Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Steyn leaves India shaken and stirred. And twitching.
Today's play at Newlands, Cape Town was test cricket at its best. Largely due to a masterly exhibition of their respective crafts by Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn. And the absorbing contest between them. From a bottomline perspective, one might say Sachin was on top-after all he was the last man standing in the mano-e-mano, but I would say Steyn won the first contest early in the day. What with the edge almost carrying to the 'keeper and the numerous play-and-misses. Sachin came up trumps in the second battle in the post lunch session when the second new ball was in operation. Sachin played Steyn beautifully when the second new ball was moving around considerably. Foot forward, getting to the pitch of the ball, et al. Plus the adjustment of taking stance outside his crease to negate the swing. No other Indian batsmen adopted this out-standing adjustment.
The swing Steyn was extracting was phenomenal. Remarkable sideways movement both in the air and off the pitch. He was operating as a swing bowler today throughout the time Tendulkar was at the crease- never did he hit 140 kmph- and crossed 135 kph just occasionally. That is what makes him so lethal, when the pitch is not as co operative as Newlands was today, he can turn on the heat and clock high 140s. Case in point- the snorter which got Dhoni in Ceturion, a 145+ perfume ball which a well-set Dhoni helplessly fended to the keeper. In sharp contrast was today's jaffa to Pujara, bowled at 133 kph. Pitched up, angle taking the ball outside leg stump, squared Pujara up, then prodigious outswing, catching poor Pujara plumb in front. Pujara, a past master in Indian dustbowls, has had it tough in South Africa. For the first time he is playing on the green tops of SA- A greenfield project. Not a brownfield project, like an innings in India. The delivery to Harbhajan which clipped the stump on the way to the keeper was unplayable, too. Super umpiring by Gould.
Picking up on a statement by Messrs. Robin Jackman and co. from the commentary box, Steyn has the best strike rate among contemporary greats. He is ahead by a considerable distance. Surely one of the best fast bowling talents of our time. See beautifully formatted table below, the speed with which I pulled out these numbers from cricinfo and cranked out a table will make my employers proud. Yes, I do excel at work (pun intended).
Picking up on a comment in the Centurion test, Steyn's musculature predominantly consists of "Fast Twitch muscles". Fast twitch muscles generate short bursts of energy (energy through anaerobic process) but tire fast. Sprinters have mainly fast twitch muscle, while marathon runners have a dominant slow twitch muscle composition. Slow twitch muscles produce lower power but do not tire as quickly (aerobic process). Now Steyn has a unique combination of fast twitch muscles and endurance- making him a super athlete. Coming to think of it, I too am a fast twitch muscle guy. What are you? Your twitching quickly in agony on reading all this does not mean anything, so please look deep into yourself.
I think Steyn has a striking resemblance to Daniel Craig. I had observed this much before Cricinfo did (here). The cricinfo observation also authenticates my claim, cynics please note. So I have taken a shot at the Doppelganger bit myself too. Also, given Craig resembles Steyn and is Bond, Daniel Craig would make for a deadly fast bowler himself. Steyn Bond. If not actually being one, he could play a New Zealand born South African pacer called Steyn Bond in a movie. The movie could just enact highlights of this intriguing Ind-SA series actually. Would be pretty interesting. Wonder who would play Sachin. Actually Shane Bond is a cop too. His career is finished anyway, and I think Craig is also past his expiry date as 007. Shane could send his CV across- he has his name and he has relevant work-ex as a cop. Anyway, here:
Labels: Esprit de sports
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