Seems we’ve lost appetite for epic duels
Those fleeting emotions which had been dulled by the passage of time, coursed through the veins like a gushing stream while reading Bishan Singh Bedi’s conversation with Vivian Richards last Sunday in the Hindustan Times.
One had forgotten what it was to be young and a passionate believer in the power of sport and what a cathartic experience it used to be to watch the sublime skills of its protagonists.
In an era not too far back in time, Richards was the original Master Blaster, the likes of whom the world has never seen again.
The age of innocence is the age when idealism, faith and hope are the cornerstone of one’s existence, regardless of what in reality may be happening around you. When you believe in the world you also believe in the power of change. And in the context of sport, a harmless activity if there is any, it transports you to a magical world of epic contests made possible by the display of superhuman skills of those who seem to be blessed by the heavens.
Bedi’s conversation with Richards was more reflective of the times we live in, where administrative lapses, moneypower, all-round corruption and greed have led to an uncertain future for cricket. It, for obvious reasons, delved more into the reasons behind the changing times and skirted the real core of the sport: the contest between two sets of contrasting skills competing against each other.
These two competing skills, embodied by the two conversationalists themselves — the art- ful, crafty, guileful Bedi and the sinewy yet graceful Richards — has made the sport a throbbing, thrilling, agonizing and exhilarating experience, where time stands still and even loses its meaning while the contest is on.
The very gentle and humble Richards that emerged from the interview, must have been a shadow of the man we knew. Supreme confidence, nay arrogance, was the hallmark of the man. As if his boxer-like build wasn’t intimidating enough, he would literally saunter to the batting crease, the bat in his hand appearing more like a tool with which he would soon slay the leather, as if he was swatting flies.
It is again the reflection of the times we live in and the power of those who have invested in the game, that this conversation was abruptly cut short when we were just warming up to it.
There was a time, when a player would talk to the media, free of any constraints. He would do so only if he was willing to share his thoughts and not interact from a stage at the behest of his sponsors.
It is a practice which we have got so used to and have accepted as an inevitable consequence of the new economic world-order we have built.
Unfortunately, this new worldorder somehow does not allow a Bedi in his full flight, tease a Richards in his full-flow to counter his guile. We have lost our appetite for epic contests, too happy it seems, are we with our little skirmishes.
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE IS THE AGE WHEN IDEALISM, FAITH AND HOPE ARE THE CORNERSTONE OF ONE’S EXISTENCE