Watching Twenty20 cricket live is like being at a rock concert (or let’s just say a pop concert, rock this aint!).
You’re convinced there’s something sweetly catching in the air, that a helluva lot of people have come here high on something that’s not quite legal and - if the home team’s doing well and this is Mumbai - there’s an infectious energy and a foot-tapping rhythm to the proceedings that just makes you want to smile, wherever your loyalties lie.In Ranji Trophy cricket, ask any other outfit which team they really want to beat and 99 per cent of the time, they’d look at you straight in the eye and say “Mumbai”. It’s not just because Mumbai have won the Ranji more times than everyone else put together and the others want to play catch up. It’s also because of that indescribable devil-may-care Mumbai attitude that riles the rest of the pack.
It’s a potent brew that's part spunk, part unfettered aggro, part an ability to lift their game at any stage because of an incredible feeling of belonging to their city (a feeling that the people belonging to no other Indian city really have) and finally, a wholly khadoos attitude.
Ask any Mumbai cricketer about how the average Mumbai cricketer plays his game and 99 per cent of the time, he would laugh and tell you “khadoos” - it’s a winner-takes-all, never-say-die kind of spirit, where the winning is achieved through any and every means.
Thanks Kadambari Murali..
4 comments:
Ah, finally an article that is NOT about Kolkata! If the players really have imbibed the Mumbai attitude, that really sums up the effect of Mumbai cricket for me.
I remember during the Mumbai - Bengal final in 2007, Milind Rege being asked if Mumbai would try to wrap up the win by day 4 after a first innings lead of 177. Rege's response was that Mumbai would not declare, but rather bat the rest of the game so that they do not give the opposition any hope. It didnt quite pan out that way, but thats the khadoos attitude we are talking about, no inch asked for, and certainly none given.
Sailesh,
Remeber that the tikka applied to them contained soil from Shivaji Park.. When anointed thus, how can they not perform?
I am a little concerned though, about the 7 day hiatus.. While it does give time to recover from injury (Tendulkar, Nair), it also deflates momentum.. And there is the dynamic of SRT in the squad and the captaincy question.
btw, is Abhishek Nair or Nayyar?
Cheers
Homer, these are the same questions I had been pondering over with no answers. I am not ruling out Tendulkar letting Pollock continue with the captaincy, given that he has never been keen on it.
And it is Abhishek Nayar. Did you notice, he sounds just like Tendulkar when he speaks?
yes he does Sailesh.. eerily so :)
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