Cricket's center of gravity moves East

Sachin
By Anil - June 24, '02
June 22 2002

Cricketers from the Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka - are the leading lights of cricket today. Economic powerhouse India finances world cricket. These are the factors that are driving a heady, fast-paced evolution of the game.

Sachin Tendulkar - the name is synonymous with batsmanship. The finest batsman in the world, and a living legend, he is often compared to Don Bradman of Australia (including in comments from the Don himself). Cricketing fans the world over flock to their stadiums and their TVs when Sachin strides up to the crease and treats them to another display of thundering straight drives, elegant square cuts, and trademark swivelling hooks. Helpless bowlers are converted to reluctant admirers. The presence or absence of Sachin can make the difference between a full or empty stadium, and that particular game making or losing money. Such is the influence of the great batsman that many fans may leave after he is out, regardless of the fate of the game. Fans know which side of their bread is buttered, they insist on entertainment value.

Shoaib Akhtar, considered the fastest bowler in the world, captures the imagination of fans in a different way. Few sights are more pleasurable from a bowling side's perspective than seeing the athletic runup of a genuine speed merchant, a delivery which beats a batsman with sheer pace, and a stump cartwheeling towards the wicketkeeper. Akhtar has overtaken Jeff Thomson's long standing speed records achieved decades back.

Muthiah Muralitharan, the best spinner in the world, mesmerizes and deceives batsmen with his magical fingers and wrists, sending them hurtling to doom on the flattest of pitches. He is the youngest bowler in cricket to have bagged 400 wickets, and is widely expected to become the most successful bowler of all time.

More recently, Wisden has just announced the best Test and ODI performances over the last year. Smarting from criticism over omitting all of Sachin Tendulkar's numerous excellent performances and centuries from their top 100 innings of all time, they have attempted a more balanced evaluation this time. Subcontinental cricketers swept the awards:

• Murali's Test performance of 9-51 against Zimbabwe confirmed him as best Test bowler
• Inzamam-ul-Haq from Pakistan was acknowledged as the best Test batsmen of the year for his awesome innings of 329
• Dinesh Mongia's scintillating 159 not out in a difficult situation made him the best ODI batsman
• Waqar Younis from Pakistan took the honors for the year's best ODI bowler with his 7-36 against England.

  The feats of all these champions have not received as much attention as they should have from countries outside their own. Disparaging reactions from envious factions have pulled down both Murali and Akhtar occasionally into controversy; and the greatest ambassador of the game, Sachin, was dragged into unsavory events by a tyrannical and biased match referee called Mike Deness with full support from the ICC.

  Let's rejoice in the achievements of these great cricketers. Not only are the best in the world now all from the subcontinent, but cricket now commands money that it could not dream about in the past, and hundreds of millions of dollars pour into the game every year from fans and businesses in India. The day is not far when cricket will be run from the place that now produces the greatest cricketers and the biggest financial clout.