The Romantic Artist

As the era of Brian Lara and Saeed Anwar was coming to an end I was feeling quite empty deep inside, thinking of the absence of left-hand stylish willow masters who mostly are responsible for cricket romanticism in batsmanship. I, myself, being more prone to cricket romantics and for which rather than the statistical milestones it’s the poetry behind a cricketer’s skill which attracts me most.

Whether it’s a bowler or it’s a batsman, my cricketing eyes always look for the romance behind the cricketers skills. In the 90’s Brian Lara and Saeed Anwar won my heart and soul. Their majestic timing mixed with enough flair and style is a romance seeker’s dream. I still watch their videos and surely, I get lost within myself.

As the dawn of 2000 broke, Lara and Anwar started to fade away but in the little island Sri Lanka, a doe-eyed, and a gentle innocent boy came into the scene. Those who had talked with him then, all of them used to say that it’s not his gentle attitude that would catch one’s attention but it was his Aussie like mental toughness which caught everybody’s attention.

Though mentally tough, while executing strokes which, till now has the charm of a young lady carrying her harvest at home, the sizzles of a girl’s lips and the fragrance of a red rose. Yes, Kumar Sangakkara had been a good if not the best replacement for a cricket romanticist.

A qualified lawyer, Kumar Sangakakra, was cut from more graceful cloth, easing into strokes with utmost elegance. The cut and the pull come naturally to him since his debut and as time passed and the confidence grew, he became a more assured front-foot player as well. Arjuna Ranatunga had already exploded the myth of the Sri Lankans being meek men who could be bullied, but Sangakkara has refined the belligerence, combining a suave exterior with cutting asides and sharp sledges from behind the stumps.

He is energetic and for which he also served the role as a wicket-keeper but in course of time it had been his batting which became the topic to be discussed of, not in terms of statistics but also in terms of grace and gorgeousness.

To the statistics lover Sangakkara will never be a subject of charm, to the T20 lovers he is an alien as his batting doesn’t breathe fire or to the traditionalists he will not be granted as he hates to get into his shells when situation demands resistance. But mind you Sangakkara can bat and his pure timings mixed with elegance still leaves everyone moved, let the deep passion reveal in one’s heart.

In 2002, at Lahore, Sangakakra tamed the Pakistani attack with a monumental double ton that scripted a famous Sri Lankan win in the final of the Asian Test Championship. I watched that knock and those eloquent drives against the wily Waqar Younis and the pacy Mohamad Sami made me his fan immediately. At, 22, boredom didn’t catch him, the heat was defeated towards his immense patience and courage and till now cricket calls him, cricket challenges him and ask him questions. And Sangakakra gives cricket every answer with some romantic signature strokes of him.

Like many, my favourite Sangakkara knock has been that majestic 192 against Australia at Hobart in 2007, where the bat suddenly transformed into a magic wand rather than a sword. It punished the Aussie bowlers but each stroke had been executed with a touch of the early morning gentle breeze, the gentle wind that blows across the river during the evening times. Sadly, it ended due to the unromantic Rudi Koertzen’s brain explosion. But what a sublime knock that had been!

The last decade had been the age of mechanics. Romanticisms had been almost absent. But thankfully, Sangakkara was there. Ponting and Hayden sliced bowlers like robots, Kallis scored runs but weren’t in the most charming manner, Dravid and Laxman kept on saving matches with Dravid being a Wall while Laxman being spreading the Hyderbadi flavour with least romantic touches, Sachin hardly executed my favourite back-foot push  and drives of his and for which I was sad.

Sometimes the heart sees which is invisible to the eyes. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. A cricket romanticist feels the actual charm and romance behind the exhibition of a cricketer's skill. My romantic heart felt the actual romance between and ball in Sangakkara’s batting. The beautiful red cherry, till now, never minds whenever Sangakkara sends her to the boundary as she likes it as Sangkakkara doesn’t hit her brutally but he just adores her with love.

In course of time Sangakara is playing in his 100^th Test match, and I want him to go more and certainly won’t want him to concentrate on statistics and records but just want him to be as what he is, the romantic artist of modern cricket.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar