the title.
More than a decade after their retirement from professional tennis, both Lendl’s and McEnroe’s post-retirement activities seem to reflect their personalities. Lendl has taken to golf and boasts a ‘0’ handicap. He also takes time to teach golf to his daughters and is an avid art collector. McEnroe has dabbled in hosting a talk-show, singing and playing the guitar for his band, and commentating at tennis tournaments. Can one imagine Lendl crooning over a mic while strumming a Fender? For that matter, can one visualise McEnroe gracing the fairways with his genial presence. You cannot be serious.
Sport is a microcosm where laws of nature are intensified manifold and put on display for the benefit of lesser gifted individuals. The Darwinian theory of Natural Selection is even more vividly exhibited in individual sports which are a tussle of skill, strength, endurance, perseverance and personalities. Tennis is perhaps a sport which tests all quarters of human physicality – hand - eye coordination, power, speed, athleticism, and stamina. Through the 1980’s, professional men’s tennis was dominated by two contrasting players who mesmerised the world with their paradoxically opposing routes to sporting immortality. One was a tempestuous sorcerer blessed with sublime skills. The other was a cold-blooded robot with a maniacal work-ethic from across the Iron Curtain.
John McEnroe stormed into limelight in 1977, when he made the Wimbledon semi final as an amateur, after having glided through the qualifiers. It was the start of a very special career. McEnroe reached his first Championships final in 1980 setting up a title clash with the icy Bjorn Bjorg. In a match often called one of the greatest sporting events in history, McEnroe saved five match points in the fourth set tie-breaker and won it 18-16. Unable to break the Swede’s serve, McEnroe went down 8-6 in the deciding fifth and gave Borg his fifth successive Wimbledon title. The next year saw the American at his tempestuous and artistic best. Wielding the racket like a Stradivarius he conjured magic at the net and exacted revenge on Borg in the final to win the first of his three Wimbledons. Adding ignominy to success was the fact that he became the only first-time champion not to have been given an honorary membership of the All England Club. This was an attempt to chastise McEnroe’s unpardonable behaviour in the earlier rounds where his retorts to officials and umpires reached iconic status. Disputed line calls saw McEnroe, hands on his hips, mouthing infamous lines like – “You cannot be serious” and “You are the pits”. Later, this is what the American told the press -
“I wanted to spend (the evening) with my family and friends and the people who had supported me, not a bunch of stiffs who are 70-80 years old, telling you that you're acting like a jerk.”
Being branded a ‘Super brat’ and ‘Motor-mouth’ only seemed to spur the man to exalted levels on the court. Deft volleys and soaring lobs had opponents and viewers hypnotised with their other-worldly beauty. His shot-making ability and sharp reflexes made him one of the great returners of serve the game had seen. Crowds flocked to see him play even though they booed him most of the time for his un-sporty behaviour. In direct contract to the natural ability and abhorrence of training and practice that McEnroe brought to the game, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a work horse was trying his utmost to extract maximum yield out of god-given ability.
Ivan Lendl would forever be known as the ultimate professional tennis player. He was the thinking and planning man’s tennis player. Lendl raised baseline-tennis to an exalted level, refashioning it from a defensive, plodding exercise into a display of massive power unleashed along the flanks. He was the pioneer of the inside-out forehand from the ad-court. Lendl’s backhand was like the lash of a whip – a single handed recoil of power with the entire body perfectly positioned – no longer would the backhand be an instrument to merely topple the ball into the opposing court and keep it in play.
“I did not invite you to the net”, he is rumoured to have hissed to hapless opponents as he sent the green ball whooshing past them.
His obsession with preparation and practice compelled him to lift weights for strength, use scientific methods to gain power and endurance, keep notes of the strengths and weaknesses of other players, and carry multiple sets of polythene wrapped rackets to court. Ivan was the ultimate professional. He once said, - “If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can”.
Having lost his first four Grand Slam finals had led Lendl to be branded a choker. All this changed in the 1984 French Open final where he played McEnroe. McEnroe led by two sets to love but proceeded to lose his cool, the next three sets and the trophy to Lendl who put on a show of amazing resilience and determination. It was like a change of guard. McEnroe was soon enamoured by the guiles of Hollywood and drugs while Lendl went from strength to strength.
Lendl reached 19 grand slam finals, winning eight of them. But the most coveted trophy in tennis continued to elude him as despite several single minded attempts, he could never go all the way on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon. Early in his career Lendl had by-passed Wimbledon on a number of occasions saying – “Grass is for cows”. Destiny has a way of making people eat their words, and the emotion-less Czech spent most of his playing days striving to win at the All England Club. Following a typically planned approach, he skipped the French open twice to concentrate on playing on grass. He hired Tony Roche in an attempt to learn the nuances of serve and volley. Unfortunately, for a man of his athletic skill, Lendl was surprisingly stone-footed and frozen in his approach to the net. His efforts yielded two Wimbledon final appearances but never the title.
More than a decade after their retirement from professional tennis, both Lendl’s and McEnroe’s post-retirement activities seem to reflect their personalities. Lendl has taken to golf and boasts a ‘0’ handicap. He also takes time to teach golf to his daughters and is an avid art collector. McEnroe has dabbled in hosting a talk-show, singing and playing the guitar for his band, and commentating at tennis tournaments. Can one imagine Lendl crooning over a mic while strumming a Fender? For that matter, can one visualise McEnroe gracing the fairways with his genial presence. You cannot be serious.
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