Childhood comes revisiting with Cricket All-Stars

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne with the All-Stars trophy

Ever since word came out that Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne were planning a league of retired international cricketers, I had been eagerly waiting for it to commence. And last weekend it did, in the least expected country of all, The United States of America.

The USA is known for being a very sport loving nation. But somehow the charms of cricket have eluded it for far too long. Something tells me that is about to change soon; because if what we witnessed on Saturday is anything to go by, there seems to be a huge market for cricket in USA. Two of the game’s most global superstars, along with 25 other cricket sensations of the past two decades from various countries have assembled with the aim of globalizing the game in unexplored lands.

It is a fantastic and brilliant concept. It is wonderful for the fans over there to get a glimpse of these global cricket icons in action and for kids and youngsters out there to get familiarized with this amazing game.

It is also a great treat for people like me who grew up watching these men. I do not want to sound like a cynic, but something is lacking in cricket these days. Maybe there is just too much of cricket these days. Or maybe it is a bit less competitive, and more verbal and silly. There was a time when I used to give up everything in life for cricket, and not just Indian cricket, but any cricket whatsoever.

Maybe I just grew up and lost interest, or there could be some other reason. But here in lies the thing, watching the game on Saturday revived my lost interest in the game again. It reminded me why I had fallen in love with it in the first place.

Vintage Shoaib Akhtar was on display

There were moments in the game which were a joy to witness such as watching Sachin and Sehwag open the innings, Sehwag smashing everyone out of the park, Shane Warne weaving magic with the ball as though he had never retired. Absolutely pleasing it was to know that Wasim Akram hasn’t yet lost the swing which he was known for, Ricky Ponting still manages to pull off the front foot, Jonty Rhodes still is strong with the slog sweep and Curtly being frustrated at himself for bowling a wide in an almost-friendly match.

But the two biggest highlights of the game were: Shoaib Akhtar’s spell, and the crowd frenetically chanting Sachiiiin..Sachiiiin when Tendulkar was batting. Nothing could have scored more on the nostalgia chart than those two events.

It was an absolute joy to watch Akhtar roll back the years and steam in and let it rip while bowling. Even as a 40-year-old he is still a lot faster than most of the guys playing out their international career at present. If Mitchell Johnson is able to give batsmen nightmares these days, just imagine how batsmen must have felt against Akhtar in his hay days, considering that the then-Akhtar was 5-10 kmph faster than the current Johnson.

And all these moments combined together to allow me to revisit my childhood days and I am certain that many others must have felt the same. For a brief period of 3 hours, I was a school going kid once again. And in the same manner, maybe this match or series could become the treasured childhood memory of some kid in the US.

It has been well documented that this is exactly what Tendulkar and Warne are hoping to do – to spread the dream a lot of us had in the 90s in India. And if the response of the crowd in New York is anything to go by, then I believe that they have managed to pull it off.

Thank you Cricket All-Stars. Off to Houston and LA now. The child inside me is anxious and excited again.