Agnijit Sen in Melbourne
Why do we make music?
Because we love life, isn’t it?
Cheers to life!
Why do we cover cricket?
Passion? Yes. Love for the game? Yes. But most importantly, stories. Stories that reach as far as the Australian shores. As far as Melbourne ahead of the Boxing Day test between India and Australia.
So, here we are in a tram – My two colleagues, Trisha & Gargi, and I. We had just finished covering Australia’s optional net session followed by the press conference from the captain, Pat Cummins. Everything is pretty hunky dory. The Aussie players came with their families to the MCG. After all, it’s Christmas time here. Shops are closed, the streets are decorated and deserted in the morning. The MCG is quiet too, probably taking a much-needed rest before the Boxing Day spectacle.
One more thing. Trams were hard to come by today. Me, Trisha and Gargi finally got one. As the tram started rolling, an elderly gentleman seated in the tram saw our accreditations. Excitedly, he asked, ‘Where are you guys from?’ I promptly replied: ‘India.’
‘So, you guys are here to cover cricket?’
‘Yes, sir!’
‘India. I know Tendulkar, Sharma. I know.’
Wow. Did he mean Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma? His reply was prompt.
‘Sachin great. Greatest. Legend. Indian legend.’
‘But have you heard of Virat Kohli, sir? One of India’s all-time greats. Stellar record in Australia. One of the modern-day legends.’
‘Virat? No. Sachin. Sachin. Greatest.’
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Absolute cricketing folklore. Does he remember Sachin Tendulkar’s epic in Sydney (2004)? I couldn’t ask him that. Our stop came and we had to get down in a flash. I kept wondering what this conversation was all about. Yes, probably the old man hasn’t moved on. And who would want to? Sachin against Australia has always been a love story. Be it the Warne hammering in Chennai (1998), the Sydney epic or the desert storm during which Ian Chappell was quoted saying: ‘This guy is not playing for a place in the finals, this guy is playing for a win!’
What is it that binds Sachin and Virat though? I think it’s the respect that both of them have earned from Aussies. Both of them played hard, played fair and were not willing to give an inch against the fiercest of attacks.
There’s one difference though. Sachin could let go of his ego easily. He worshipped the game and was willing to sacrifice anything for that. Take that Sydney epic, for example. He kept on batting without a single cover drive which was by far his preferred and go-to shot. While the MCG nets have shown that Virat is happy leaving balls in the corridor of uncertainty, he doesn’t mind going after a few either. And this is where a Scott Boland will believe. Australia will believe. They have managed to keep the King quiet except for that one innings in Perth series so far. They clearly have a plan for him and have executed that to perfection. They will do the same at the MCG. And this is where Kohli will need to remaster ‘the art of letting go’. He has done it before in the 2018 series against James Anderson and England. Can he repeat the same during the Boxing Day Test?
India win, they retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. ‘Kohli goes down the ground, Kohli goes out of the ground’ has become iconic. Can Virat play that kind of a generational innings again? The MCG is his happy hunting ground. He has done it before. Can he do it on his last tour of Australia? Maybe then, a decade or two from now, one hot Australian summer afternoon when another journalist and his colleagues are going back home after a tough day at work, someone will give them goosebumps saying: “Oh, India, Kohli I know. Greatest. Legend.”
Also Read: Boom Boom Magic – Again