An afternoon with Muddiah, the beginning of an education

The setting for a most memorable encounter was the verdant Press Club premises at Bangalore. The cast was diverse - journalists, cricket writers and a former Indian Test cricketer - Wing Commander VM Muddiah. The ages of the people sitting around the table ranged from 21 to 74. A wide range you might say. The one thing that bound the group was that great game we call cricket. Everyone in the group clearly loved the game dearly. Not all however understood the game as well as was possible. To say that it was an afternoon spent talking cricket would be a bit of a walk away from the truth. Some people spoke cricket while others had to be content listening wide eyed.

Muddiah was everything you would expect from a man who played so successfully for Services over the years. A proud airforce man, upright and with a firm handshake even at his age. There was that quintessential glint in his eye that somehow seems lost on modern cricketers. There was a warmth in his heart when he spoke of Tiger Pataudi, "You all talk of Jonty Rhodes as a great fielder. You should have seen Tiger. The way he would swoop down on the ball, pick it up effortlessly and throw the stumps down even as the helpless batsman was left stranded," said Muddiah. Don't get this wrong. This was no sentimental trip down memory lane.

Muddiah went on fluently, "We have to stress on physical fitness. What do we lack in this country? We have all the talent possible. Our technique is on par with anyone in the world. Fitness. That is where we let ourselves down." There was an unmistakable ring of truth to what the former India offspinner said. Cricket after all, was a game that took seven hours, or more, of a player's time every day for as long as five successive days. No other game demands that of you. But surely, cricket is a game of skill and not one of physical strength? Absolutely not.

"These are international athletes. Not club cricketers," began Muddiah. "How long should it take for an international athlete to run 100 metres? 13 seconds? More? For the sake of argument let's assume it should take 15 seconds. The distance between the two sets of stumps is 22 yards. Take away the distance between the crease and the wicket (four feet) at both ends. That leaves 19 and one third yards between the creases. That is approximately 18 metres. In that case, it should take only three seconds to run the distance?" queried Muddiah. At that moment, Muddiah could easily have been a skilled lawyer building a case with great care.

"If the time needed to get between the creases is so little, why do we see as many as five run outs in a game?" asked Muddiah with the smile of a man who had made an inscrutable case. "Basics, young man. That's what we have lost track of," he said with a sad look. And that was only the beginning. "We used to practice the tip-and-run tactic in those days. Line up all the fielders at the thirty yard circle and let any bowler have a go at you. Drop the ball down with soft hands and run. Mind you, there must be hesitation. See how many times you are run out. You'll be surprised how difficult it is for the fielders if batsmen follow proper methods," said Muddiah with an air of finality.

There was no picking holes in Muddiah's arguments. Here was a man who understood cricket. Not the politics of cricket administrators, not the interactions of players on or off the field, not the talk of journalists and cricket lovers. The striking of willow on leather. That's what it is all about isn't it? Yet it's so easy to forget all about that in the course of discovering what Sachin Tendulkar does on his off days.

Spend an afternoon with Wing Commander VM Muddiah. In no time you will see how little you know about the game. As he rightly pointed out, "There's nothing special about loving the game. We all love the game. You have to understand it. That is the key."