IT IS that time of the year when an analysis becomes essential and people in the media – whether one likes it or not – have to award points and decide on the winner. They have to write round-ups and things of that sort… Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.
So without much ado (without building up to it, that is) let me come straight to the point. Like every year, this year too, there are quite a few contenders for India’s number one cricketer of the year. However, there can be only one winner. So, who according to me, is this year’s winner?
I thought about Dhoni. The man (I mean as a player) is phenomenal. Some years ago, even when he was not such a seasoned player, he made the headlines because of the color of his hair. He is destined to be in the limelight.
Virender Sehwag – Indian cricket’s No. 1 for 2009.
This year, under Dhoni’s captaincy, India achieved the number one ranking in Test cricket for the first time ever. But even then, for me, he is not the winner.
Most recently, he got that two-match ban for failing to handle his team properly but that is not reason enough for him to be denied the number one position. I just feel Dhoni has helped commercialise the game somewhat.
I mean, he got all the fame, power, glamour and money from representing his country in cricket. But when the country wanted to honour him with a prestigious award at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, he didn’t have the time to come in person and accept that award. I know that happened a while ago. But it showed me that money matters more for Dhoni.
He is prepared to don a loongi for adverts, has time to go to the backwaters in Kerala for a shoot, but does not have the time when the country wants to honour him. He cannot be my number one cricketer of the year. He is a great player though.
I then thought about Harbhajan. He has taken a lot of wickets this year. But I have always believed (and I could be wrong, of course) that the doosra is an illegal delivery. And without the doosra, Harbhajan is an ordinary bowler. So, even he can’t be number one. According to me, that is.
Then I thought about Sachin (who doesn’t?) – the incomparable Sachin. His 175 in that one-day game against Australia this year was a great knock. But even he is not my number one Indian cricketer of the year. Why? I applaud Sachin’s longevity in the game and all that… but somewhere along the line his longevity tends to be monotonously regular and it tends to get… well, I mean, it tends to get monotonous.
When I was in school, I used to watch Big B on the screen all the time. Now after so many years, Big B is still going strong on the screen (big and small). I applaud Big B’s longevity in Bollywood (and on TV), but I must confess, I have gotten a little bored.
I then thought about Gambhir. Undoubtedly this guy has got a lot of runs this year. But even he is not my number one. Because Gambhir has just scored the runs but someone else has been a complete package.
Sehwag has scored the runs. Sehwag has made the sacrifices. Sehwag has taken on the establishment. Sehwag is my number one Indian cricketer of this year.
He coolly declined the captaincy of Delhi Daredevils and said he wanted Gambhir to do the job. He shook up the DDCA for a while (even though everybody – including Sehwag – knew nothing was going to come of it). It requires audacity to plunge into a thing knowing fully well that you are not going to win. It was the same with Sehwag taking on the DDCA.
In the past too, Sehwag has taken on the BCCI and has been dropped from the side for doing that. But he continues to score the runs.
Even when he was close to creating history, he did not change his style. A calmer player would have taken the singles and completed his third Test triple century – a feat no player has ever achieved. But then a calmer player would not have already got two triple hundreds under his belt.
The third triple ton was there for the taking for Sehwag. But he wanted to do it in his own style. And he perished in his own style. Something the feller said about living by the sword… same with Sehwag.
Recently, he has also captained the Indian ODI team in two matches against Sri Lanka, winning both of them. The team performed very well under him, so much so that they did not even miss Dhoni. Karthik did a good job, both behind and in front of the stumps, and the others responded well to Sehwag’s leadership.
So, Virender Sehwag is my number one Indian cricketer of the year. You can disagree with me but that really won’t matter – because I have already announced the winner. My winner, that is.
