Fearless cricket: Then and Now

I have heard a lot about this new breed of cricketers playing ldquofearless cricketrdquo I like the phrase the attitude even more But whenever I hear it my mind takes me back to the cricket I watched and followed through commentary in the 1970s and later played in the 1980s For me that was fearless cricketThere were no restrictions on the number of bouncers for fast bowler There were no neutral umpires Pitches were uncovered Boundaries were bigger Some of the best fast bowlers were running in with a new ball and there were no helmetsThe equipment was basic and for many players difficult to afford Money in the game was nowhere near what it is today There was no IPL no franchise cricket no social media and no milliondollar contracts You played because you loved cricket You played it knowing that the ball could hurt you That for me was fearless cricket In 1972 Garry Sobers playing for the Rest of the World against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground scored a magnificent 254 Don Bradman described the innings as probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia Think about that innings No helmet no modern protective armour no huge bats no modern gloves pads that make a batsman look almost like a knight going into battle This was just Sir Garry Sobers and his cricket taking on an Australian attack with extraordinary freedom and courage That is what fearless cricket looked like to meSunny the soldierHow can I talk about that era without mentioning Sunil Gavaskar Indiarsquos great soldier at the top of the order He opened against the finest fast bowlers of his time He stood up to the best in the world and kept the Indian flag flying He did not need to attack every ball to be fearless His courage was in standing there session after session facing the quickest and trusting his technique That too was fearless cricketNow Sir Vivian Richards Viv didnrsquot just walk onto a cricket field He walked like a lion entering his territory He refused to wear a helmet He had the physique of a boxer and attitude of a man who welcomed a challenge rather than avoid it The nickname Smokinrsquo Joe suited himYou could be watching the game and even if Viv was standing at the nonstrikerrsquos end your eyes would somehow keep going back to him And when he was fielding he enjoyed the contest just as much mdashespecially the opportunity to run a batsman out with a direct throw When I hear ldquofearless cricketrdquo my heart immediately goes back to those players My heart accepts the new breed I enjoy the fearless strokemaking we see today but my head argues with me Is it really the same kind of fearlessness Todayrsquos batsmen play on pitches that generally encourage strokemaking There are shorter boundaries restrictions on bouncers helmets and other equipment T20 cricket has changed the way batsmen think The fearless hitting we see here has gradually travelled to redball cricket Batsmen have become comfortable taking risks playing unconventional strokes and putting pressure back on the bowler I donrsquot take anything away from the modern cricketer Far from it The new generation has developed skills that the older generation never had to learn Reverse sweeps ramps scoops switch hits and the ability to score at extraordinary speed are products of a changing game That is also courageBut Test cricket asks different questions mdash can you do it when the ball is moving when the pitch is helping fast bowlers Can you bat for four or five hours when your body is tired and your concentration tested every ball Can you leave the ball for an hour when your natural instinct is to attack Can you absorb pressure That for me is where the real test of fearless cricket begins Fearless does not necessarily mean hitting sixes Sometimes fearless means standing your ground when the ball is flying around your ears Sometimes it means taking a blow and carrying on Sometimes it means defending for 30 minutes because your team needs you to Sometimes it means refusing to be intimidated by a worldclass bowler And sometimes like Viv Richards it means looking the challenge straight in the eye and saying bring it onTodayrsquos cricketersI will happily accept that todayrsquos cricketers play fearless cricket but I would also remind them that fearlessness has many facesThe greatest challenges are not playing without fear when the conditions favour you The greatest challenge is remaining fearless when the game turns against you That is where adaptability comes in Whiteball cricket may teach you to attackRedball cricket teaches you when to attack when to defend and most importantly when to survive And in the longer version of the game survival is not weakness It is mental toughness That is the quality that separates fearless strokemaking from fearless cricketBalvinder Singh Sandhu was part of Indiarsquos 1983 WCwinning teamFreddorsquos classRoy FredericksI heard this story from the late Abdul Qadir It involved Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz and the great West Indian Roy Fredericks during a veterans game Sarfraz told Qadir that he was going to knock Fredericksrsquos head off because in their younger days Roy had hit him for several sixes Abdul tried to calm him down ldquoHe is older now You could seriously hurt himrdquo Qadir said But Sarfraz being Sarfraz ran in and bowled a bouncer with the very first ball Fredericks simply pivoted on his back foot and hooked it for a huge six Sarfraz looked at Qadir and said ldquoHe is still goodrdquo Qadir laughed