The rejoice of a non-striker
A celebration by a non-striker that touched everyone’s hearts
Cricket is competitive, as all sports should be. While I love the ‘in-your-face’ rivalry, little displays of sportsmanship curve my lips into a broad smile. It is moments like these that reinforce my love for the game, respect the players, and make me believe that it is indeed a gentleman’s game. One such incident happened on Day 3 of the Second Test in Chepauk, Chennai between India and England.
The Indian team was in a commanding position. With a humongous lead of 432 already amassed on Day 3, the local lad was closing in towards a momentous milestone. A souvenir for himself. An undoubtedly-deserved and hard-earned souvenir. A result of his grit and aggression. Out walks the number 11 batsman, just 4-test matches old and known to swing the blade to slash further cuts into the opposition. Our story starts here.
On a pitch that spun for fun and spewing dust like a volcano, everybody expected the last batsman to go hard at the opposition. Get a few boundaries to push the lead. But he stood his guard. He waited and waited solidly. He seemed to come with a goal — to enable his partner to reach his memorable century on his home ground. And they were getting closer. Every block from him got a loud cheer from the crowd.
“On 99, an outside edge chipped the ball over the slip, and he knew, the non-striker knew, the country knew, everybody knew that he had done it!”
With a six from the local lad, he swiftly moved to 97. Just 3 more runs to go. Everybody was on the edge of their seats. The batsman wanted it for himself. Everybody else wanted it for him. But maybe, just maybe, not more than the non-striker! On 99, an outside edge chipped the ball over the slip, and he knew, the non-striker knew, the country knew, everybody knew that he had done it! He relieves himself off of his helmet, revealing a broad smile, raising the bat to the jubilant crowd.
Behind, the non-striker could be seen with a broader grin, pumping his fists in triumph; as if he had scored a century! He swung the bat madly in the air, jumped up like a happy puppy as he ran towards Ravichandran Ashwin, and embraced a brother in his arms. Amidst the sea of applause for Ashwin from the crowd, Mohammed Siraj adds his own.
An epic epilogue to this story would be to see Siraj unleash some into the stands, and he does precisely that! What an entertainer he is! In the next couple of overs, Siraj lands two sixes into the crowd. It was not the first time we have seen the spirit of the game upheld by Siraj. Social media¹ exploded in praise of the Indian pacer was quick to check if Cameron Green (Australian all-rounder) was alright after copping one on the face from a shot straight back from Bumrah. Incidentally, Siraj was a non-striker then too.
We have seen decorated players display tremendous selflessness over the years making the sport delightful to witness. Many may have come at a great personal cost to the players. Javagal Srinath bowled innocuous ‘wide-of-off-stump’ deliveries to allow Anil Kumble² to pick up a 10-wicket haul(7th February 1999). Rahul Dravid held his hand up for everything required of him. Suresh Raina³ famously celebrated Virat Kohli’s century when he was the non-striker! Raina is also known to celebrate the most for a wicket taken by his teammate. I would be remiss to forget M S Dhoni letting Kohli get the winning runs in the 2014 World T20.
It is true. It is the little big things in sport that make it beautiful to watch. These are lessons to learn and implement in life outside the stadium. I extend my love to all the players who make the sport better. Cheers!
[1]: 11th Dec 2020 https://www.sportsadda.com/cricket/news/india-vs-australia-practice-match-jasprit-bumrah-mohammed-siraj-twitter-reaction
Thank you Revanth Chetluru for the suggestions!
