After almost a year of disappointing cricket, the Indian Team finally put up a performance worthy of the 'World Champions'. The media has gone gaga over Virat Kohli's brilliant innings. 'The next big star in the making' blah blah blah... In the middle of all the praise for Kohli, there were invaluable contribution that were forgotten. Sachin & Sehwag gave the team a blitzkrieg start, Gautam Gambhir pinched in with a 60+ score. His partnership with Virat Kohli set the match up for a win.
Its not the first time such supporting performances have gone unnoticed.
India Vs West Indies - The World Cup Final, 1983
Kris Srikanth made 38 runs, the highest score in a total of 1983. Still we remember only Mohinder Amarnath's man of the match performance.
Sri Lanka Vs Australia - The World Cup Final, 1996
The Sri Lankan team created history by winning the World Cup final by batting second. The match best remembered for Aravinda De Silva's magnificent hundred. Yet, there was Arjuna Ranatunga who was there with Aravinda, with an unbeaten 50.
India Vs England - Natwest Final, 2002
The match best remembered for Yuvraj Singh & Mohammed Kaif's match winning partnership and also Sourav Ganguly's shirtless act at Lord's balcony. The Indian Team was down at 146/5 when Yuvraj Singh and Kaif staged the comeback. The scorecard read - 146/5 in 24 overs (Ganguly - 60(43) , Sehwag - 45(49) ).
India Vs Sri Lanka - World Cup Final, 2011
Dhoni hits the winning runs. SIX!!! The man with the midas touch had done it. The rest is history. Forgotten in the history books was Gautam Gambhir's 97 runs.
There are instances like these in all sports and throughout life. Looking back there have also been people who have played an important role in life from the sidelines.
Is it a case of 'The second fiddle does not get its due.' ?
Most often, yes. Classic examples are our schoool teachers, doing a thankless job year after year. We may be well off today, earning in 6 digits a month, but the school teacher retires in 6 digits a year. Their students are bigger beneficiaries than their children.
ReplyDeleteBut in the cricket examples, I remember all the said 'second fiddle' contributions, excepting for some reason Gautam Gambhir.