Sports
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Sanath
to Sachin, the body has its own story to tell Now Jayasuriya, he could make mince of the bowling and yet smile like an embarrassed teenager, has said he will finish with the more frenetic one-day game at the World Cup of 2007. That means he will go out in the midst of a lot of music but in a faraway land where he will be a name like any other; a bit like Brian Lara saying farewell in Kanpur. It cannot be so for a man must bid good-bye in front of his people and on his land. It has to be the Premadasa for he owned it. He has got the order of his exit timed correctly though for his style is now more suited to the one-day game, to the classic cameo rather than the lead role; a few thrusts of the rapier, the sudden burst to the other end and, very often, a more surprising burst back for a second, a quiet little squat between deliveries and then a carve over point. He will leave Sri Lankan cricket with a hole at the top. Over the last few years, they have had two talisman cricketers; Muralitharan spinning the ball with a smile and Jayasuriya slashing it away with a smile. Murali's forte was Test cricket for a bowler just about gets a speaking role in one-day cricket. That was Jayasuriya territory and he was a giant; holding up the side and yet, in doing so, allowing a huge shadow to fall on it. Sri Lanka have never really emerged from that shadow and now they must. As Glenn McGrath made the other bowlers look better so did Jayasuriya with the batsmen. Now the Sangakkaras and the Jayawardenes must walk alone. Jayasuriya cannot do much more for the body is giving way now and the spares cannot arrive. The mind will be willing but it cannot perform alone for sport requires a combo. Often, when the mind is strong it drives the body forward, like an officer might his troops. But once the body starts complaining, once the reserves start to run dry, the mind grows weary. The director knows the script but the actors cannot perform anymore. And once the mind starts questioning, the end for the athlete is nigh. Jayasuriya has taken the right decision and that is something Sachin Tendulkar must ponder over as well. It is not a verdict he needs to arrive at just yet, maybe, but it is a possibility that must, if at least, enter the vast territories of his mind. Even if not the preferred one, it must enter the spectrum of options. Different parts are creaking now and like weary salesmen they want to rest in between. Invariably the body throws up other options, another muscle gets used a little more maybe, but they cannot take the workload and soon they complain too. Tendulkar's joints, his muscles, were like performers in a circus moving to the ringmaster's tune. Now they resemble partners in a coalition, they need to be kept satisfied. Maybe that is the challenge; drive the body and then rest it; and once rested, tease it and ask it 'do you want more action?' And so, really, the greater worry is not Tendulkar but Sehwag. Tendulkar has already produced his magnum opus and it stands there for us to admire but Sehwag's big moments still lie ahead. Maybe he can still be India's next captain but for that he must look at himself a little more carefully. Many years ago, on one of his corporate road-shows, Anil Ambani was asked by an overseas investor if he could trust him to run a company when he couldn't look after his own body. The younger Ambani shed weight like a tree might its leaves during autumn and emerged fitter and, in the eyes of the world, more responsible. So too must Sehwag for he looks a picture of neglect at the moment. The mind is the champion but the body has its own story to tell. - Indian Express |
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