Mumbaikars being Mumbaikars. Why? Read on. Cricketers from Mumbai stick together in the best and worst of times. We all know that. Even if a Mumbai is at the wrong, they will still defend him. For them, any Mumbai cricketer will never do anything wrong. Gavaskar’s stauch support to Tendulkar throughout his career is a case in point. Whatever Tendulkar did on the field, Gavaskar was there to praise him to the highest. Tendulkar did not win a single Test match in the 4th innings until the very end of his career.
Yet, Gavaskar did not find that as a blot in the resume. Tendulkar was one who played for 50s and 100s but Gavaskar never had any problem with that. He was the reason why Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri had a long career. There were some talented cricketers but they were not preferred. His latest comment or observation has taken this to a different level. Manjrekar is another who finds that Rohit Sharma is about to leave a legacy behind.
Gavaskarisms
The latest in the long line of Gavaskarisms is his praise for Rohit Sharma. It is not wrong to praise someone when he does pretty well but to praise a routine event is ridiculous.
“Rohit acknowledged Ashwin’s contributions by letting him lead the team out to field in the all-rounder’s 100th Test, a hallmark of a skipper confident and relaxed in his own skin and ready to step aside and give the accolades to the achiever.”
This is something that is routine on the cricket field. Every captain and every team will allow the best performer of that innings to lead the team off the field. There are also several instances when a player who was about to play his last game, led the field onto the field. So, this is not at all new. This was also this instance of Dhoni allowing Ganguly to become the captain for about 30 minutes on the last day of his career.
Now, for such usual affair to be termed as a hallmark of a captain confident and ready to give the accolades to the achiever is height of stupidity.
Everyone does it
Here was Ashwin playing his 100th Test. Not a lot of cricketers go onto play 100 Tests. Only the good ones go onto play that many. Ofcourse, there are exceptions like Ishant Sharma. Ashwin is a match winner who has won many a game for the nation. It really is a shame that he never became the captain of any Indian team. Just like how Australia missed the services of Shane Warne the captain, India have missed the services of Ashwin the captain but that is not the point of this blog.
For someone to has played 100 Tests and who has won most of those games, he deserves such a recognition. Not just Ashwin, every cricketer in every side, must have led their team onto the field during their 100th Test. Gavaskar is a highly respected cricketer and a person. What he says ie keenly heard around the cricketing world. He must use his words carefully. Just because a Mumbaikar was at the helm and he allowed Ashwin to lead when Ashwin played his 100th Test and attribute that as Rohit letting someone getting due credit is beneath him.
His anger towards Gambhir
In yet another instance, he has reached the absolute nadir, not fit to be a human. He has written that those who are giving credit to Gambhir following India’s Kanpur win, are “boot-lickers of the highest order”. He says it must be Rohit Sharma who must get all the credit because he introduced this brand of cricket but has conveniently forgotten about those years under the same Rohit Sharma when India played 70s brand of cricket. The Asia Cup failure, the multiple World Cups failure were all because of the ultra-slow approach. Can we also attribute that to Rohit? If we can, he can be given credit for the change in attitude too.
Onto Manjrekar
Manjrekar is another who is quite loudmouthed. He was a disaster as a batsman. As a commentator, he is unbearable. He has said that the attacking and aggressive cricket that India witnessed at Kanpur is a legacy for which Rohit Sharma will be known. Ever since Ganguly ascended to the captaincy throne, India have been playing a brand of cricket that was hitherto unknown to those who were born in the last millennium. It was Ganguly who infused a sense of confidence and belonging in the Indian team that they can win outside of the country. India achieved some famous wins under Ganguly in England, Australia and the West Indies who were decent at that stage. Rahul Dravid won a series in England and the first Test win in South Africa.
They could not have achieved those wins without the aggressive cricket. What the Indian team showcased at Kanpur owes a lot to Bazball. If England hadn’t shown the way, I doubt anyone would know that Test cricket could be played with sustained aggression with due credit to Sehwag or Jayasurya. What India did at Kanpur was exemplary, eking out a win from nowhere but to attribute that to Rohit’s legacy is meaningless.
Wrapping up Mumbaikars being Mumbaikars
It is time these Mumbai based commentators grow up or be thrown out of the commentary box. They must realise that cricket in India is not Mumbai based but is played throughout the land with talent emerging from every corner of the nation.
Other blogs
https://icricketcritique.com/india-deserve-to-lose-the-series/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-wisdom-of-indian-selectors/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-openers-for-world-t20/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-team-for-world-t20/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-world-cup-win/