Hail this GEEK !!. Review on Navjot Singh Sidhu

Patiala born Navjot Singh Sidhu, who still at his ripe age (Yeah Right!!! 39 is a ripe age for a cricketer) is something of a hippie but without his hippie hangouts, is celebrated for his powerful batting display for India as an opening batsman & for his trenchant forays into other disciplines. In his career spanning more than 16yrs he has scored more than 7615 (Test & ODI together) runs with a healthy average of over 40. Sidhu was regarded as a batman who could kill bowlers with his batting capability & as a batsman with great technique & temperament. He had this natural ability to play on the front & the back foot with equal ease. And like his team-mates Sachin Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid he also had sharp reflexes & a wide range of strokeplay. (Though, he can never be compared with the likes of Tendulkars & Dravids).

Navjot Singh Sidhu first came into the international scene during the West Indies tour of India in 1983. He made his debut against the West Indies in the 3rd Test match of the series played at Gujarat Stadium, Ahmedabad. (And it was the same match where Kapil Dev took 9-83 in the second innings). After that he was sidelined from the national team for 4 years for poor form & for the reputation of being a difficult character. Then he impressed the selectors & fans alike with some good performance in Ranji Trophy & forced his way back into the national side. He played exceptionally well during the Reliance World Cup in 1987, scoring 4 fifties in 5 innings & securing his place in the national squad.

Sidhu knew from the start that Test Cricket is not for flashy batsmen (Virendra Sehwag is exception). He was also aware of the fact that bowlers have enough time & scope to detect chinks & flaws in the batting armory & zero in on them. Thus, he used different batting style & technique for Test matches & ODI’s (This helped him & the Indian team a lot). Sidhu was a player who was comfortable playing genuine pacers off the back foot & using his feet to perfection to counter the spinners (Ask Warne if you don’t believe me).

The ascending graph of his career was directly related with the incidence occurred between him & Mohd. Azharuddin during the 1996 tour of India. Following some hitch with Azharuddin; he deserted the team & returned home midway through the series. After that he became one of India’s most prolific run scorer against the West Indies & Australia. VVS.Laxman may have the honor of scoring the highest Test score by an Indian (281 against the Australians) but Sidhu’s 286 against Jamaica is the highest score by an Indian outside India.

He retired from the international arena in 1999. The one positive thing to have come out of his retirement was the induction of youth into the team. With he, Azharuddin & Jadeja retiring from the international scene almost at the same time; three slots were up for grabs in the playing eleven. Then players like Zaheer Khan, Virendra Sehwag & Yuvraj Singh came into the Indian side making it a dreadful force in the international cricket. The coming through of youngsters after his retirement has been a big gain for the Indian team. Now our star players like Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble & Ganguly can count on these youngsters for their valuable support. The present Indian team has gone a long way in re-igniting the passion for the game that had taken enough flak after their star players like Sidhu, Azharudidin & Jadeja retired from Cricket.

But Sidhu’s talent are not only limited to batting alone. He soon started his new career as a commentator & single handedly changed the traditional meaning of commentating. Within a short period of time everybody started praising & admiring his style of commentating. Phrases like “If if's and and's were pots and pans, there would be no tinkers”, “He eyed that ball like a young kid eyeing a tuti-fruiti in a shop”, “Pitches are like wives, you never know how they will turn out”, “Statistics are like mini skirts, they reveal more than they hide.”….Which was unheard & unused in the game of Cricket; soon became world famous in India. His unique style of using phrases while commentating has made him the most adored commentator today. And above all his views & comments are just as aggressive & straight as his batting was.

Navjot Singh Sidhu has always been a glib talker. When he started his innings as a commentator, he was aware of the harsh reality that the last retired Indian cricketer (Before him) who tried his luck as a commentator was Sanjay Manjerekar {For DD sports} who failed in his new job miserably. Thus, he became creative & innovative in his approach as a Cricket pundit & wholeheartedly changed the meaning of commentating.

I’m no big critic myself but in my humble opinion Navjot Singh Sidhu is a better commentator than the batsman he was in his halcyon days. Though commentating is not an easy job (Danny Morrison & Sanjay Manjerekar must be aware of that); Sidhu made it look painless & effortless.

Some selected extracts from his commentary are:-- {Source https://sidhuisms.com}

“You don't hang a man who doesn't object to it”…

My idea of a bird is 36-24-36