honestbharani said:
Don't forget his Gilchristesque batting. Can't play a cut and can't play a pull and yet he is our new batting God. I seriously wish he actually played some shots with the horizontal bat. Then he could be a real hope at no.7.
It is true that I had said he kept very well on the occasion that is being quoted. The reason for why I said is simple, he did keep very well that day.
Just like my recent post is about Dhoni's keeping during the last match we saw against Sri Lanka.
I dont see why one should say, Dhoni is a great keeper or Dhoni is a lousy keeper. Its too early in his career for anyone to make such statements. One can only comment on how he keeps on a day, during a series and so on.
There is no contradiction in this.
What amazes me is when people tend to speak , particularly of young Indian players in such with such firm conviction as to how they should replace the existing established stars. I rarely comment on Indian young players and have often declined saying clearly that I cant since I havent seen so-an-so.
I do not form an opinion based on what I read written by others. I read it yes. I believe it to the extent, I belive the credibility of the source. Thus if Boycott recommends a young players potential, it definitely impresses me more than when the dozens who have sprouted as sports critics in Indian media. I prefer, in that case to see for myself.
Nothing wrong about that whatsoever, in my humble opinion.
When I wrote that Dhoni kept well, I explained what he did well and also showed a level of surprise "was a revelation" confirming that I did not know or believe before that about his capabilities.
Similarly when I wrote the other day about his shoddy keeping to Harbhajan, I explained again what he did which appeared so wrong. Again, I also expressed that this may not be as bad as he will keep all the time.
I am not one of those who come with preconcieved notions and then use facts or fiction to justify them.
I remember Lala Amarnath's famous words to Narottam Puri, "Dr Puri, I am not one of those who will change his opinion every day. If I said this is a dead wicket and will result in a high scoring draw on the first day, I will say that throughout the test. I dont care if the test has finally ended in three days, I am a man who sticks to his words !"
Sorry folks, I am a bit different from such high levels of consistency
PS : I was asked many months ago to write, for CW, sketches on the Indian stars and those on the fringes. One of the reasons I did not finally write these was that I didn't feel comfortable writing about youngsters like Raina, Venugopal, Yadav etc who I had never seen by then. Everyone has a right to there opinions and I have a right to mine but I try to ensure that they ARE my own as far as possible Sometimes, accidents of having arrived in this world too late to have witnessed all of it makes it difficult.
