While Ravi Shastri has become a familiar voice as a TV commentator, his on-field career seems to have come from such a different era that I was surprised to read this is only his 50th birthday. That he and I are more or less the same age!
I remember him as a tall, lanky left-arm spinner in a time when I thought all spinners, especially Indians, were supposed to be short and relatively stocky. Just think Bishan Bedi. In 1981, aged just 18, he enjoyed a good personal Test debut - match figures of 6-63 - although his side were beaten by New Zealand in Wellington. In those days, he batted at ten. Pretty soon, he was a very useful lower-order hitter, especially in one-dayers, but he made 93 at eight, against England in his ninth Test. Rapid promotion to opener ensued, and the first of his eleven Test centuries was a six-hour effort against Pakistan. Rarely has there been such a swift transformation from carefree lower-order hitter to stonewall opener in Test cricket, but he helped India through the transition caused by Sunil Gavaskar's eventual retirement in the mid-1980s.
1984-1985 was his purple patch as a batsman, combining obdurate centuries in both forms of international cricket (no T20 in those days, of course) with a world record-equalling six sixes in an over in a Ranji Trophy match. Not even Chris Gayle has achieved that in a 20-over thrash! His final first-class average was a very respectable 44, with a few double-hundreds to his name, including a 206 in Sydney, scored off an Aussie attack boasting McDermott, Hughes, Reid and a blonde leggie making his debut: SK Warne!
But what became of that graceful off-spinner? Well, like many before and since, as his batting improved, his bowling deteriorated. He was capable of a nagging line and length, defensively holding up one end for a while but a career-best of only 5-75 demonstrates that he just wasn't a prolific wicket-taker. A Test average of more than 40 is mediocre at best for someone with 150+ wickets, and he claimed fewer than a wicket per game over 150 ODIs for India. Perhaps exposure to something like Twenty20 may have helped him develop more variation in his bowling but he enjoyed a pretty fine career as an all-round cricketer. A certain Anil Kumble had consolidated his place as India's number one spinner and, despite that recent 'double', he retired from international cricket after the tour of South Africa in 1992. He called time on his playing career just two years later aged a mere 32. He was a respected cricketer and now he enjoys a similar status behind the microphone. Perhaps it is fitting that his 50th birthday coincides with the IPL Final!
