cricket

(A one-act play which used to run for five days at a time; now there are one-night stands as well. Staged only when the Indian team is touring. The name may differ depending on the person playing the lead role. In the current version, Lee Irvine/Sunil Gavaskar play the role of commentator and Mohinder Amarnath the role of expert. All are extremely good actors.)

LEE: Good morning viewers or good afternoon, depending on the part of the world you are in. Welcome to the first day of the third Test between India and South Africa...

MOHINDER (breaks in as he feels more than 20 words should not go by without viewers hearing from him): Yes, good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night. Today Indian is playing the third Test and the South African has won the series but there is the interest still because Indian is playing for the pride and because there is the plenty of cricket lover in this country. It has been a disappointment for the Indian but they have everything to play for here but the South Africa will look for the clean sweep because any team like to keep the winning habit and they going to host the Australia Down Under soon as well so I think Hansie Crunchie and his men want to play their best and also get into the gear for the one-day serie that coming up. (by this time everybody is on the field and Donald is ready to bowl the first ball).

LEE: Allan Donald is getting ready to bowl the first ball to Vikram Rathore...

MOHINDER: ... yes, he is the fast bowler, very fast, and maybe fastest in the world today. Around 145 kmph, that is very difficult to play and especially on the South African wicket he get the help and bounce and he is got the lot of experience so he is really handful for the batsmen and they find him very difficult to play. But sometimes they have not the difficulty in playing his balls...

(by this time Donald has come in and bowled but Mohinder is the last person to let trifles like that bother him)

... you saw in the Cape Town how the Sachin and the Azhar they hit his balls all over and I think that they have to apply themselves and play quietly and the runs will come slowly but very definitely, yes. It is always the case when the batsman is new to the crease he want to get the some run to make himself feel comfort and then he sometimes go to unnecessary play the stroke and he get caught all in vain because if he only stay there and play with each of his balls on merit then he get set and after that he will be seeing the balls like footballs and once he is set it is difficult to dislodge him because he is (here, even he is stuck for words)...er..er...er

LEE: Rathore played that quite well, didn't he? He knew where is off-stump was and...

MOHINDER: It always help the batsmen to know where his off-stump is. If he does not know then he will have the big problem. He have to know which ball to leave and which to play and which to hit and which not to hit and which is good ball and which is bad ball and which... but he must also know where the leg stump and the middle stump is and also the stump at the bowler end because sometimes the batsman he make the stroke without knowing these facts but I think he has to learn these things after some time and he cannot know all this until he out there for some time and get the feels of things and play himself in then the runs will come but he has to stay there and concentrate on the bowling and remind himself that there is the five day to play this match, it is not the one-day and there is not any need to score fast, he has to play the bowl on his merits and he will...

LEE (this is getting a bit much so he breaks in): Donald's first over was pretty impressive, don't you think, Jimmy? He was getting...

MOHINDER: Yes, he was getting the some bounce from the wicket and also getting the ball to move a bit but Rathore I think he learn the lesson from the earlier times he get out and he not hang out the bat to snick the ball. He play with watchfully and I think maybe the Indian tell to themself that they must make the good score as they have suffered the big defeat and also lost the series and next they go to the West Indies and they need the some confidence but I think they have learn the lesson and they know that if they can stay there then the runs should come and Madan Lal he talk to them I think and tell them to play in very carefully and the captain also he tell them and the senior player do the same so Rathore he take the advice serious I think but we must wait and see if he manage to get some run today or not. Personally, I think Rathore has the some deficient in the technique; he does not get behind the ball when he play and sometimes he wave the bat from the body and he sometime get stuck on the back foot and then he has no time to go to the front and then the chance of his getting out is much more but I think that with time this will go as he need some more match experience but he has to play himself in and not wave the bat around like that, why he is in a hurry, this is not a one-day match, maybe Mongia should talk to him and tell him that he has all time in world to play and get the runs and that will do him world of confidence as Mongia has the more experience and he can talk to the Rathore and calm him down and tell him that the balls is new and when it gets old the play will be easier and he must have the patience and he can play strokes when the balls is old. (here, he actually stops).

LEE (in a very relieved tone): And now it's time for a change in the commentary. Over to Sunil Gavaskar and Trevor Quirk.

MOHINDER (he always has the last word, sorry, words, and plenty of them): Yes, good morning, Sunny and good morning, Trevor, I think the batsmen is playing the sensible game and not making the foolish stroke and that is the good thing for India because they need the good score on the board to put the South African under the pressure but I think that the wicket also helping because it is not give the too much help to any bowler and Donald he find it not as good as the one in the first Test when he take so many wicket and Shaun Pollock also he little off line at time and not able to trouble the batsmens too much but the Indian also they play the sensible and not make the foolish stroke because they want to stay there and give the good start to the team, never mind if they take time because this is five-day match not one-day where the team need to score the run very fast if they want to have the chance of win, in Test the staying is important because if you are in hurry, then you may regret and lose the chance to score the run...

GAVASKAR (cuts in): Thank you Jimmy. (grabs the mike and turns his back to Mohinder who promptly walks over to the Hindi commentary desk and takes off where he left...)