The Bold and the Beautiful

Cricket has its own seasons. The game seems to be in the grip of the most beautiful and benevolent of all — spring. The new blooms have generously filled the air with their bold colour and delicate fragrance.

The new breed embodies some of the finest cricketing virtues — skill, grace, fearlessness and quest for excellence — and yet retains its poise. Steel is passé for them; their nerves are tempered with the new-age material — Titanium. Calm in crisis, they counterattack with the fury of a flashflood and quickly change the topography of a match.

It’s time to sit back and marvel at this new class of cricketers, alongside the legends who are on the final lap of their career.

When off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin turned up at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla for his Test debut, he surely didn’t have the intention of adding the West Indian players to his list of friends on Facebook. He was cold and clinical and did what he had come for — bury the opposition. If he tantalized batsmen with his befuddling array of variations, he tormented bowlers with his batting that was remarkably mature and effortless.

With Harbhajan Singh going through a rare crisis in his career, Ashwin took over the mantle with the ease of a veteran. From the other end, left-arm orthodox spinner Pragyan Ojha compounded the Caribbean misery. The fact that the duo polished off all-10 in the Windies second innings of the Mumbai Test goes to show the great Indian spin legacy is in good, capable hands.

Indian fast bowling never looked so promising. When was the last time two Indian speedsters regularly clocked over 140 kmph on the speed gun? Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron may still have a few rough edges to iron out, but they have the ingredients of a true blue fast bowler. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, they can only get better.

In Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane, India seem to have found batsmen who have the right blend of talent and temperament to succeed at the highest level. On their day, they make batting look like a leisurely walk in the park.

On the other hand, South Africa have discovered a fine, young medium-pacer in Vernon Philander. What makes him special are his control and consistency, besides the uncanny knack of producing a breakthrough every time his team needs one.

Patrick Cummins and James Pattinson have already made sensational start to their Test careers. They are not only seriously fast; they are mean, hungry and aggressive in a classic fast bowler’s mould. This spring, Australia have surely struck rich.

The season has also cast its spell on the tropical islands of the West Indies. Darren Bravo is blossoming into a splendid batsman. He brings dexterity and daring to batting which is so Caribbean in character. Hopefully, Bravo’s back to back centuries in Test against the likes of Ashwin and Ojha on Indian pitches will provide the vigour and self belief that had been eluding the West Indian cricket for a while. Hopefully, Bravo, Kirk Edwards and Kieran Powell will inspire the next ‘rising’.

The many splendours of this spring evoke a great expectation — that of a long spell of brilliant summer, when the young and the restless will dazzle the world with their sparkling skills, as today’s icons will inevitably fade into posterity.