When I look back on my career as a gully cricketer eons ago,
there are two players who have gone on to play the game in its highest form whom I identify with. I have
already written about the Malang
Man earlier. I now write about the other legend who has done our
breed proud, Shahid Afridi aka Boom Boom alias Lala!
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| Boom Boom! |
One of the fundamental rules in gully
cricket as I have mentioned earlier too is there are no rules. Afridi is the
most accomplished practitioner of this dictum as none before him could and I
presume none after him can. ‘See ball will hit’ would possibly be the most apt description
of him. It doesn’t matter if he is opening the batting, playing in the
middle or bringing up the tail. So too irrespective of whether the team is in
strong position or needs to rebuild. And not to forget the so called cognoscenti
who distinguish between Tests, ODI or T20. Shahid Bhai’s gaadi has only one gear, fifth! In gully cricket parlance we see no
distinction between formats, status of the inning or the competence of the
other batsman. We just go out with only a Ghuen
Tak or a Chak De Phatte on mind
when we bat. And none does it better than Lala! Mera Lala sabse ala!
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| Start! 5th Gear! Vrooom! |
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| Maaro! |
Once I got out of childhood and joined
the rat race, there was immense pressure on me to improve. Get the right
increment here, eye that promotion there. And in trying to do it, I was forced
to learn more things, read, experiment, fine tune, improve. Essentially Think!
How I wish I were Shahid Afridi! Not for our hero the complications of
thinking! Not for him the required run rates, the condition of the pitch, the
strength of the opposition, need to build partnership. Gosh! Thinking? Thinking
is almost like doing engineering! Thinking is such a waste of time when you can
‘hit-out-or-get-out’! And who cares about critics who expect you to graduate
and grow as a player! Who in their ignorance write reams of paper lecturing
about technique, reading the game or playing high percentage shots! Chill man! It
is a sport! Maaro! I am sure we the
fans know better. I mean those huge 6s, those agricultural shots which puts the
bowler and the fielders under your mercy. And fast. So what if you succeed only
once every Eid and once more on Diwali. Adrenalin is everything. As is a dash
of romance! While I am no longer the child I was, Shahid Bhai has remained the child that he was and the child I wanted to.
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| I am Back!! |
The most inspiring thing about Afridi
is what I always wanted to do but was hugely scared of even attempting. One of
the fundamental techniques to grow within an organization is blackmail. A
subtle statement when the boss is within hearing distance about an offer from
the competition or a resignation before the peak selling season invariably got
you that much delayed promotion or increment. My fear was what if the boss got
the message wrong and sacked me first or god forbid accepted my resignation? No
such fear for our hero. Retire, retire again, retire once more, retire from tests,
retire from ODI! Not for him the fear of the bosses. Every retirement only
increased the clamour for a comeback! Each as spectacular in expectation as the
next!
The exit of Pakistan from the ongoing
World Cup brings us to yet another retirement of Shahid Khan Afridi. Au Revoir
Lala! See you back sooner rather than later!
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PS: Before Shahid Afridi was rightly bestowed
with the nickname, Boom Boom was associated with Boris Becker. Still is I am
told, in ninety percent of the world which doesn’t play our beautiful game!
Glossary :
Gaadi : Vehicle
Ghuen Tak : Hit It!
Chak De Phatte : Euphemism for Go for
it!
Mera Lala Sabse Ala : My Lala is the
best!
Maaro : Hit!
Bhai : Brother
