Saturday, February 9, 2008

In the twilight zone....

someone was delighted over the exploits of a fire fighter the last week...for all the skill and panache he possessed, Gautam Gambhir had had a stop-start career all through...an instantly successful debutant long back in 2000(domestic circuit), he has been in and out of the ranks of top class cricket and been fairly consistent and yet never looked certain to have his place confirmed.....he had played all his career in that mysterios "Twilight Zone".....

a twilight zone is typical of innate talent, natural confidence, expectations, impressive starts but still elusive of the destination where the talent belongs....this was exactly the case as happened to him among admittedly, many others...his game was compact and accomplished, strokeplay was flashy at requirement, stylish and elegant in full flow, his play of spin was controlled and assuring, particularly commendable given he is an opener, demeanour was calm and reassuring....yet!!!....it was no honeymoon period any of the time...part of this is ofcource due to tight slots up the order in the Indian batting order....but the T-20 WC has marked the change in script...he has been able to evolve from a contributor to a match winner...for the first time, the lady luck seems to have shone on him as he has demonstrated the consistency which had eluded him always.....and the commanding innings he played against the Lankans down under and under good measure of pressure should put an end to the debate as to whether he belonged to the top stage or not.....

the case has been one of coming back hard time and again....its not easy to be in the twilight zone for so long and still demonstrate the hunger and zest....its much easier to build if its been all hunky-dory....but shouldnt be so straightforward to tackle a twilight zone for so long and finally stamp the authority....