2000 not out

"22 Yards of Life,

22 Yards of the Truth,

So Will you just stand there, my friend,

Or Will you be ready to Shoot?" 

- A carribean calypso - Anonymous

Test cricket, like any great sport, mirrors life..

Like Life sometimes is the mornnig session of Day 1. At the bouncy tracks of a Perth or a Durban or the West Indian tracks of old. Overcast sky. Greenish pitch. Holding, Marshall, Roberts, Garner glaring down. Shiny new cherry. Five slips. Gully. Short leg. The first ball zips by your nose. You can smell the leather. You know you are deep in it now. You need to focus. You need to be courageous. Be patient. See off the new ball. Because you know that these tough times wont last. 

Life is sometimes a bed of Roses. Like a flat featherbed wicket in India or Srilanka. No seam or swing. Little turn and true bounce. You walk in with the score at 325-2. The fielders are spread wide.A walk in the park. But still you got to make the most of it. Make hay while the sun shines. Because, opportunities like these do not come very often.

Life is sometimes seemingly comfortable. The ball is just over 50 overs old. The score is a respectable 180-2. And suddenly there is a hint of reverse swing. The sultans of Swing - Wasim and Waqar have just been handed the ball. Suddenly the ball swerves and dips and zips by your bat. Thuds hard into your pads. Crunches your toes. Warning signs, out of nowhere. You take a deep breath. You tell yourself to focus again. Take fresh guard. And brace yourself. 

Life sometimes offers a lot of luck. You arrive at the crease shuffling nervously. You are in terrible form and your place in the side questioned. You play and miss umpteen number of times. You are given the benefit of doubt on a close LBW call. You are dropped twice. You struggle to find the middle of the bat. But somehow, you survive. And go on to score a hundred. A scrappy innings. Luck, so often, arrives mysteriously but always very welcome.

Life is sometimes like the opposition team down and out at 100-6. You got to move in for the kill. But you become complacent. What will the tailenders do? But you forget a certain Adam Gilchrist is still around. The tail wags around his explosive counter attack. The opportunity is lost. The door is shut firmly on your face.

Life is sometimes a post tea session on Day 3. The test match is evenly poised. A couple of quick wickets and it will swing one way. The entire session negotiated safely with loss of perhaps a wicket and it will swing the other. Life too is a fascinating contest. Sometimes tense. Like the Ashes of 2005. But you got to take the all ups and downs  in your stride with a smile. To quote Abraham Lincoln, treat victory and defeat alike. 

Life is sometimes a day 5 devilish pitch. Big wide cracks. The ball turning square. The Spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra, Venkat. Two close in fielders chattering away. Two slips. Leg slip. And what does Vivian Richards decide to do? Step out. Dance down the track. And Bang. The chewing gum. The swagger. Sometimes, you need to do just that. Throw caution to the winds. Take the bull by the horns.

Life sometimes seems hopeless. Like at the Eden gardens when India vs Australia with India staring at a certain innings defeat. Like West indiies vs Australia at Barbados with West Indies at 105-5 chasing 308 for victory. But you need to remind yourself of what Laxman-Dravid did that day at the Eden gardens. What Brian Lara did at Barbados. And draw hope and get inspired. It ain't over till the fat lady sings!

Life sometimes can be very cruel. Like when you need just 4 runs to end your career with an average of 100. But you score a duck. And finish on 99.94. But still. Thats phenomenal. Sir Donald Bradman. Incredible.

Equally incredible too are some of the other great test cricketers. And what qualities they embody and ask us to imbibe in some measure. The patience of a Gavaskar. The simplicity and clarity of a Sehwag. The determination of a Dravid. The perfection and humility of a Tendulkar. The grace of a Gower or a Ganguly. The elegance of a Laxman or a Azharuddin. The resoluteness of a Kumble. The guile and cunning of a Warne or a Murali. The consistency of a Mcgrath. The aggressiveness of a Hayden or a Gilchrist. The fire of a Donald. The astuteness of a Imran Khan. The all-round ability of a Kallis or a Sobers. 

Perhaps this explains the endurance of the Five day game. Why we are about to witness the 2000th Test match at the Mecca of Cricket. Why it is still around in the age of Twitter and T-20. Perhaps it is because Test cricket is a throwback to the old times. A part which we are afraid to let go. A true contest between bat and ball. Like a drama which unfolds slowly but surely.With ebbs and flows. Subtle changes and nuances which only the discerning eye can see. Like it is telling us that you better pay atttention. Slow down. Take it easy and revel in the simple pleasures of life. Treat every delivery that life offers on merit.And take it over by over, hour by hour, session by session. :)