The Awesome Twosome

Its strange what success and failure can do to top stars. Take for instance, the cases of Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar after the remarkable turnaround in Capetown.

In cricketing terms, their backgrounds are vastly different. Azhar erupted on the scene from nowhere in an extraordinary fashion when he hit three hundreds in a row. This transformed him instantly from bright hopeful toiling at Hyderabads Fateh Maidan to hot international prodigy.

For several years, Azhars career revolved around proving his ability against serious pace. Without doubt he is an artist he plays with the lightest bat in the game. In an era dominated by big hitters armed with big weapons he is an exception, a tuneful S D Burman in a gaggle of noisemakers, as an admirer put it. Bowling to him is difficult because he can hit identical balls to point or square leg depending on his mood.

 

The trouble was that Azhar made more runs in India where the ball comes slowly onto bat and stays at a comfortable height. Unable to duplicate his success abroad, where wickets afford greater bounce and movement, Azhar remained on the fringe of cricketing greatness. International respect is bought on the basis of hundreds against the West Indies (especially inthe West Indies, which is why Gavaskar is an all-time star). But when Azhar went to the Caribbean he had a forgettable tour.

Throughout this phase, Azhar played largely unorthodox cricket, but this changed on the 92 England tour. There he smashed two Test hundreds; to every ball he had two shots to offer. Since then his batting approach changed. Not for him anymore a patient wait at the wicket. Hed quite clearly want to get on with it and play shots from ball one.

Look at any of Azhars big Test scores. They have all been blazing efforts full of daring shots. Test hundreds from a hundred odd balls are rare, but with Azhar it is quite normal. He categorically lays to rest the old theory of playing on the merits of the ball now its spank the bad ball and dont spare even the decent one.

Success brought fame and in its wake came money. But affluence affected Azhar far less than did failure. When things went wrong as captain and personal form slumped, Azhar felt hunted and thought the whole world was against him. His countenance was marred by a dark frown, he saw enemies lurking everywhere, and read all sorts of meaning in every reference in the press.

Sachin in comparison is supremely serene, unaffected by success or failure. Success was never a problem with him, because from a tender age, he handled fame and adulation with equanimity, his head squarely on his shoulders. Five years ago, when still raw on the international scene, an army of South African mediamen quizzed him. Sachins response was like his batting straight, assured, effortless. Said an impressed Ali Bacher, who knows a thing or two about the media: He is an absolute natural.

Which he most certainly is at the crease. Unlike Azhar, his style is unaltered over the years. He still wallops the ball with a free, majestic swing of the bat, powerful yet stylish. Till now, neither success nor failure has affected him, he remains unchanged as person and player.

Recently when his form slipped and he failed to top fifty in five innings there were hushed murmurs about the captaincy curbing his batting. But Sachin ignored the suggestions, maintaining a dignified silence on the subject. The runs will come, he said with quiet assurance. And they did in Capetown, his 100 studded with 20 stunning hits to the fence.