The cricketing spirit evaporated many moons ago

By Yajurvindra Singh

The words of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective come to mind - “Elementary My Dear Watson” - when one reviews the Jonny Bairstow stumping incident.

spirit of the game.

Kohima, July 11 (IANS) Breaking an 11-year-old world record set by the Chinese, a taekwondo team from Nagaland etched its name in the Guinness World Records, officials said on Tuesday.

Dimapur-based “Faith in Action” scripted the world record for “the highest martial arts kick (assisted)”.

The ‘Faith in Action’ created the record with a 14 feet and 5 inches high kick against the Chinese record (in 2012) with a 14 feet and 2 inches high kick.

Congratulating the taekwondo team, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio tweeted, “I am happy to know that "Faith In Action" from Nagaland created a new Guinness World Records for “the highest martial arts kick (assisted)" on the set of

"India's Got Talent" in Mumbai on July 5, 2023. Congratulations and best wishes for all future endeavours.”

The coach of the "Faith in Action" Deep Kumar on Tuesday said that they are delighted by creating this record.

“It would motivate the budding martial artists in Nagaland. There is no lack of talent in the state and they can scale greater heights if they get the facilities and exposure,” Kumar, who is the founder of the group, told the media.

Nagaland’s Deputy Chief Ministers -- T.R. Zeliang and Yanthungo Patton – and many other dignitaries also congratulated the "Faith in Action" for their feat.

“A moment of immense pride for Nagaland and India as "Faith In Action" creates a new Guinness World Record for "the highest martial arts kick (assisted)" on the set of India's Got Talent ! Congratulations to everyone involved and best wishes for all future endeavours!,” Patton tweeted.

Nagaland’s Higher Education and Tourism Minister Temjen

Imna Along in his tweet said: “It is obvious that India’s Got Talent, and Nagaland is setting records to further reiterate the same. Delighted to know that "Faith In Action" from Nagaland created a new Guinness World Records for “the highest martial arts kick (assisted)" on the set of a popular reality show.

My heartiest congratulations and best wishes for their future endeavours. We are immensely proud of this achievement.”

West Indies cricket - How the cookie crumbles

By Yajurvindra Singh

There was a time when West Indies cricket was the epitome of the game. The carefree and calypso style of fun-loving and unconventional but skilful approach to the game was a treat to watch.

The West Indians played to mesmerize and entertain the crowd without a care about the result. Genius was the word used by many of their players and it fit the bill perfectly especially for one of theirs, the greatest cricketer ever to play the game, Sir Garfield Sobers.

The Indian team touring the West Indies at present were privileged to shake the hands of the great man, one who could bat, bowl, field and even keep wickets at the highest level.

The word “Bazball” has now become a mantra for the England side in their quest to play attacking and attractive cricket. It takes one back to the famous 1961 Test series between Australia and the West Indies Down Under. The two captains, Sir Frank Worrell and Richie Benaud decided to play positive and attractive cricket in their 5-match series.

The first Test itself proved to be a thrilling encounter as it was a Tie. The first time in the history of the game. Although the West Indies lost the series 2-1, the way in which they played the game made them heroes and stars of it. They were paraded through the street of Melbourne and cheered by an enormous crowd on their departure. One is sad to see the state of West Indian cricket at present. How the cookie crumbles is a wake-up call for the ICC and many of the other cricketplaying nations in the world. The 1st Test and the first day's play in Dominica between India and the West Indies was a pitiful sight. The loud, fun-loving crowd filled with retorts and the calypso band of music was missing. Empty stands showed that Test cricket was on the wane there. However, these stands seem to be bursting with people during a T20 encounter. The West Indian batting was as limp as were their cricket followers. The players seem to have forgotten the very art of Test cricket. They lack the technique and understanding of a 5-day encounter and the Indian bowlers should make hay while they can.

Cricket played by the West Indians in the past was filled with brilliant stroke play and lethal fast bowling. However, they had the skills and understanding as to when to employ them.

The famous documentary “Fire in Babylon”, made by the BBC as to how their captain Clive Lloyd transformed his 1970s West Indian team into champions, is a tale that is far away from the present lot of their cricketers. The immediate excuse is that cricket is not a good paying proposition for a sportsperson in the Caribbean islands and so many have gone to the United States to play basketball, baseball and other sports professionally. However, if one scans the franchise base T20 cricket played which are also mushrooming at various centres of the world, there are plenty of West Indian cricketers involved in it. Quite understandably so, as the lure of making a comfortable life for the future is foremost in the mind of most individuals. The problem that West Indies cricket finds itself in is that it comprises players from different islands, each one a beautiful country in its own right. Clive Lloyd managed to bring about unity amongst them and pride to play as one team as did the great Sir Frank Worrell. Unfortunately, the West Indian team lacks a strong leader who can take charge and bring about a holistic change. One can also see the pride to play for the West Indies is missing amongst their players. This naturally revolves around the meagre match fees and the lack of finance of their Cricket Board.

(Yajurvindra Singh is a former India cricketer. The views expressed are personal)

In a tight situation, especially, during a critical Ashes Test match, every cricketer on the ground is looking to get that one extra bit of advantage. The batter tries to stay on the wicket, whereas, the fielding side hopes to get one. The 10 modes of dismissal for a batsman are foremost on the mind of a fielding side.

Aspiring Cricketers right from their elementary days are taught to not fall victim to them.

Bairstow, unfortunately, in a world of his own, forgot the basic rule, that the ball is not dead until the umpire says so. Strolling up to meet his non-striker captain at the other end with the ball in play was a folly that even a schoolboy cricketer would have avoided. The reason is, that school and club cricket is where one actually learns the importance of the rules of how one can get out. This is a growing-up process in cricket when one is still unaware of the rules and consequences that may arise by not adhering to them. Jonny Bairstow knows he made an elementary error and quite rightly has kept quiet for others to debate the issue, rather than for him to get embroiled in it. The famous “Spirit of Cricket” and lack of “fair play” are some words that emerge from such incidents and “gamesmanship” from others, opposing it.

As an international Indian cricketer, I have been through many such incidents wherein opposition players and teams have tried every means in the book to try and get me out. Yes, I have fallen victim to it on several occasions, annoyed at making myself vulnerable to the 10 commandments of getting out in cricket. I was once “run out” by a bowler as a non-striker for unintentionally being out of the batting crease. I remember when I was “timed out” for not coming to the wicket in the 2 minutes stipulated and for “hitting the ball twice”. The last was in anger in exchange for a verbal retort by the bowler. On all these occasions my team lost and I learned over time to be careful and not careless. Cricket used to have that aura of being a gentleman’s game. One that was played hard but fair. This feeling, unfortunately, when assessed today, dates back to the initial days of Test cricket. Incidents of unfair play then were few and far between.

Douglas Jardine, the famous England captain in the Ashes series of 1932 in Australia, a gentleman by all accounts, was the first one to put a spoke on the

In trying to stop the Australian run-machine, Sir Don Bradman, and to win the Ashes series utilized the famous “Bodyline tactics” to demolish Australia. He did not break the rules of cricket then, however, he destroyed the very essence of the game.

In today’s parlance, his tactics would have been the case study of success for several of the top business schools around the world. Jardine undertook many hours of research to plan and implement his winning ways and although it proved successful, his fellow gentlemen and members of the MCC disapproved of it quite vehemently.

The irony is that 91 years later at the famous Long Room at the Lord's, the very members who talked and upheld the spirit of the game, booed and made ugly remarks of cheating when the Australian team came back to the pavilion victoriously.

The Long Room for a visiting cricketer playing at Lord's is like walking through history when one is going out to bat or field. There is an aura that engulfs one. It gives one a halo-like experience and evokes thoughts that take one back to the legends who have walked through it, earlier. The Mecca of cricket is how Lord's is identified and quite rightly so, being the centre point of all cricketing matters in the past.

The boisterous and uncanny behaviour of its members has truly tarnished the very ingredients of what it stood for. A behaviour that one disapproved of from the spectators at the cheaper stands has now entrenched itself amongst the socalled elite members as well.

Personally, as a former cricketer, the onus of playing fair lies in the actions of a cricketer. Winning is important, however, how one achieves it, is even more important. The rules are there for one to follow and sense should prevail when one applies it.

One marvel at Courtney Walsh not running out Saleem Jaffar in a crucial World Cup match in 1987. Cricket has had umpteen number of such heartwarming and wonderful gestures as well in the years gone by. The famous line that comes to one’s mind is, “Playing is not about winning and losing but how you play the game”. The Australians may feel that they have done nothing wrong in getting Jonny Bairstow out and quite rightly so. However, subconsciously they know it was not in the right spirit to do so. The spirit of the game of cricket, however, had evaporated many moons ago, and one wonders whether it will ever come back. (Yajurvindra Singh is a former India cricketer. The views expressed are personal)