The name Charles Bannerman may not ring a bell. Neither would the relevance of a March day at Melbourne, way back in 1877. But for those invested in the classicism of Test cricket and for statisticians obsessed with numbers, March 15 of that year should have a resonance.

On that day, which ushered in cricket’s inaugural Test, Australian opener Bannerman scored the first ever run in the game’s longest format. He went on to score 165 before retiring hurt and the host eventually defeated rival England by 45 runs. Since those old days, cricket has grown and evolved, and also dealt with disruptions like the two World Wars and the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Numbers and obsessive fandom

Tests and the two limited-overs variants of ODIs and Twenty20Is presently co-exist, carving out distinct loyalties and granular commercial muscle. While results matter as they define the yardstick for judgement in a team sport, individual numbers offer relevance, trivia and also fuel obsessive fandom.

Readers of a certain vintage would have maintained a scrapbook, jotting down numbers stacked up by batters and bowlers. In the 1980s, it may have been a notepad with tables listed for Sunil Gavaskar, Vivian Richards, Javed Miandad, David Gower, Allan Border, Gordon Greenidge and Dilip Vengsarkar, with their individual scores in a Test noted down diligently, and then it would boil down to the whole thrill of finding out who was heading the batting race.

Gavaskar scaled ‘Mount 10,000’ with that dainty late cut of Pakistani spinner Ijaz Faqih at Ahmedabad in 1987. At that time it seemed too high a peak for anyone to scale again. It was presumed as being akin to Sir Don Bradman’s Test average of 99.94, a miracle that perhaps will remain untouched for eternity.

But cricket always presses forward, building new forts, moving past old ones, and triggering debates about different eras. Gavaskar’s world records, be it 10,122 Test runs or 34 centuries, eventually gave way to the modern stars even if it was his contemporary Border who first went past his Test tally.

Presently the Mumbai legend is placed 13th in the run-getters’ list and is joint-sixth when it comes to hundreds. In both wings, a fellow Mumbaikar, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, reigns supreme with 15,921 runs and 51 tons. Again Tendulkar’s numerical accomplishment is seen as a bridge too far to cross for batters, who have followed his path towards greatness.

Change, the only constant

But then change is a constant and Tendulkar’s record in ODIs — 49 centuries — had to cede territory to Virat Kohli’s current tally of 50! But as for Tests, Tendulkar’s rarefied heights are seen as too far up in the stratosphere for mortals to ascend. Yet, whispers have begun with an incredulous air about a Yorkshire man perhaps having Tendulkar in his sights.

At 33, Joe Root is still doing what he does best: accumulating runs. All this while staying under the radar, unlike the ‘look at me’ swag of a Kohli, the ‘ain’t I cute’ aura of a Kane Williamson or the ‘twitch and turn’ hyperactivity of a Steve Smith. Against the West Indians, Root was among the runs, including a 122 at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge.

Importantly, he now has 12,027 runs from 143 Tests, averaging 50.11, and with 32 hundreds to boot. He is 3,894 runs away from Tendulkar’s peak and the fine print says much could change in the coming years. Limbs may tire, form could evaporate, desire might wane, but still remember this, there is a possibility. That could fuel Root’s hopes, presuming he is thinking about it but not telling any of us.

The sporting 30s is seen as a senior citizen zone, when in real life, at that same age, men and women are still finding their way, be it careers, hearts, matrimony or the whole purpose of life. However, modern fitness and medical standards and the assistance of support staff ranging from physios to nutritionists have aided the greatest of sportspersons to keep that twilight zone hanging around for long.

Years ago, there was a time when South African Graeme Smith was making waves in his debut season. Runs were plundered at will and the usual ‘Oh, will he chase down Sachin?’ talk did the rounds. Sport is a combination of a set history, a twitchy present and a future abounding with surprises. Speculation about the new challenger was rife even when Tendulkar was the reigning god of the willows, despite Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis being his shadows.

There was also a phase when Imran Khan, just to perhaps inspire Inzamam-ul-Haq, said that the latter is a better player than Tendulkar. But Smith was seen as being cut from a different cloth and it so happened that Tendulkar was training at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium.

It was a day with its slivers of sun, puffs of clouds and birdsong from Cubbon Park, but the maestro was in his zen mode, striking the ball both with care and vigour. Once the nets concluded and the sweat dried, Tendulkar began to stride towards the pavilion. A few scribes walked beside him and one television presenter asked the legend: “So Sachin, what do you think about Graeme Smith?”

Tendulkar paused, a half-smile creasing his face, forehead wrinkled in thought, and then said: “He looks good, is scoring runs but we have to wait a bit, we have to give him some time”. This was a man speaking after deep introspection and never was there a hint of envy.

The dynamics of longevity

He was right too because players making a splash on debut often tend to struggle in their second and third seasons, as by then the bowlers have observed their flaws, which then get lashed with boiling oil and rough salt in full public glare. Smith, having retired in 2014, is now 17th on the list with a tally of 9,265.

Root has dealt with the vagaries of form, survived various Ashes battles, scored runs all over, against varying attacks and on diverse surfaces. He also has seemingly bolted well ahead of (Steve) Smith, Kohli and Williamson. Devoid of the pressures of captaincy, which is the preserve of Ben Stokes, Root can lengthen his career in the pursuit of runs and triumphs for England.

In the years ahead, there will be tussles with the Indians and Australians, tough rivals adept at flipping pressure. Additionally, Root has to keep his head clear on the approach he wants to follow. Coach Brendon McCullum’s ‘The horses should gallop all the time’ instruction may not always sit easy.

Busy Root is from the obdurate soil of Yorkshire that in the past threw up a Geoffrey Boycott, who used to compete with Gavaskar for batting glory. It is delicious that decades down the line, the Yorkshire-Mumbai joust has pitted Root against Tendulkar’s jaw-dropping Test runs. Bannerman, resting in his grave, would never have imagined what he has unleashed.

As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced an enormous Rs. 125 crore reward for the victorious Indian team after their 2024 T20 World Cup win, calls have been made to fund the treatment of ailing former Indian cricketer and head coach Anshuman Gaekwad. Gaekwad, who coached India across two spells during the late 1990s, is currently battling blood cancer at the King’s College Hospital in London, at the age of 71. Former BCCI chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, who played alongside Gaekwad, has been loudest in urging the BCCI to step in.

“Anshuman Gaekwad told me that he has received financial support from the cricket board, but more financial support is needed,” wrote Sandeep Patil in his column on Mid-Day.

Patil revealed that a conversation with BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar regarding the issue has already been had, and assurance has also been provided.

“In this regard, former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar and I had a conversation with Cricket Board Treasurer Ashish Shelar. We called Ashish Shelar from the car after seeing Anshuman Gaekwad in the hospital,” wrote Patil.

“Ashish Shelar instantly said he would look into ours and other former cricketers’ requests for funds. I’m sure he will facilitate this and, at the risk of sounding macabre, save Anshu’s life. Any cricketer from any country should be helped by his Board, but Anshu’s case must be taken up on priority and treated as paramount,” wrote Patil.

Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India between 1974 and 1987. Notably, he was head coach of India between 1997 and 1999 in his first stint, and then took over after the infamous match-fixing scandal. During his second stint, India finished runners-up to New Zealand in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy (later known as the Champions Trophy).

In his column, Patil also referred to the fact that Sachin Tendulkar had been in his best form during Gaekwad’s tenure as head coach.

Former BCCI chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels India have one of the strong teams heading into the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India take on Bangladesh in their only practice match of tournament on Saturday against Bangladesh, days before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in New York on June 5. The Indian team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, arrived in New York earlier this week to begin their preparations for the tournament.

Speaking at a recent event, Vengsarkar suggested that India have one of strongest squads in the tournament, despite the fact that they left out key players like KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh from the 15 man squad.

“The current Indian team, I think, is one of the best in the world, I would say. If you could, you know, put a Gill out or Rahul or Rinku Singh out, I’m sure it’s a very strong team. And I wish them all the success. Because, I think, it’s one of the best in the world at the moment”, Vengsarkar said at an event at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Gill and Rinku have joined the team as travelling reserves while Rahul was missing from both the lists.

Vengsarkar also pointed out that due to the uncertain nature of the format, any player can be a match-winner on a particular day.

“The key players would like to play an important role in this T20 World Cup. It’s very difficult to say in this format because everybody is a very important member of the team. But the thing is that, as you have seen in IPL, the first six were very important. How you give a good start in the first six was very important. And of course, in this format, anything can happen. But I can’t say X, Y or Z is a key player in the team. In this format, anybody can win the match at any time of the match,” he added.

India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and T20 World Cup co-hosts USA.

Virat Kohli was absent from the team training this week as he is due to reach New York few hours before India’s warm-up match.