Just not cricket… Okay. So a 15 year old Mumbai lad scores a mammoth unbeaten 1009 runs in 323 balls and Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Rahane, Dhoni and everyone else is super excited about it. There are screaming newspaper headlines. A 116 year old record is broken and a new one is created. But is this cricket? Whatever happened to grace in this sport which is supposed to be a gentleman’s game? When an opposing team gets bundled out for a paltry 31, you don’t go on and on and on. The game has to be played in the proper spirit and at some point of time, the declaration should have come in. At least after surpassing Arthur Collins' score of 628 not out, which too did not happen. His team, KC Gandhi High School, declared their innings at 1465 for 6, a staggering lead of 1434 runs against an opposing team comprising of boys a few years younger.
Pranav Dhanawade must have got super excited with his effort and one can’t blame the batsman for his marathon knock which must have been full of concentration. But the team captain or coach could surely have done better. Sports is not just about winning and creating individual records but also showing the proper kind of respect and grace to the opposition. Today, the World respects Sachin Tendulkar because he showed that kind of grace on the field throughout his career. When Germany were 5-0 up against Brazil at half time in the FIFA Football World Cup semis, they pledged to go easier to show some respect to the host team. That was grace. Adam Gilchrist was loved for his fairness. He walked after nicking the ball in the World cup finals. That was grace. What happened in the Under-16 inter-school tournament match was something else. It was a "no mercy" kind of approach which could set a bad trend to the game. No doubt an Indian lad will now have his name in the record books which may take many many more years to surpass. But what happened was not grace. It just wasn’t cricket! Best, Sandeep Heble Panaji-Goa
