Sree.... Shanth!!!

I have been following the India-England series from the very first test. And I was very interested in the antics of Shantakumaran Sreesanth. And I guess he has achieved his objective that way – to get people interested in him.

You never see him not chatting on a cricket field. He chats with the batsman he is bowling to, chats with the bowler he is facing upto, he chats with the slip fielders who he may edge to any time, he chats with the umpires and if that’s not enough chatting for the day, he goes to the boundary ropes and shares his reflection on the day’s proceedings with the crowd. Its impossible for the cameras to miss him. Which is the complete antithesis of the stereotype of an Indian cricketer. The typical Indian cricketer, goes to the field, looks for the place in the field with maximum shade, does some limbering up when he has to bowl, and plays some wristy artistic shots when he has to bat and throws his wicket away trying to outdo himself. But he never is the in-your-face kind of bloke who would try and get all the cameras to pan on to him.

Sreesanth is unlike anything that has happened to Indian cricket over its history. He dances when he gets a wicket and follows it up with a ‘namaste’ to the batsman to rub it in, and he sledges the fast bowlers while batting. Some think its aggro, doctors call it hormones going wrong, others call it showmanship. It makes for good television but the bigger question is lost amidst the flashbulbs and cameras. Isn’t he supposed to win a match for his country when he moves into the field and marks his run up? Is he doing enough of that? Even if he is doing enough of that isn’t he going overboard with whatever he is doing?

Journalists always give the example of John Mcenroe who used to fire himself up by disputing a line call and believing the entire world was against him. What looked like antics had a method about it. He wanted to tap onto his reserves of adrenaline and try and bring some needle into the otherwise tough job of beating a top 50 opponent. With Sreesanth it doesn’t even seem to be that. He beats the batsman with a good ball followed by a word of what looks like (on television) advice. He gets hammered and he follows it up with advice at higher volume. If he is respectfully defended, he collects the ball and threatens to throw the wickets down taking the batsman’s head on the way. Whatever the poor batsman does Sree has a response which is entirely non cricketing in nature.

Again it makes for interesting television, I am not sure if it serves any purpose greater than that. He could as well come on to the field dressed as Santa Claus and do Mohiniattam. He will get enough media coverage to last a lifetime. But when a bowler's bowling figures look like 21 – 2 – 105 – 0, nothing looks that funny. Matches are won on the ground, with performance. The last column should at least have 2 for any bowler to call it a reasonable day. If this objective is lost when playing to the gallery, you can as well join boogie-woogie as a participant.

Hope he proves me wrong in the next test. The amount of talent he has its not an unreasonable hope.