Butch Shastri and the Sundar Kid
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Alison Mitchell is usually a model of restraint on commentary, albeit not a model in the sense many of her male counterparts ever follow her Benaud-like economy of words. Yet even she allowed herself a little exclamation of awe at one of Washington Sundar’s drives during the 21-year-old’s astounding 62 at The Gabba. Later in the day she was presented with a birthday cake by all her illustrious broadcasting colleagues. However fratboy boisterous behind the mic they might be, Slats et al clearly have utmost respect for the woman with whom they share it. Mitchell was flattered at around a thousand Test caps - and Gideon Haigh - serenading her, but undeterred from announcing the news was up next. You sensed Sundar’s crisp and poetic exploration of the covers remained her favourite moment of the day.
This has been a celebratory series all round, regardless of who prevails. A celebration of resolve over pain, of sport over covid, of Ashwin’s bat over the Australian captain’s dubious banter. When Kohli returned home he was doubtless already mentally preparing to spend his nights exhausted and awake, unable to sleep because of something young and beautiful. It’s turned out the whole of India, regardless of whether they’ve just had a baby, has been doing the same, joyously captivated by the seemingly endless conveyor belt of starlets brought into the side.
There’s been a plethora of Washington puns since the start of this Test, incorporating everything from Frank Capra to King George. Sundar, and India as a whole, have certainly seized on Paine’s words for inspiration. Yet all this revolutionary, or at least circuitous, wordplay reminds us of the general at the away team’s helm. Back during last year’s IPL, Ravi Shastri was blazing a trail for this sort of DC-based comicry, tweeting out in praise of the RCB tyro’s miserly spell against Mumbai.
What’s telling is perhaps not so much the pun but the raised fist. In this age of microanalysis of statistics, there’s no reason why an emoji can’t be scrutinised either. This one suggested Shastri saw in one of his young international charges a kindred iron-willed soul, a man who could be trusted in the white heat of battle. It turns out he was right.
When India became the first Asian side to win a series in Australia two years ago, it felt a little like some fans thought the win was despite Shastri’s presence rather than because of it. The ousting of the popular Anil Kumble still rankles and spits up like one of his deliveries any time the current side fails, such as the 36 in Adelaide. Shastri doesn’t quite share his boss Ganguly’s love of selfies, but when one is posted it is not uncommon it features a beer. When it doesn’t the beer is often photoshopped in, an allusion to his alleged and much remarked on love of liquid comforts. A not unrelated point, Shastri’s training shirts often face sort of strain in the midriff area that Mickey Arthur’s shorts do in the groinal. Middle-age spread-shaming is certainly frowned upon here, but it’s another stick with which he gets beaten, particularly when the team’s performances are not as fulsome as his side-profile.
Yet for these quibbles, and even if the IPL does produce young Indian cricketers with temperaments coated in teflon, Shastri’s achievements in Australia are starting to look a bit more than coincidence. First that groundbreaking triumph in 2018-19. Now, whatever the Test and series result, he has spectacularly overcome a casualty list longer than Damien Lewis’s in Band of Brothers, and with considerably fewer stellar names to fall back on. A throwback reference there to go with India’s throwback trainer.
After the tourists’ win at the MCG, it was put to Shastri that Rahane was a “bowler’s captain”. He replied that he didn’t know what that was. Trying to define a “player’s coach” is a similarly subjective conundrum, but it can be said with some certainty that India’s current squad would surely offer up their current mentor as a pretty good example. Shastri didn’t go in for the sort of matey testosterone you find on the airwaves during Test cricket in Australia during his own time behind the mic. He dealt more in cliches than quips, but perhaps the greatest example of Shastri-ism was when he went after Nasser Hussain for, not unreasonably at the time, comparing India’s fielders to “donkeys”. He may be a figure of fun at times, but he’s a fiercely loyal man as well as a big one. The Sundar Kid did the damage on Sunday, but India wouldn’t be storming Australia’s bastille without Butch Shastri.
Witty!