The sad and
unfortunate incident involving Phillip Hughes left all of us shocked, terrified
and bemoaning. The Australians were not alone in the feeling that life can be
so unfair.
The game was
on course to never be the same again and no other incident can reflect it more
than the one when Mitchell Johnson hit Virat Kohli on the helmet during the
first test of the Border Gavaskar trophy a while back: unlike the typical
Australian response of getting closer to the batsman (who has just got hit with
the red hard leather ball coming at a speed of 150 km/ hr ) and yelling at him
“you will get a broken arm ”. Mitchel Johnson walked towards Kohli in a rather
more concerned manner, as if he wanted to know “if he is ok”.
“The game had changed”- but only for a while. After all, the show must go on. The same leather ball hit many other Indian batsmen over the course of 4 Cricket Test Matches and intention may not be to hurt them bad, but to let them know that it’s capable of reaching their face.
In this game, it’s a bowling side’s way of saying that we are not here to let you place the ball where you want, while you enjoy yourself on your front foot.
And the game was never supposed to change. Right from the time Cricket was invented, a bouncer is a weapon for the bowlers to let the batsmen know who is the boss or in a more sporting sense " i am here too" and above all, it’s one of the key weapons to win the mental games and edge out the opponent. And not to forget, that’s what tests a batsman’s skills too.
In today’s scenario, with the game so much in favour of batsmen, it will be one dull affair if you take that away from a bowler. It’s the Malcolm Marshalls and the Mitchell Johnsons that make the game what it is.
“The game had changed”- but only for a while. After all, the show must go on. The same leather ball hit many other Indian batsmen over the course of 4 Cricket Test Matches and intention may not be to hurt them bad, but to let them know that it’s capable of reaching their face.
In this game, it’s a bowling side’s way of saying that we are not here to let you place the ball where you want, while you enjoy yourself on your front foot.
And the game was never supposed to change. Right from the time Cricket was invented, a bouncer is a weapon for the bowlers to let the batsmen know who is the boss or in a more sporting sense " i am here too" and above all, it’s one of the key weapons to win the mental games and edge out the opponent. And not to forget, that’s what tests a batsman’s skills too.
In today’s scenario, with the game so much in favour of batsmen, it will be one dull affair if you take that away from a bowler. It’s the Malcolm Marshalls and the Mitchell Johnsons that make the game what it is.
And tell me if
there is a sport in the world which guarantees complete safety to the sports
men. No one wants to see a human get hurt in a sport, but this world won’t be
complete with a chess or a darting game.
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