The Test

The unbearable weight of your own expectations, more than the burden of history, can crush even the most skilful and experienced to dust. At 25, when most of us are trying to make sense of life and our own future, Shubman Gill has been saddled with a responsibility that can either lead him to greatness or end in despair. To be an Indian cricket captain navigating his team in the rough and tumble of Test cricket, in a country where the sport itself was born and nourished, is a dream most players will die for.

A few days back, before embarking on his new journey to the shores of England, Gill, the third Sikh to lead India after Bishen Singh Bedi and Jasprit Bumrah, was addressing the press in Mumbai. There were no creases of anxiety on the face; the eyes may have betrayed a twitch of nervousness but the face reflected calmness and the words exuded confidence. The exterior can be no reflection of the inner mechanism of the mind. The mask we wear often falls down the moment adversity strikes us, so judgement is reserved.

What struck me more than the self-assurance that a modern-day Indian cricketer cloaks himself in, was how vulnerability and strength can exist simultaneously. There is that distant look in his eyes and a certain softness to his demeanour that speaks of a man either in turmoil, or at complete peace with his world. As a sportsperson, that too leader of his team, Gill perhaps will require both inner turmoil and calm assurance to combine in a perfect mix to shape his career in the right direction, and guide the Indian Test team to safer pastures in what would be undeniably a difficult time ahead.

History beckons a young boy from a tiny village, Chak Jaimal Singh Wala in Punjab’s border district of Fazilka, to follow in the footsteps of some of the truly great cricketers and leaders India has ever seen. But what does history in the present context mean to the vast youth brigade that follows cricket in India and seems addicted to IPL? What does Gill make of the renaming of the India-England Test series from Pataudi Trophy to Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy?

It obviously will be childish to imagine that the 1971 victory at the Oval, India’s first ever in England against its colonial masters, would evoke the same sense of awe and thrill for him like it would in the older generation who have been part of that folklore history. Will Gill and his band of young hopefuls feel the same sense of pride and fulfilment that permeates the core of those who have lived listening to the stories of how Chandrasekhar’s 6 for 38 spell humbled the mighty empire?

For him and his ilk, Pataudi is just a name, perhaps not even that, and they must be wondering what is this fuss all about over the change in the name of the England-India trophy? The Pataudis are linked with India’s cricket history and go beyond Partition and Independence of the country. Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, a small princely state in present-day Haryana, led India on its 1946 tour of England. Though past his prime, he was made captain at the behest of Jawaharlal Nehru, who wanted to showcase to the world India’s secular credentials by appointing a Muslim to lead the Indian team, a year before India was to formally gain Independence.

Iftikhar was no ordinary batsman, having played for England and scored a century on his Test debut for them. In that infamous ‘bodyline’ series of 1932-33, when captain Douglas Jardine framed his strategy to pepper the Australian batsmen with short-pitched deliveries on their bodies, Iftikhar refused to stand in the leg side close-in cordon in protest against this tactic. As a punishment, Jardine dropped him from the team.

Iftikhar’s son, Mansoor Ali Khan, became the youngest Indian captain ever (aged 21) on the tour of West Indies in 1962, replacing Nari Contractor midway during the tour after Contractor was hit on the head by a Charlie Griffith bouncer. Contractor never played Test cricket again and Tiger Pataudi, who had lost one eye in a car accident in England, led India in 40 of the 46 Tests he played. It was a wonder that he could play with just one eye and despite his poor batting average of 35, his leadership impact on Indian cricket is immense.

India recorded its first overseas win ever, against New Zealand, under his leadership. The great left-arm spinner Bedi would always express his gratitude to Tiger and never tire of saying that “he taught us not only how to win, but how to play for India as one and not as a collection of players from different states, regions, languages and religions”. When, in 2007, the India-England Test series was named as Pataudi Trophy, the world acknowledged this gesture as a fitting tribute to the contribution the Pataudis had made to Indian cricket. Almost 18 years later, the cricket establishments of the two countries, for reasons best known to them, decided to drop Pataudi’s name and replace it with the two greats of the game, Jimmy Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar. Would anyone have a problem with Tendulkar’s name being associated with anything cricketing? Of course not. I am sure even Tendulkar must be feeling uncomfortable with how this name change has transpired and I wonder why he has not heeded to the advice of Sunil Gavaskar to refuse to be party to demeaning a cherished past legacy.

Whether aware or not of India’s cricketing legacy, Gill will not be brooding too much over the naming and renaming of a trophy. History and respect for cricket’s traditions are a subject best left for the chroniclers of the game to grapple with. What should have been and what the reality is are two poles of a world that has shifted gears, where speed has become the essence of life. We are sprinting in the fast lane, moving so quickly that we seem almost clueless to the destination we might end up in, and oblivious to the destruction we may be causing around us.

It is a strange world we live in where identity is still a strong marker of one’s existence, but it shrinks and expands according to one’s desires and the need for instant gratification. Gill and his talented band of inexperienced men are all products of that fast lane where fearless hitting is the default mode of survival. Gill himself was nine years of age when IPL was born in 2008. Safe to assume, its influence on him must be as strong as it must be on the other members of the team. He has played most of his cricket with two redoubtable figures of the game — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. If he has to seek inspiration in how to lead the side, he has two contrasting styles to learn from. One is calmer and more inclusive, the other explosive and stinging.

Rohit could achieve wonders by being a father figure whose taunts and jibes were too muted and benign for his team to mind. Kohli was the master of theatre. An exhibitionist par excellence, ever so provoking, inviting reaction from the most staid of characters, Kohli ignited Test cricket to almost primal status. What in a bygone time would have been called boorish and even offensive was in today’s time called essential and the best survival diet for Test cricket, in danger of being gobbled up by the spread of T-20 leagues. Whichever way you look at it, Kohli’s intensity and energy injected new life into Test cricket and Gill will miss him the most in his formative days as captain.

We don’t know whether he will lead like a Rohit or a Kohli or remain unflappable like MS Dhoni. He could very well be his own man and evolve his own unique style of leadership. Time will tell.

He has an unenviable task ahead and is as inexperienced to the job as is his team. However, to write them off would be premature as self-belief and a fierce desire to succeed seem ingrained in the new generation of cricketers. And in the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan, there is an abundance of talent. Then there is the wizardry of the unorthodox and unplayable bowling arm of Jasprit Bumrah that gives India hope that this could be a much closer fight than is being predicted.

England is no longer the centre of the cricketing universe. We have got over the colonial hangover. Indians now love to confront the sledging, aggressive Australians. England, as a young cricket fan put it, is seen as too staid, almost sombre in their behaviour that for them sucks the life out of a contest. Yet, there is a history and tradition that links the two countries which even the present generation will find difficult to ignore. Any cricket series with England is an event that connects the past with the present and charts out a new future course.

— The writer is the author of ‘Not Quite Cricket’ and ‘Not Just Cricket’

India-England Test rubber (June 20 – August 4)

First Test

June 20 -June 24

Headingley, Leeds

Second Test

July 2-July 6

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Third Test

July 10-July 14

Lord’s, London

Fourth Test

July 23-July 27

Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester

Fifth Test

July 31-August 4

Kennington Oval,

London

Matches start at 3:30 pm

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