India Uncut
This blog has moved to its own domain. Please visit IndiaUncut.com for the all-new India
Uncut and bookmark it. The new site has much more content and some new sections, and you can read about them here and here. You can subscribe to full RSS feeds of all the sections from here.
This blogspot site will no longer be updated, except in case of emergencies, if the main site suffers a prolonged outage. Thanks - Amit.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
How to perform a prodigy
Bowl like Venkatesh Prasad. According to the intro of this piece, Prasad was "a bowler who had the skill sets to perform prodigies." I can't think of anyone else who can "perform prodigies," whatever that is.
Actually, what really caught my eye about that article was a comment at the bottom where someone says, "Bring more muslim fast bowlers, they don't get scared." This reminded me of a chat I had in 2001 with a national selector. We were speaking at a function in Mohali the evening before the Test in which Iqbal Siddiqui made his international debut, and I asked this selector about what had attracted them to Siddiqui.
"He is a Muslim," the gentleman said.
I almost dropped my drink. "What?"
"Yes, you see, Muslims are better fast bowlers than Hindus. Look at Pakistan's fast bowlers vis-a-vis our boys. They are more aggressive. They eat meat. They have more killer instinct. So we picked Siddiqui."
I won't reveal the identity of this gentleman -- he is no longer a selector -- but cricket journalists who were reporting in those days will instantly know who I'm talking about. As it happens, I rather liked Siddiqui's bowling, and I think all the Muslim fast bowlers who went on to play for India made it entirely on merit. Still, this is what the guy said. And he was a selector.
(Link via email from Sanjeev Naik.)
Actually, what really caught my eye about that article was a comment at the bottom where someone says, "Bring more muslim fast bowlers, they don't get scared." This reminded me of a chat I had in 2001 with a national selector. We were speaking at a function in Mohali the evening before the Test in which Iqbal Siddiqui made his international debut, and I asked this selector about what had attracted them to Siddiqui.
"He is a Muslim," the gentleman said.
I almost dropped my drink. "What?"
"Yes, you see, Muslims are better fast bowlers than Hindus. Look at Pakistan's fast bowlers vis-a-vis our boys. They are more aggressive. They eat meat. They have more killer instinct. So we picked Siddiqui."
I won't reveal the identity of this gentleman -- he is no longer a selector -- but cricket journalists who were reporting in those days will instantly know who I'm talking about. As it happens, I rather liked Siddiqui's bowling, and I think all the Muslim fast bowlers who went on to play for India made it entirely on merit. Still, this is what the guy said. And he was a selector.
(Link via email from Sanjeev Naik.)
