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Cricketer's cricketer

Sir Garfield Sobers turns 70 tomorrow. Chennai's cricketing greats recall his exploits on the field

VIRTUOSITY AND VERSATILITY Sir Garfield Sobers, former West Indies all-rounder

Nothing fills the heart more than scripting a eulogy to Sir Garfield St. Auburn Sobers. Tomorrow the "cricketer's cricketer" turns 70. We saw this genius here twice in Tests — first in 1958 at the Corporation Stadium, and again in 1967 as captain and master craftsman "who turns up once in a generation," at Chepauk.

"We may someday be able to answer Tolstoy's exasperated and exasperating question, `What is art?', but only when we learn to integrate our vision of Sobers on the back foot through the covers with the outstretched arm of the Olympic Apollo," wrote C.L.R. James. Should anything more need be said about the four-in-one-all-rounder?

Aficionados here, fed by the exploits from the land of the calypso charmers, watched in awe as the superbly chiselled specimen entered the Corporation Stadium. His gait cannot be better described than in the words of the famous essayist J. B. Priestley: "There is none of the chin-up-chest-out nonsense about Sobers. He isn't one of your stiff-necked athletes. He carries his head slightly forward as if eager to swing the bat, or deliver the ball, and so break another record as he seems to ripple towards the wicket. All is loose, easy, instant and powerful."

Magic aura

Three centuries in the preceding Tests at Bombay (142), Kanpur (198) and Calcutta (106) underscored his magic aura. He made 29 and 9 here, but charmed everyone with his left arm fast medium and spin.

In 1966, Sobers was at the peak, a leader like his mentor Frank Worrell. He piloted the West Indies to a draw rescuing the team from the jaws of defeat along with Charlie Griffith. A century eluded him by five runs in the first. But that 95 showed how beautifully he could lift the whole aspect of batsmanship to a realm of ecstasy. Our great trio, Bedi, Chandra and Pras — the fourth, Venkat was not in the team — bowed to the virtuosity of the versatile Barbadian.

The genius in Sobers flowered in the second. Facing a target of 322 runs with four and a half hours remaining, the Windies were in a tight spot. Even at 198 for seven at teatime, the tie was still poised in favour of India. But displaying restraint and making good the reprieves by Surti (at 8) and Hanumant Singh (10) — both off Bedi — Sobers and Griffith (40 not out) steered the team to a draw.

The piece de resistance of the innings was the way he stepped out for Bedi only to be beaten by a split-second by the trajectory and spin; but the great man ended the action with a lofted shot that sent the ball soaring over the bowler for a six.

What separates Sobers from ordinary mortals? Two stalwart spinners, V. V. Kumar and S. Venkatraghavan, who had bowled to Sir Gary at different points of time, agree that no cricketer merited the description "genius" more deservingly. "It was my first exposure against the West Indies at Bangalore in 1958. When Gopinath summoned me to bowl, I could feel the excitement in me. `Bowl your normal stuff,' Gopi warned, perhaps reading the confusion in my mind. I probed the great left-hander with three neatly spun deliveries at a good length. He middled them effortlessly. I spun the last ball more viciously and looped. He checked for a second and offered a simple return catch which I floored! I cannot but marvel at his timing. It was education to observe Gary. After bowling to him, my confidence level went up," explains V. V. Kumar.

"I've heard," said Venkat, "that the Don had three strokes for every ball. But I saw that myself when bowling to Sobers. He was a genius. A bowler usually visualises how the batsman will respond. But Sobers was different. He would surprise you with a totally different shot. Sobers was not only supreme but a gentleman. The best example was the way he admitted to taking an improper catch when Kunderan was ready to walk out in the Bombay Test."

Venkat recounted the hours he spent on the golf courses in Barbados and Chennai. "He was unique in golf because he could complete the stroke in full arc as in cricket."

Sir Gary was here last in 1998 to conduct a clinic at the MAC Spin Foundation. He taught many the art of orthodox, left-arm spin, enjoyed with friends a round or two of golf, and relaxed in the evenings at the MCC. A visit to the Guindy Race Course was also on his agenda.

True, the legendary deeds of Sobers came in the West Indies, Australia and England, but the crowd which witnessed "the motion, grace and fluidity in his approach...the reflexes of a panther" in the two Tests here will not dispute that Sobers is the best all rounder ever.

S.THYAGARAJAN

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