When two legends talk courtside
RIO DE JANEIRO: The Sania MirzaPrarthana Thombare doubles encounter had two of Indian sport’s most illustrious gems in attendance. Sachin Tendulkar also tried his hand at tennis before he gave up all other sport for cricket. His appreciation for the game is obvious as he often turns up at Wimbledon to see the maestros at work. It’s of course a bit of an aberration that one of the better behaved cricketers ever actually had John McEnroe as his childhood idol!
He was sitting with Leander Paes courtside. So what do two legends speak about when they talk sport in an Olympic setting? Your correspondent tried to be a fly on the wall and eavesdrop. Later, it was possible to buttress the gaps in conversation by cross checking with Paes.
The most intriguing bit of their conversation revolved around the basic similarity between tennis and cricket. Discussing Mirza’s serve, Paes explained to the batsman about how the opponent looks at the server’s toss to anticipate where the ball will come. If the toss is at 12 o clock then the serve is bound to be flat, at two it’s going to be a slice serve while if the toss is at 10 o clock, then the receiver faces a kick serve. “Sachin gave a similar analogy for cricket. Except that in their case the batter looks at the angle from which the ball is released by bowler,” Paes said later. “For them if the wrist is at 12 o clock then it’s likely to be a good length straight delivery. The 11 o clock makes for a better yorker while the bouncer from 10 o clock is most penetrative.” Tendulkar went on to explain how the batsman actually has two mental clocks in his head and plotting the angles of both allows him to judge angle and depth of the ball at the moment of release. While Paes did try and explain the intricacies of how that works, it was far too technical for the limited comprehension of your correspondent.
The anticipation aspect apart, both sports are all about footwork and the positioning of the feet is what makes for a winner or not or in case of cricket a four or a catch. “Quick feet are what differentiate the best tennis players or batsmen from the many others.”
Tendulkar is here as a goodwill ambassador for the IOA and his presence certainly perked up Mirza who was often seen looking towards his corner for some positive energy. Surprisingly enough, for the doubles did kind of drag on and was not the best display of tennis given that the Chinese were tired and the Mirza not on top of her game, Tendulkar stayed on for the full two hour 44 minute duration. He was scheduled to be at the Games another day and was slated to fly out on Sunday night.
MOST INTRIGUING BIT OF THEIR CONVERSATION REVOLVED AROUND THE BASIC SIMILARITY BETWEEN TENNIS AND CRICKET