Ravi Shastri is a effectively-recognized name in cricket for the new generation also, even although he stopped playing cricket in 1992. Besides being the coach for the Indian group today, his reputation has been constructed for becoming a levelheaded cricket commentator till he took more than the coaching assignment. Known for his incisive and unbiased evaluation, he did command respect from viewers.
In his book, Star Gazing, Shastri, along with Ayaz Memon, writes on numerous cricketers, beginning from the ones he grew up admiring to the more modern players who he has been observing from the commentator box.
It is a great collection of create-ups on cricketers that will be of interest to cricket enthusiasts from all generations. Where he was personally involved as a player or commentator, there are good reminiscences of precise bowling spells or batting episodes that readers can relate to effectively.
While he is incredibly diplomatic in his commentary, which is to be anticipated, as this is all about cricketers he admires for several causes, he steers clear of any controversy that some of the players could have been involved with.
Even for Greg Chappell, who had a pretty tumultuous relation with other Indian cricketers as a coach, Shastri talks only of his unsavoury mark on Test cricket when he asked his younger brother to bowl underarm, which was genuine, although not fair. Other than that, he steers clear of any political discourse.
On one more occasion, he talks of how he had chased Javed Miandad out of the Indian dressing space when he became unpleasant when the Indian group was celebrating. If the reader is hunting to study more of such incidents, there would be some disappointment.
Shastri has been generous with his praise for several cricketers but the ones who would stand out in his ranking are Gary Sobers, for being the most gifted all-rounder, and Vivian Richards, the most feared batman. Both had been from the West Indies and each had been awe-inspiring. For sheer energy with the bat, Clive Lloyd would get the applause. Here, there would be much less debate as most enthusiasts who have lived by means of the years of cricket will not contest his picks.
Similarly, he is awestruck with Gundappa Vishwanath for sheer style and an effortless strategy to batting, anything the old-timers will agree with. There used to be a saying that anytime India won, Vishwanath would have performed effectively.
Farokh Engineer was possibly the 1st cavalier batsman who was liked by all and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi a incredibly astute captain. There are chapters on them as effectively.
He also talks extremely of Richie Benaud, not so a great deal as a cricketer but a commentator, and right here once more one can not have a distinct view. What have been the two essential takeaways from Benaud are that look is incredibly significant, and this is anything Shastri has also been recognized for. When you look at a commentator one really should be inspired and there was every thing great about Benaud’s look, beginning from hair styling to the tie pin.
The second is that as a Television commentator one really should know that it is distinct from radio and really should be much less descriptive and more crucial so that there is more viewpoint. These are two great lessons for any person who aspires to come to be a cricket commentator.
Hopefully, the present lot of commentators really should take a cue from this observation, as watching cricket can be jarring when the commentators maintain rambling, saying the very same points we can see clearly on the screen.
Shastri has clubbed the players below distinct sections like the ones who inspired him and the ones who he played with, who he calls ‘friends and rivals’. The prevalent thread by means of all these stories is that even though cricketers could be nasty on the field, which holds traditionally for Australians beginning from Ian Chappell to Ricky Ponting, they adjust colour when off field and are usually open to possessing a drink with the other teammates. This is a great trait in any sport exactly where one differentiates on and off field.
There are other people he has observed from the box that are clubbed separately and consist of numerous Sri Lankan players and South Africans, even though the last section on the present players has his favourites like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.
Shastri brings to the forefront some genuine great cricketers who are practically forgotten today, like India’s 4 fantastic spinners Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna, Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrashekhar, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi —who had mesmerised the world in their heyday. They are covered in one chapter. He does the very same for Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, who would rank as the 1st feared duo of rapid bowlers who set the trend for a pace attack.
This is sheer vintage stuff with black and white photographs added in great measure and the contribution of Memon can be identified when the previous players are covered. There is one more chapter on Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Joel Garner, who had been the unplayable West Indian bowlers who dominated cricket in the 1980s. There is ample credit offered to Tony Greig, who brought not just life into the commentator box but also commercialised the game by means of the World Series Cricket franchise which was made by Kerry Packer.
While the coverage is rather extensive, surprising exclusions seem, like his modern Mohd Azharuddin, who was a classy player although had a controversial finish, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil and Navjot Sidhu. They are presumably inadvertent omissions that take place when the canvas is specifically broad. But it nevertheless tends to make this a must-maintain book for all cricket lovers of all ages.
Madan Sabnavis is chief economist, CARE Ratings
Star Gazing: The Players in My Life
Ravi Shastri with Ayaz Memon
HarperCollins
Pp 299, Rs 699