Centurion brings back memories of unoffical Test

I nominated Jacques Rudolph as one of my three. He had started making a name for himself in South Africa and at Centurion scored a stylish 21 before being run out. A brief little cameo you might say but there was something striking about him,as there had been in an innings of 22 I had seen in a Ranji Trophy final ten years earlier from a young man called Sourav Ganguly! As it turned out Rudolph was to miss out on another “test debut” when he was replaced by Justin Ontong in Australia a year later after being named in the side because South Africa needed a minimum number of coloured players! A few months later when he made 222 not out on debut against Bangladesh I thought my choice was coming good. But four centuries later,with an average of 36.21from 35 games,the kind of number that suggests unconverted promise,Rudolph opted to become a Kolpak player. I notice with some interest though that he is back home and in a preliminary list of players from South Africa for the World Cup. I wonder if there is a twist in that tale! I also nominated Marlon Samuels and honestly I cannot remember why. Maybe it is the old Indian fascination with elegance because there was something very stylish about him. He came to India a year later and scored a couple of centuries,started bowling off-breaks with a very contemporary,and therefore dodgy,action and seemed destined for much more. Then he vanished into that hungry hole in the West Indies,the one that devoured any talent it spotted,and apart from a little comeback in 2008,he too finished with little to show; 1408 runs from 29 tests @ 28.73. He was briefly considered as an IPL prospect around then but his propensity for being seen with the wrong kind of people quickly put paid to that! My third nomination was Virender Sehwag and my friends who track stocks would say: here was a mid-cap that made it big! He had just had an extraordinary fortnight,having made a century on debut at Bloemfontein and being banned a test for excessive appealing at Port Elizabeth! I remember him,while the game at Centurion was on,sitting on the steps just outside the Sandton Sun in Johannesburg wondering what life had in store for him!! It wasn’t a bad script with 84 tests and more to come. 7550 runs @ 54.71,22 centuries including two triples and a place in India’s all time test eleven!!.

And so,as another game begins in Centurion,it is time to pick three more. Two on my list,Umar Akmal and Mohd Amir,face uncertain futures and I hope someone reminds them that most people can be very good at only one or two things and that they squander those at their own peril. Darren Bravo would be a dark horse,Tamim Iqbal a safer bet (but he’s been around too long to qualify) and Kane Williamson a stock you would buy if you had some money left. And so the three I will pick are Virat Kohli,Eoin Morgan and Angelo Mathews. Maybe some day,if we’re all still around,and there is a game in Centurion,we’ll see how this pick went!