In the past, people carry bunch of newspapers, a bag of sarnie, nibbles and some posh with Champagne bottles to watch a test match. The grind, temperament and control the batters had in the middle provided a good “me time” to mug up the newspapers and have an occasional glance at the scorecard. They are the Cricket Holidaymakers.
The time has now completely changed. if you don’t watch closely, you miss it. The distraction of DRS does get the avid Insta swiper on phone to spend sometime viewing the big screens. The “uh..oh” and the fancy dress naughtiness’s can itself create a headlines for the newspaper. There are some moments that makes you hide away all newspaper, gadgets and keep eyes open to enjoy the match. Recently, there is one man who is dictating terms with the fans with the bat in the ground and the viewers on the tele.
He started belting quick runs in test…the pundits reflected stating that “he is rash”, is he playing T20 cricket ? Later, he set up a fictional bench mark that for every insta swipe a boundary is hit which is evident from the scorecard. While he was deep in this process, he was given licence to do that. He then developed the maturity to gauge his strokes but still made quick runs. The avid test followers thought, hmmmm just a cameo. He then went to win matches for the team still playing the same way. Further on being more consistent and keeping critics away. You may have guessed the player.
This player is now bonding well off and on the pitch with his team mates. He is still young and right on top after ageing Captains in the team. He will certainly take the baton soon or later to lead Team India.
His courage echoes the philosophy “Starve the fear wolf and feed the courage wolf” and evident from a boundary with a reverse flick of a new ball. That too of James Anderson which require a mindset of some sort. He silenced the people who said fluke by leading the team to a victory.
Rishabh Pant’s batting average of 60 plus in Australia and 60 plus in India playing 4th or 5th down is out of the world stats. The entertainment that he provides playing seriously in the middle does make the Cricket holidaymaker let loose in the stands.
Rishabh Pant is definitely a new captain in the making for Team India.
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