There is a galaxy of cricketers at the Star Sports Studios here commentating on the World Cup in various languages. Anil Kumble, Dean Jones, Scott Styris, Brian Lara, and Kevin Pietersen liven it up with their anecdotal and predictive discussions in The DugOut.
The regional viewers are treated to excellent stuff from the likes of Venkatapathy Raju, L. Sivaramakrishnan, L. Balaji, Manoj Tiwary, Vijay Bharadwaj, Kiran More, Nikhil Chopra, Mohammad Kaif, R.P. Singh, Ranadeb Bose, and Saurasish Lahiri.
But the one man who is held in awe and sought after most is G.R. Viswanath, who is a huge hit with his Kannadiga fans. The legendary batsman, who played 91 Tests and hit 14 centuries, each a gem, teams up with Bharadwaj and G.K. Anil Kumar, with enriching comments on cricket from his time.
Viswanath, who recently turned 70, is immensely popular because of his humility. As one of the officials connected with the project remarked, “He is much-loved, much respected. Viewers, who have hardly heard him all these years, feast on stories of his time.” He is the superstar among stars of contemporary cricket.
Not the one to talk about his batting, he can, when prompted repeatedly, recall most of his important innings with minute details, the shots he played to herald each century, his best and disappointing moments.
Missing 100 Tests sometimes rankles him but Viswanath, in his words, has “moved on.”
For someone like Tiwary, every break has to be spent with Viswanath.
“I first interacted with him at a NCA (National Cricket Academy) camp and have been a huge fan of him since.
“For us, not watching him play obviously is a huge disappointment but I have heard stories about his batting from his colleagues. I am lucky to be able to spend time with such a legend,” said Tiwary, who does revisit some of Viswanath’s innings which are available on YouTube.
His wrists were his strength. “I developed strong wrists in order to play the square drive and square cut because other shots would not fetch me boundaries. The ball would not reach the fence. I worked on making my wrists strong.”
Much to the chagrin of the bowlers who would suffer at his hands, for Viswanath had the reputation of dominating the attack on hostile pitches.
Master of square cut
One reminded him of an iconic image from his career, feet in air, playing a rasping square cut.
“Against Michael Holding. Off the second new ball (at Port of Spain in 1976).”
He recalls that epic victory against the West Indies as the audience around him sits fascinated, the storytelling spilling into late evening with no trace of fatigue on the legendary veteran’s face. We retire with a promise of more from the humble man, who is fondly referred as the original God of Cricket.
