Sunday, December 9, 2007

First look - Ishant Sharma

first things on first look, this boy should go back to domestic cricket. he's too frail in the head and body. they say, you underestimate today's youth only if you like being made to look like a fool. (or some such thing vaguely foreboding.) but what we have to say about him - which is a lot more than what we think of him - thankfully, has less to do with his age and more with his inabilities - mental, technical and physical. maybe we've already said too much.

that all said, where should we start? there's so many things about him we could rip apart. but we won't. because we're telling ourselves don't. because it helps to be tall if you want to be a fast bowlers. it helps to be able to bowl at 130 kph even when doing it all wrong. it helps to look like something out of the ordinary to make an impression. it helps to make a physical impression if you're a fast bowler. that apart, we don't want to break him. fortunately for the brittle-looking fella, there's no chance of that ever happening. (you see, nobody reads us.)

happily we live in a good time for cricket. by which we mean we live in a time when all the reputed writers of the game - us not included - that people avariciously consume - again, us not included - like hungry refugees, are level-headed and compassionate enough to understand that they should go easy on this boy. that he needs more time. that he could do with a stint at the mrf pace academy - a long stint. so enough about the lad. which is not to say the less said about him the better. though that, too, wouldn't be too far off the mark.

time now to dexterously wrap it all up like a well-balanced shawarma and leave you with this nugget of a punt, the ponting in us says ishant sharma has a 50/50 shot at becoming the right-handed bruce reid of indian cricket. (with hair by jason gillespie.) which, all put together, might be a mixed blessing. but considering the perennial shortage of quicks in india - not counting the fearsome duo of amoebic dysentery and diarrhea - we'll more than settle for that. and, at this stage, so will pakistan. (right now, they'll take anything.)

(hatchet-)job done, time now to get all the blood off our hands and body with a much-needed showerma. (in a word and more, end of shameless self-promotion.)

No comments: