Cricketing shots are still the strokes giving highs

Everybody might have already read enough about the master innings by the master himself in Hyderabad agains the Aussies. Yes, the innings is a spectacle to watch and worth in gold (am I being miserly?). And yes, it is disappointing that India ended up losing a nail-biter. But to me the most interesting and defining moment during the game came when I saw Tendulkar react the way he did after he hit a cover drive, of the umpteen number of shots on his way to 175 runs, when India needed 69 runs from 55 balls or so.

The shot he hit was as good a stroke coached by all the masters, which you can find in any cricket manual, a cover drive sweetly driven along the ground and all timing no brute power. There was an instant change in his body language - the kind you see when somebody completes a fantastic century, breaks world record in a track and field event, wins a grandslam in tennis and the like. Its a sensational feeling, a kick, a high - a blissful experience of achieving the utmost that takes your confidence levels soaring to a level that nothing else in the world matters to you at that moment because that’s your moment and defining at that.

All the spectators want more of thundering strokes that can go either across or over the boundary line. It’s reasonable for them as they are watching the game to enjoy that exciting stuff. But for batsmen, and I guess even for cricket pandits, cricketing shots are still the strokes giving highs.

A salute to Sachin: Even with that thorn in the flesh aspect of his career, “Not able to see the match through”, Sachin Tendulkar’s career is not less than any immortalized hero’s stories like Achilles and Karna.