Sanjiv Navangul
Remembering that day when Rohit Sharma reached a magnificent hundred with a six in England in the 2021 series and Virat Kohli celebrated with all his pulsating energy….these two stalwarts defined our cricket in the last decade with superb support from R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, along with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. People often forget that when Rohit hit his debut hundred, Shami announced himself in the same Test with a five-for. Destinies are often intertwined.
Many a time, we want to celebrate records and achievements in sport, but the factor that defines sport always remains limitless excellence.
Legends like Rohit and Virat, at times, did show us that the bar can be raised. The exhilaration came from there, with a pull from Rohit and a cover drive from Virat. The inner joy of a fan is synonymous with this excellence.
India has seen generations of cricketers moving on and passing the baton to the new ones. Then, what feels distinctly different this time? Let’s not talk about the history that is lost in the mists of time. Let the case in point begin with the Sunil Gavaskar era.
When Gavaskar left the scene along with Mohinder Amarnath, Gundappa Viswanath, and the spin quartet, an era ended. Cricket too was keen to embrace a changing liberalised India while holding on to the past with Dilip Vengsarkar and Kapil Dev. The spirit of the shorter version of cricket that revolutionalised the game was beautifully captured by Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, along with the classical batsmanship of the past, created a unique bridge held together by Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and others to essay India skilfully into a new chapter of cricket.
Interestingly, the phenomenon that were MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh showcased new-age cricket in splendour, while we rejoiced in the classical side of cricket. We acknowledged the change in the game and we moved more gracefully, then all of a sudden. This was probably the most emotive and joyous way of change that we experienced and celebrated. Not often does this happen, as sometimes sport also witnesses a jolt like Usain Bolt to wake us up to new reality!
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As mentioned earlier, post-2013, we witnessed the era of Virat and Rohit, along with the bunch mentioned above, who tried to make us believe that all the facets of cricket and game formats could be mastered and won with skill and new-age dharma of fitness, infused with leadership impact of its own kind. Virat dragged us into the future with leadership that echoed, “Come let me show you the way, myself”. He motivated not only the next-gen cricketers but also his fans to think his way. Incredible impact, to say the least!
When Virat was done, Rohit picked up the mantle and demonstrated that leadership has another facet – of subtle, better than supercomputer-level thinking, and a pure friendly style. We kept enjoying this because these two kept winning games across formats without making us feel the changes that were brewing alongside.
As Kerry Packer made 50-overs cricket glamorous, along with the intensity of ICC World Cups, we noticed the change and kept debating about Test and limited-overs – what’s better and what’s different! And how to preserve the classic style. It spawned a set of new-age cricketers. We enjoyed Yuvraj and Michael Bevan as much as Tendulkar and Brian Lara. But the “Bolt jolt” came in the form of 2007 events like the T20 World Cup and IPL (2008). It seemed a revolution and not change.
How magnificently again Virat and Rohit allowed us to think that the same cricketers could do it all with their sheer skill. We were deluded and short-sighted despite seeing different sets of players in different formats.
What we are staring at now is the game-changing revolution without its main anchors in the future. We are entering an unknown era, with no one to hold our hand like in the past.
As sports enthusiasts, we worry about change and closure. It is a natural emotion, but not easily digested. As we thank Virat and Rohit for all our joy and exhilaration, we ponder one question: who will show us the way in future? Any cricketer or just the inevitable change? This makeover is unlike in the past, and too much in your face. Not sure how many fans like me are ready. Cricket has survived, but will Olympic inclusion make it just another game, or will it still endure and endear like the “Life lessons” that Bedi used to describe the game?
As we wait for time to unravel what the future of the game holds, let us salute our cricketing heroes, Virat and Rohit. This, my dear readers and fellow cricket fans, is what legends of the game do to fans. Long live Cricket.
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