Blogs Aggression lies not in ripping your shirt off
November 15th, 2008 by harshad.desThe above statement does not undermine Saurav and neither his fighting abilities. But the point Im trying to drive, every cricket expert (including self-proclaimed ones) mentions about Saurav wielding his shirt and displaying aggression. Aggression is a very subjective terminology. Ask Allan Donald who was hit out of the park in his own den, by a youngster who was considered timid by one and all. Ask Caddick, who had “Sorted out Tendulkar” and he got his reply. Ask a shaken McGrath, who was made to toil for more than a day by VVS and Rahul alike. Nothing is more frustrating for a fast bowler than to see a batsman playing a ball right with the middle of his bat smothered in the pitch. If he is hit for four, he can sniff an edge coming but not here. He knows all his effort in running to the 22 yard strip has been undone. The methods of displaying aggression were different. I would go on to say method to pump yourself to give your best were different. As pointed by Michael Hussey, starting a verbal with a fielding team is a ploy used by Gambhir to pump himself up. Only the difference is how that method is seen by the people watching and their emotions swayed by the media.
Real essence of sport lies in not robbing off opponents respect but enhance your own in his mind. Win with grace and go down with dignity. Isn’t winning just one part of sport? Harsha once said “Humility is nowadays becoming a cult virtue”. If it becomes so, there would be no charm left in sports. You always win over an opponent in sports and you annihilate an opponent in war. The two words of overcoming an opponent highlights the difference in the intent.
November 16th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Fantastic!! I agree with you a 100 %. I am totally for a batsman who lets his batting do all the “talk” and bowler who does nothing more than may be a stare-down here and there but gets the better of the batsman by destroying his “furniture”.
I am totally with you on the difference between winning in sport and destroying your opponent in a war. Therefore there was a period of time when I was totally “sick” about watching an India/Pakistan Cricket match. I used to feel that both teams were at war and I did not enjoy that…
November 16th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
very true… let the bat do the talkin.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Totally agree with Harshad bhai. Why do some players get so animated? I believe it isn’t just the natural spirit of competing or their testosterone that does it… these days it looks like a show that these players put on to hog the limelight.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Frankly, I was tired with the ‘humility’ and ’sportsmanship’ that the Indian players displayed all the yesteryears, while they always went down the losing side and the ‘aggressive’ and ‘foul-mouthed’ Australians and Pakistanis kept on winning. It was quite irritating to see that.
Get this: In one match, Srinath bowled a lovely bouncer that hit Ponting on the helmet. Our Srinath, as a true gentleman, went up to Ponting and APOLOGIZED. I mean THAT IS RIDICULOUS. And Ponting, in reply, threw an array of bad words at him. What was the point of apologizing and trying to become a gentleman, when the other person just does NOT deserve it. And Shoaib once bowled a beamer to Tendulkar and did not even have the courtesy to apologize.
I am all for people like Gambhir in our team. They do their talking with their bat AND their tongues. Opponents like Australia do not deserve any respect from our players, and these days they do not get any. Indians NEVER start the sledging first. They only retaliate.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I agree on the point that the Indians no longer have to be the Perennial Nice Guys of world cricket. What is the point being so well-behaved when it is seen as a sign of weakness? One shouldn’t ape the Aussies — they are pathetic in showing their desperation — I think Dhoni & his men have got it right and the South Africans to some extent.