Some batting dazzles us. Some make us speechless.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting is like delivering a speech. Not always he has a strong opening but in the first 6 balls, you know that you are going to watch him as long as he is around.
His batting has it all. The conflict of losing early wickets, unsettling first few balls, the crescendo – heat from the pacers – the narrator never loses his script. But his pacing always matches the situation, the pauses are as poignant as it could be.
His batting doesn’t dazzle us. he doesn’t show the eloquence – cut, pull, drives of a batsman all the time. His conclusion is occasionally abrupt, but most of the times it lingers in our mind even after he is gone.
I didn’t realize it earlier that his batting, like some speech – nudges our heart softly but makes a strong impression. Either of them has that quintessential quality. Neither MCC manual nor Toastmaster manual has it – “being yourself”. Whether you are in 22 yards or on stage, it’s something that changes everything.
That’s why some speeches make us speechless!