| by N.S.Venkataraman
( October 4, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) I
have been a cricket enthusiast from my
younger days and in my college days I
have played cricket in the college (not for the college). I have been watching cricket for the last five decades with undiminished
enthusiasm and I do not know whether this
sustained enthusiasm has been due to my
not maturing with the age!
 |
| Photograph by Michael Daub |
I clearly see a
big change in the cricket culture over the last five decades , which
people of my age (67 years) will
perhaps understand.
In the olden days when a batsman would score a
century , the captain and senior cricketers in the fielding side would go to
the batsman and congratulate him by shaking hands. We do not see such gestures nowadays. Only the other batsman in the field
congratulate him.
I remember a test match between India and
Australia at Madras, when Indian team was led by G.S.Ramchand and Australian
team was led by Richie Benaud. Milka
Singh , the young cricketer from Madras came into the field to bat and hit the
first ball he faced with a glorious boundary.
Richie Benuad applauded his shot
spontaneously and thus elevated the
cricket culture to a lofty level.
The batsman walking out when he would know that he was out, instead
of waiting for the umpire's decision was a very common occurrence and I have
seen batsman even informing the umpire that he was out and quietly walk away if
the umpire would hesitate to give him out.
When a batsman would get out these days , we see
ferocious celebration amongst the players of the fielding side with each one
hugging other , patting each other everywhere in the body and almost making the
batsman who got out feel that he was being driven out of the field. Obviously, the batsman would walk away
feeling humiliated ,with some members of the fielding side sometimes making
even unpleasant gestures. This was never
the case in the earlier days. Someone seeing cricket for the first time ,
particularly the matches such as T 20 ,
would wonder as to whether cricket is a game or a warfare.
We have seen great captains like Nawab of
Pataudi of India and Richie Benaud of Australia who were looked upon as “father
figures” by the other members of the team.. Once somebody would become a
captain, he would never play under any body’s captaincy later on in those days.
Pataudi and Benaud after becoming captain did not play under anyone else. Today, the captain’s job looks like one of
rotation and therefore , it is no more associated with the prestige that it
once commanded.
I have seen in fifties and sixties that when a
batsman would perform very well or a member of the fielding side would perform
very well, all others would request the particular person to lead them when
they would return back to the pavilion.
We rarely see such gestures these days.
Obviously , the cricket culture has changed and
time alone would prove whether it would be for good or bad.
 I have been a cricket enthusiast from my younger days and ...){kind=link}