He was soft spoken and unassuming by nature. Speaking impeccable
English in low tones, he was always respectful to the elderly and
easily approachable to anyone else. But with a bat in hand and given
the honour of playing for the country, Navjot Singh Sidhu was a
transformed man. He was the epitome of courage as he negotiated with
great success the fastest bowlers of his day. And they answered to
the name of Marshall, Roberts, Holding, Walsh, Ambrose, Patterson,
McDermott, Hadlee, Imran, Akram et al.
As far as spin bowling was concerned, Sidhu was the best player of the
slow bowlers. From the time he mauled the spinners in the 1987
Reliance Cup by jumping out like a tiger on a hapless prey and lofting
them with copy book hits, complete with the perfect follow through to
long off and long on, till the time he meted out the same treatment to
Warne during the 1998 series against Australia, Sidhu remained a
peerless player of spin bowling. At Chennai in the first Test of the
series, the average fan, blinded by Sachin Tendulkar's brilliance,
credited him with destroying Warne. But the expert eye realised that
it was actually Sidhu who had softened Warne for Tendulkar to turn the
heat on him. When Warne came on, one could see Sidhu relishing the
challenge of taking him on. When he hit him for a couple of sixes, he
clenched his fist in determination. That gesture became a Sidhu
trademark.
It was as a comparatively unknown 20-year-old that Sidhu made his Test
debut against West Indies at Ahmedabad 16 years ago. He had earned a
place thanks to his century for North Zone against the visitors. Going
in at No 3, Sidhu stayed happily in the background as Sunil Gavaskar
went past Geoff Boycott's record Test aggregate. This was in keeping
with the Sidhu image. Till the end, he always prefered not to be in
the spotlight, but to perform his duties effectively but in an
unobtrusive manner - like a good soldier in the army. In that first
match he did not make many runs and only came back into the team for
the final Test at Madras because the Indian team had suffered a
debacle at Calcutta, leading to many changes. And with Gavaskar
prefering to go in at No 4, Sidhu opened the innings for the first
time. Again he did not make many runs and while the cynics were quick
to dub him ``strokeless wonder'' others were able to spot the flawless
technique, right temperament and the gutsy qualities that became his
hallmark.
When he was recalled four years later for the Reliance Cup there were
many who wondered whether it was a right choice. What was a
``strokeless wonder'' like Sidhu doing in ``instant'' cricket? But
they were all struck by the transformation. His cleanly struck lofted
hits were suddenly the talk of the competition, he rattled off five
successive half centuries and the transition from ``strokeless
wonder'' to ``sixer Sidhu'' was complete.
For the next decade he was more in than out of the Indian team, being
one of the very few who did equally well in both Test cricket and the
limited overs game. But he was never not because of any vagaries of
form but due to injuries. His consistency was a shining factor and
there was not one series where he failed. Half centuries were a
matter of habit, but there were centuries too and even a double
century in the West Indies in 1997. If spin bowlers brought out
Sidhu's skill and expertise, fast bowlers brought out the guts in
him. But none could dispute his concentration too and it seems somehow
fitting that the highest score made by an Indian outside the country
remains the 286 made by Sidhu against Jamaica in 1989.
In any long career there are bound to be unfortunate events even for a
non controversial personality like Sidhu. But his departure midway
through the Indian tour in 1996 clearly divided opinion in this
country. There were those who blamed Azharuddin for the obviously
serious misunderstanding. They argued that if a level headed person
like Sidhu could take such a drastic action, then the captain should
be held responsible. Of course there were those who said Sidhu should
be censured for walking out of a tour, that he should never be
selected again for India. Their argument was that whatever the
misunderstanding, a soldier never leaves the army. Piqued, Sidhu said
he was retiring from the game but he calmed down after the then
president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India IS Bindra had a
talk with him.
The timing of his strokes - particularly the lofted drive - was never
a problem for Sidhu. Similarly, the timing of his retirement has been
perfect. His recent scores illustrated that at 36, age had finally
caught up with the brave soldier. But unlike many old soldiers, Sidhu
will never fade away. Memories of his batting deeds will continue to
be with us. And sooner rather than later, one can see Sidhu back in
some capacity to serve the cause of Indian cricket.