I am very obsessed with numbers and I believe any number we come across has a connection with how we live. As a kid, my dad introduced me to the cricket score board through 'The Hindu'.
I was around 7 years old. India was touring England and was getting beaten black and blue. Still the scores stuck with me.
https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-england-1974-62274/england-vs-india-1st-test-63125/full-scorecard
Then I started playing gully cricket. I had and have very bad hand-eye coordination and was awful at batting. All I could do was defend. Later on I could play square cut or even a square drive as playing square of the wicket gives a little more time. So I took to bowling, but then could not generate pace. Though, I tried spin, I could not turn the ball. I tried right arm, wrist leg spin and left arm finger spin. All in all, I was a “ Ravi Shastri” , turning the ball once rarely. My uncle who was a doctor and played cricket in Medical College told me importance of length and line. Overpitch can be driven at will and also lifted out in the stands. Short pitch gives time and hence has no use even if the ball turns square. Good length is good but variations are essential but I had no tangible surprise element. I was a bad runner, a horrible catcher (bad hand eye coordination) and hence useless at fielding. In my opinion, one must enjoy fielding to play cricket at higher levels or else one cannot sustain playing cricket. Ask Azhar, Dravid or Jadeja. Working on fielding elongates the career and lets the cricketer to hone batting or bowling skills or both. At the end, I became a Cricket Dreamer, far from reality.
Those were the days of Cricket Commentary. We need to applaud the Commentators skill at the craft. They were able to inculcate interest for the fans and with their spell, make the listeners enhance the imagination and make me the Dreamer.
India’s win over West Indies in 1976 is one of the first Tests which made me dream about cricket. The fourth Innings comeback. Gavaskar’s 102, Vishy’s hundred and Mohinder’s 85. The spinners wove their magic and India won. Back then, the test was played in West Indies and hence the commentary was all through the night. My Uncle and Dad listened late into the night and I stayed up as much as possible. Early morning two young neighbors in their early 20s told us that they stayed all througg and India won. May be they were returning back to their homes to catch some sleep. We heard the commentary rerun!
https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-west-indies-1975-76-62314/west-indies-vs-india-3rd-test-63161/full-scorecard
Kapil Dev arrived! Which coincided with the end of the Spin quartret. The test series in Pakistan. The commentator stated that in one of the firsts for Indian Cricket, Sadiq Mohammed asked for helmet to face Kapil’s pace. The beginning of India as a sustained fast bowling nation! Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran Khan were establishing themselves as the Fast bowlers. Should the credit of invention of reverse swing go to Sarfraz? I reluctantly and grudgingly resented Pakistan fast bowlers dominance. The commentator was applauding Musthaq’s captaincy and Bedi’s team was rolled over. Over the years I developed respect for fast bowlers emerging from Pakistan thru Wasim Akram, Waqar and others. But still Kapil reigned supreme. There can be Sachin, Sunil, Dhoni, Kohli or Vaibhav but Kapil had the greatest influence in India’s cricket.
Then came Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav. Both good spinners who held the fort so that I can continue dreaming with Kapil as the Idol. Who can forget his first century and if my memory serves right, he launched with a 6! Those were the days, when Gavaskar , Vengsarkar or most batsmen slowed the scoring to a crawl once they reached 80s!
I remember Vishy was different! India’s test victory in Melbourne with a 5 wicket spell from Kapil who had fever, a dream ball from Ghavri to dismiss Greg Chappell!
https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-australia-1980-81-62293/australia-vs-india-3rd-test-63281/full-scorecard
Sandeep Patil came with the reputation as a fast scorer! His 176 in Sydney. We took a High School trip to Nagarjuna Sagar in ninth grade and the bus broke down. It was supposed to be a day trip, but the bus broke down. Thus the bus came back to the school in the midnight and we stayed back at the School. We came home early the morning, Sandeep scored his 176! In the next, England series, Sandeep scored 6 fours of Bob Willis 7 ball over. Still remember, the commentator describing his Tennis shot to make the mark!
https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-england-1982-62277/england-vs-india-2nd-test-63315/full-scorecard
Dilip Doshi was a rank bad fielder. At one point the commentator mentioned that Captain Gavaskar stomped on his feet in angst when Doshi guided a ball to boundary. This kindled my imagination and from the time, I did not like bad fielders. Over time, I disliked Shastri more as he was a bad fielder and even more as a preacher when he doned the commentator’s hat.
Mohinder’s series in Pakistan and West Indies with his 5 centuries stood apart as an exemplary player of pace. I think Kapil’s 72 of 38 balls in the one day against the Mighty West Indies laid the foundation for 83 World Cup. India won the one day behind Sunny’s 90 but Kapil’s innings was truly a masterpiece and may have given him the confidence for the 175 innings in World Cup against Zimbabwe.
https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-west-indies-1982-83-62309/west-indies-vs-india-2nd-odi-64209/full-scorecard
I got to say listening to Commentary made me to imagine and become a Dreamer at Cricket. In fact, I would dream about the Super fast bowlers and the 20 per over batting. I was far from reality then and today those are a reality. The Commentators played their part to make me the Dreamer at Cricket.
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