Exploring the Other Face of the Coin, Navjot Singh Sidhu- The Cricketer

Exploring the Other Face of the Coin, Navjot Singh Sidhu- The Cricketer: Navjot Singh Sidhu has been one of the excessively lively commentators of the game. But as it is said, excess of anything leads to miseries, some of us might have a disliking for such a man in the commentary box. But it has to be kept in mind that his words convey some brilliant messages most of the times. Moreover, we are not to judge whether Sidhu is a good commentator, great commentator or a poor commentator! That is perhaps an unending debate with various opinions from varied cricket fans. We are basically up for portraying the other end of the coin, i.e. the cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and we shall explore out whether this Punjabi is truly a masterpiece or a pampered wonder.

This man, had set up an example of a master of a comeback. Sidhu was first included in the national team back in 1983 for a series, where he literally flunked by scoring 39 runs in total out of 3 innings. He was criticised all throughout by the panel of critics. Even the then renowned sports journalist, Rajan Bala, wrote on his column “Navjot Singh Sidhu is a strokeless wonder.” Sidhu was dropped from the squad with darkening prospects to make a comeback into the Indian team. The Sardar was not among the ones who keep the option of giving up accept tough times as defeats. He once said that he pasted that column of the journalist in his room and that kept the fire inside him ignited and the desire to do better and comeback harder in order to prove the world wrong. Then without wasting time regretting about his performances, Sidhu pondered, shifted the focus on his cricket and made a stern comeback. He practised rigorously and practised hitting over 300 sixes a day to adapted his flow to hit those shots.

Sidhu was brought back into the national team in the 1987 and he had a brilliant outing in the World Cup where his aggression while batting saved India from inevitable defeats. He became the powerhouse of the Indian batting and then came another article from the same sports journalist after a span of four years, titled “Navjot Singh Sidhu, from a strokeless wonder has turned into a palm-grove hitter.” One simply has to admire such courage. In a seminar, the Patiala born Sardar even mentioned that courage should not be misunderstood as the absence of fear, it is perhaps the conquest of fear. Simply, he had set an example. That was just an instance of his career, one among many.

It was Sidhu who installed the concept of hard-hitting in Indian cricket and swaggered deliveries for sixes. Possessing such an opening batsman of his class, he was an asset to the team. Sherry was also pretty much consistent with his batting. This can be verified with some statistics, he averaged 42.13 in tests and 37.03 in ODIs. Sidhu struck six ODI centuries in his career and scored a total of 4413 runs in the 50-overs format backed by 3202 runs in tests with 9 centuries.

Sidhu was perhaps the first batsman to fearlessly hit Warne out of the part for big sixes. He was never reluctant to face the scorching pace and swing of the Pakistani bowlers in the likes of Wasim, Waqar and Imran Khan. He played them with comfort and earned a good amount of runs against them. In short, Sidhu has been one of the best opening batsmen India have ever produced and his performances in the 1987 and the 1996 World Cup were simply ecstatic. The Sardar retired from international cricket in the late nineties and took back a golden cricketing career with him.

Undoubtedly, India has had a limited number of fearless cricketers like Sidhu. He took aggression and aggressive batting to an all-new level. Other batsmen playing along him felt little pressure because with Sidhu at the crease, one can expect nothing but bombarding strokes from that end.

As a commentator, he has been entertaining the viewers for quite sometime. Yet there are a few who like to criticize him for overdoing things. But one must remember that the Patiala Sardar was no strokeless wonder during his days of cricket and was an integral atom in the nuclei of the Indian batting strength for a good number of years. In typical Siddhu Paji Style ‘Let’s Thoko for the Sardar’.