Sanath
to Sachin, the body has its own story to tell
By Harsha Bhogle
Sanath Jayasuriya should have gone out of Test cricket at the Premadasa
Stadium with thousands of noisy, but friendly, Sri Lankans singing
'Thank you for the cricket'. He deserved it but he didn't get it
and that is the difference between our own scripts and those that
life writes for us sometimes. A dislocated finger, a corner of a
dressing room, a beautiful but small little town in the hills of
Sri Lanka... not quite the last exit for one of the more influential
cricketers of our time.
Now
Jayasuriya, he could make mince of the bowling and yet smile like
an embarrassed teenager, has said he will finish with the more frenetic
one-day game at the World Cup of 2007. That means he will go out
in the midst of a lot of music but in a faraway land where he will
be a name like any other; a bit like Brian Lara saying farewell
in Kanpur. It cannot be so for a man must bid good-bye in front
of his people and on his land. It has to be the Premadasa for he
owned it.
He
has got the order of his exit timed correctly though for his style
is now more suited to the one-day game, to the classic cameo rather
than the lead role; a few thrusts of the rapier, the sudden burst
to the other end and, very often, a more surprising burst back for
a second, a quiet little squat between deliveries and then a carve
over point.
He
will leave Sri Lankan cricket with a hole at the top. Over the last
few years, they have had two talisman cricketers; Muralitharan spinning
the ball with a smile and Jayasuriya slashing it away with a smile.
Murali's forte was Test cricket for a bowler just about gets a speaking
role in one-day cricket. That was Jayasuriya territory and he was
a giant; holding up the side and yet, in doing so, allowing a huge
shadow to fall on it. Sri Lanka have never really emerged from that
shadow and now they must. As Glenn McGrath made the other bowlers
look better so did Jayasuriya with the batsmen. Now the Sangakkaras
and the Jayawardenes must walk alone.
Jayasuriya
cannot do much more for the body is giving way now and the spares
cannot arrive. The mind will be willing but it cannot perform alone
for sport requires a combo. Often, when the mind is strong it drives
the body forward, like an officer might his troops. But once the
body starts complaining, once the reserves start to run dry, the
mind grows weary. The director knows the script but the actors cannot
perform anymore. And once the mind starts questioning, the end for
the athlete is nigh.
Jayasuriya
has taken the right decision and that is something Sachin Tendulkar
must ponder over as well. It is not a verdict he needs to arrive
at just yet, maybe, but it is a possibility that must, if at least,
enter the vast territories of his mind. Even if not the preferred
one, it must enter the spectrum of options. Different parts are
creaking now and like weary salesmen they want to rest in between.
Invariably the body throws up other options, another muscle gets
used a little more maybe, but they cannot take the workload and
soon they complain too. Tendulkar's joints, his muscles, were like
performers in a circus moving to the ringmaster's tune. Now they
resemble partners in a coalition, they need to be kept satisfied.
Maybe that is the challenge; drive the body and then rest it; and
once rested, tease it and ask it 'do you want more action?'
And
so, really, the greater worry is not Tendulkar but Sehwag. Tendulkar
has already produced his magnum opus and it stands there for us
to admire but Sehwag's big moments still lie ahead. Maybe he can
still be India's next captain but for that he must look at himself
a little more carefully. Many years ago, on one of his corporate
road-shows, Anil Ambani was asked by an overseas investor if he
could trust him to run a company when he couldn't look after his
own body. The younger Ambani shed weight like a tree might its leaves
during autumn and emerged fitter and, in the eyes of the world,
more responsible. So too must Sehwag for he looks a picture of neglect
at the moment. The mind is the champion but the body has its own
story to tell. - Indian Express
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