New Zealand vs West Indies 2017/18: Colin Munro ushers in New Year with scintillating knock

The vast field of sport, settled in the midst of the road of reality, houses within it an amalgamation of trials and emotions. Not only does it remain the only socially acceptable spot where two grown-up adults can indulge in bits and pieces of bickering, but it also is the destination in which challenges run wild. The mild have to emerge a roaring beast and the afraid, a devouring rival.

The tame years of adolescent need to be shelled for an overpowering presence and the meek beings will need to adapt to the rapidly changing scenes. In this survival of the fittest, sportsmen may only enter with leap-bounds of talent; however, once thrown in the depths of the wilderness, courage and aggression stands tall.

Sans the streaks of passion, Colin Munro grew up in the Natal Province in Durban in South Africa to a shielded childhood. Even the slightest threat to his safeguarded existence meant that his family shifted from the by-lanes of the Rainbow Nation to the more protected country of New Zealand. A reputed university and a budding business were on his parent’s mind but little would they have imagined that their young son would be thrust into the very world that they had been running away from.

The big bad world of cricket. The realm where the fighting spirit stands choc-a-bloc with the competition levels. The arena in which the pressure to perform is at its zenith and a bad spell or a knock can effectively mean shutters for a lifetime. Having shifted to a new continent was tough; changing loyalties so soon was even tougher.

Having played in the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006, Munro was welcomed into the battlefield after his international career was unable to make considerable progress. His only Test was way back in 2013 against South Africa and even his his One Day International debut, eleven days later failed to leave a lasting impact. A stop-start career hardly did justice to the powerful hitter’s calibre and just when one was ready to cast him aside as yet another talent lost to the grinds of international cricket, the burly cricketer grasped onto his chance.

The world of epiphanies is strange indeed. Though a statement is oft repeated, it does not strike you till a strange realisation reaches you. Though he had been blessed with great stamina, Munro never really threatened to burst out exploding in the grandest stage until 2017. With growing demands for younger and fitter feet in the T20 formats, it was an opportunity to perform and seal the spot left vacant by Brendon McCullum or to perish. The thirty-year-old chose the former.

Impact beyond mere numbers

Munro is one of the best power-hitters in the modern game

Even though an average of 25.36 in 12 ODIs in the last twelve months hardly does justice, the numbers do not reveal the impact that has been created. Way back in May, he blasted his way to a 15-ball 44 against Ireland but his knock of 75 in Kanpur, en route India’s massive target of 337 gave glimpses of his staggering stroke play.

The opener set out with a grim objective and he hardly challenged the Indian bowling line-up with eight fours and three maximums in his innings. Till he was not wrapped up by Yuzvendra Chahal, the mammoth target had seemed within reach, and it was due to his whirlwind knock that New Zealand ended up just six runs short of the total.

However, it was in the T20Is that he proved to be a revelation. A hundred in Mount Maunganui against Bangladesh was followed by yet another T20I ton against India in Rajkot, making him the only player in the history of the game to record two T20 international hundreds in a calendar year. His unusual technique against the spinners, in which he freely swept and reverse swept them made him a proper batsman with powerful shots in his armoury, away from the slog sweeps most of his contemporaries are well-known for.

His knock at Bay Oval against West Indies on the first day of the year in the second T20 match further enhanced his reputation as a knight who remains equipped with sharp shots and blunt defence, ready to prowl on any tactical moves by his opponents.

The terrible deliveries were dispatched without discomfort and better ones were sliced over the infield or hammered away with brutal power. Carlos Brathwaite’s short balls were shrewdly pulled through mid-wicket and Kesrick Williams bore the brunt of his onslaught with four successive boundaries in the sixth over. He reached his fifty in just eighteen deliveries- the second fastest score by a Kiwi and before he departed off the bowling of Williams, he had stamped his intentions going ahead in 2018 as well.

His knock of 66 in 23 deliveries was studded with eleven fours and three sixes, giving him a boundary percentage of 93.9! With the Indian Premier League scheduled to hold its auctions later this month, Munro’s antics have made him a name to reckon with among the franchise owners and it will not be a surprise to witness a bidding war when his name is called up.

From the pace and bounce of South Africa to the slowness of the pitches in New Zealand, the left-hander has ensured that the T20 format is not merely a format for the youngsters. Although his primary aim remains representation in all three formats for New Zealand, Munro has not shied away from making the big bucks in the extravaganza of the shortest format of the game.

From being a boy who lacked self-confidence in dollops to now coming across as a fearless opener, the Kiwi’s roller-coaster journey in cricket has had its moments of despair but with radical changes in his mind-set, there is no reason why it cannot culminate into a fruitful career ahead.