Why our love affair with cricket will never grow stale

What each of the panelists in the ‘Cricket: The Spirit of the Game’ session had in common was that neither of them could convert passion into competence. “I tried the hardest to the least effect,” said Gideon Haigh, widely regarded as the finest cricket writer of the day, and among the best in the history of the game. “As a child, I wanted to play cricket very badly.And that’s what happened as I grew up – I ended up playing it badly,” confessed Shashi Tharoor.
“Unlike my father, I had everything going for me; I had the best equipment, the best coaching. But I realised cricket doesn’t run in the blood,” admitted Rajdeep Sardesai.
Sardesai’s father, of course, was the famous Dilip, the first – and till date only – Goa-born cricketer to play for India. His story is full of the romance of cricket. “Before M S Dhoni there was Dilip Sardesai,” said the proud son of a batsman who loved playing in the Caribbean. “He didn’t see a cricket pitch till he was 17, and he learnt cricket from the village tailor, who himself learnt it from listening to the radio. His is a remarkable story.”
For Haigh, cricket is the gift that keeps on giving. “In some ways, I’m still that small boy experiencing for the first time that photo of Victor Trumper jumping out to drive – it’s a symbol of expressiveness, freedom, élan, elegance and athleticism,” he said, with more than a hint of nostalgia.
The career and life of Shane Warne, long retired but still as fascinating, also received an airing. “Growing up in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, you were told by old stagers how magical leg-spin was, but you never saw it – and if you did see a leg-spinner, you would see him being smashed out of the park,” Haigh recalled.
“We didn’t believe it was still possible to see leg-spin but then this chap rolls up, and suddenly we see what we were always told leg-spin was – a species of magic. I feel blessed to have lived in the Warne era, to have seen what leg-spin was all about.” And how could a discussion on cricket today not mention Virat Kohli? Haigh spoke about his versatility and adaptability, and the fact that Kohli has not only succeeded in but dominated all formats of the game. “He is unique in the annals of the game – we’re living through the Kohli era.”
Still, cricket’s more than a game (to paraphrase C L R James). For Haigh, stepping on to the field is panacea to all the ills that afflict it. “It’s rejuvenating and reassuring to play it, to remind myself of the exquisite physical sensation of it, and the camaraderie,” he shared. And for Sardesai, a visit to the Mumbai maidan works wonders. “Whenever I feel depressed, I go back there, just to see the kids playing and their infectious energy. That will remain forever.”