Why do we watch sport? A very simple question, which has no easy answers.
Many like me watch sport because it makes us feel alive. The positive vibe, the extraordinary excellence on display on occasions, the superhuman stories of braving pain and criticism – sport lends itself to great storytelling and visual drama. And in doing so, makes us all feel that things that we normally don’t think of as likely are indeed possible. There is a certain disruption associated with sport. A kind of rebelliousness that we all grow up with, but which gets lost as we are all absorbed into the rat race of our careers.
Shamar Joseph, who is returning home to the Caribbean with the foot injury, and Tom Hartley brought this back on Sunday and added to the aura of sport. Against the world’s No. 1 cricket team, playing in its most favoured fortress, Joseph braved pain and scripted history. There was something innately special about his sprint when the last Australian wicket fell. For a few minutes at least, he did not feel the pain. His world was perfect and he made sure that the many of us who had grown up seeing the West Indies script great feats felt the exhilaration as well. It was pure joy. That’s it. Nothing reel. All real and raw. Australia did not lose. West Indies and young Joseph won. And in doing so, he added back that much-needed word to the West Indies cricket story – respect.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
There is no sport without respect, and West Indies were fast losing it. Joseph disrupted the downslide. That, may I say, is enough for the sport for the time being. A new lifeline and a new song to sing, with Joseph holding the microphone.
If it was Joseph in Brisbane, it was Hartley in Hyderabad. Smashed all over the ground in the first innings by Yashasvi Jaiswal, it takes some doing to come back and do what Hartley did. As I keep saying, sport teaches us how to fail and deal with failure. Hartley did fail in the first innings. And as always, sport gives you a second chance. In full public view. With support from teammates and his captain, Hartley made the most of it. He came back and won in public and, in doing so, scripted history for England. There was a degree of the unreal to the whole thing. Against the likes of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, a young, unheralded left-arm spinner was not supposed to stand a chance. And yet, he did. That’s sport for us all. The beauty of it. The unpredictability is what makes Test cricket what it is – one of the most beautiful things on our planet that will forever teach us life lessons.
There is always a tale beyond the story. Beyond the mundane and the expected. Australia and India were meant to win. And yet, there are men like Joseph and Hartley who will add to the storyline and make Test cricket what it is – a contest that brings out the best of human excellence and leaves us all in awe. And allows us to tell stories. For generations that will grow up reading them.
Also Read: Hyderabad Test Defeat Should be Wake-up Call for Off-Pace India