Faith in India’s team spirit

IT is not often that a sporting contest morphs into a larger-than-life event, lending it a meaning and context that transcends its original intent of pursuing excellence to entertain the masses. “War minus the shooting”, that pithy but profound comment from George Orwell, is now a cliched quote used whenever there is bad blood between two contesting nations, where the so-called national “pride” is at stake. If we can’t defeat you in a battlefield with flesh and blood flowing all around, we can win a war waged with tools designed to challenge your physical limits and training in skill sets peculiar to the sport.

In exploring this thought-provoking analogy, we miss another fundamental aspect of sport. To function as a team that can successfully pursue the goal of winning, you need skill as much as team spirit, that oft-repeated word that in reality makes a difference between victory and defeat. Cohesion, harmony, togetherness and playing as one may sound esoteric words to a hard-boiled cynic wrapped up in a world that he thinks belongs to him, his culture and religion alone. However, in the real world out there, be it on the sports field or the arena of life itself, we exist because we live together and depend on each other as human beings and not as markers of a particular identity.

Nothing embodies that spirit of togetherness, cohesion and harmony better than a sport like cricket and what we witnessed in the jaw-dropping, nerve-wracking India-England Test series that would be remembered for as long as the sporting world exists. In this war minus the shooting, if Rishabh Pant walked out to bat with a fractured foot, Chris Woakes dared to play with bat in one hand and a dislocated shoulder with his left arm firmly wrapped up and hidden under his sweater. They both were, in a manner of speaking, willing to die for their teams.

In this energy-sapping 25 days of cricket, one man, Mohammed Siraj, stood out for his astonishing energy reserves, stamina, resilience, resolve, self-belief and phenomenal skill and control over his craft. Whenever India needed some control, he was there. Whenever India needed wickets, he was there. Whenever India needed some magic, he was there.

Bowling quick requires strength. Swinging at that speed requires skill. Controlling line and length requires years and years of practice. And lasting all of 25 days when your teammates were being forced to nurse their bodies in the dressing room, Siraj stood as a one-man army, bending his back and the will of his opponents.

It takes something extraordinary to being a central part of two series-defining images — one of despair and the other of exhilarating joy. Siraj, on his haunches, looking down at the ground, face in turmoil, with a bail dislodged behind his back. The Lord’s defeat was devastating and Siraj had become the face of it.

At the Oval, Siraj was transforming that script of defeat into a joyous celebration of victory and more. His 1,113th ball of the series was a yorker of impeccable length and speed that slipped underneath the bat of Gus Atkinson, sending his off stump cartwheeling, and giving India a stunning series-levelling victory. The man of many emotions, of smouldering eyes that can drill a batsman's face, of a wrathful face that can cause a chill in a batsman wondering what next, and a man whose smile is as endearing as what the world’s second highest run-getter, Joe Root, said in admiration of his rival — fake anger.

Did Siraj feel hurt or angry when Jay Shah, the man who controls world cricket, not just Indian cricket, tweeted praise for the Indian team and a few other players for their contribution to the Indian win after the Birmingham Test, missing out his name? For the record, Siraj had taken six wickets in the first innings. We would have assumed it as a slip of the finger on the keyboard, were we not living in times where being a Muslim is to face endless discrimination, an army of trolls and being repeatedly questioned on their “loyalty” to the nation.

Does he feel upset when he is not given the new ball, even in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah? Does he also feel what Sachin Tendulkar has been quoted as saying: “not being given the credit he deserves”? We would be surprised if he is immune to the world of hatred and acrimony we have created around us, undermining the very idea of India that we envisaged in 1947: the Nehruvian idea of India, where a Muslim, Iftikhar Ali Khan, was appointed Indian captain on the 1946 tour of England to pass on a message to the world that India would be a proud secular nation.

There is a long list of Muslim cricketers who have played for India without their religious identity being a question mark on their loyalty.

What has been heartening to watch is the camaraderie and the feeling of team spirit. That gives hope for a better future. The final image of this Test series that will stay with us is that of Prasidh Krishna (Hindu), Mohammed Siraj (Muslim) and Shubman Gill (Sikh) walking hand in hand in post-victory celebrations. When we can play together, grieve together and celebrate together, we can live together as well.

— The writer is the author of ‘Not Quite Cricket’ and ‘Not Just Cricket’