Navjot's nuggets

It is always a great thrill when touring sides visit South Africa. For me there is often an extra bonus. These visits provide me with an ideal opportunity to catch up with acquaintances of the past and renew friendships, as often the visiting commentators are former adversaries.

Take this season’s Summer Spice Series. We are fortunate that two former Indian captains namely Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are to be heard on SuperSport and although we never clashed on the park I have had the pleasure of their company in the commentary box previously. Geoff Boycott is another who I enjoy working with, and in fact as he will readily tell you I ruined his day once in his back yard as I caught him at slip for a ‘duck’ in front of a full house at Headingley.

One face and voice (and head gear) you will not be too familiar with is another of our Indian friends, Navjot Singh Sidhu. What a character he is! He has a unique turn of phrase that I will share with you shortly. Before that though, it is important you learn a bit more about this personality.

Navjot, or ‘Sherry’ as he is affectionately known, was an esteemed performer for India. He was a swash-buckling opening batsman who played in 51 Tests and scored just over 3200 runs at a very respectable average of 42. He played his first Test in 1983/984 season against the West Indies aged 20, opening in fact with Sunil Gavaskar, and his last Test in season 1998/99. He also played 136 one-day internationals and averaged 37 runs per innings.

After ‘Sherry’s’ initial foray into international cricket, he was omitted from the side and spent the next three years in exile. He then made a huge splash in the 1987 World Cup where he revealed a stunning change of technique. The transformation from a dour, gritty, courageous opener to a free flowing, six-hitting cavalier batsmen surprised many. He did not look back as this became his signature style and a new and exciting career was launched.

Two highlights stand out from his career record. First and foremost is his highest Test score of 201 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in Trinidad in 1997 and secondly his remarkably consistent series against the Aussies at home in 1997/98. He and Sachin Tendulkar dented Australia’s hopes on that tour as Navjot recorded consecutive scores of 62, 64, 97, 74 and 44.

He now comfortably graces the commentary box and believe me comes out with some beauties.

Here is a sample of a few I have heard so far whilst on air with ‘Sherry’:

“The Kenyan’s are made of sugar and candy, anyone can lick and eat them.” “ Experience really is a hard teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards.” “ Troubles are like babies, the more you nurse them the bigger they become.” “ There’s no point in murdering a man who’s committing suicide.” “You can beat a horse till he’s sad and you can beat a cow till she’s mad but you get no reaction what so ever.” “Everything comes to the man who hustles while he waits. Patience is the key.”

Navjot………go you good thing!