Yes, there were giants before the Jam Sahib (the great Indian cricketer, Kumar Shree
Ranjitsinhji, better known to the world of cricket as Ranji). And yet I think it is undeniable that
as a batsman the Indian will live as the supreme exponent of the Englishman's game. The claim
does not rest simply on his achievements although, judged by them, the claim could be sustained.
His season's average of 87 with a total of over 3,000 runs, is easily the high-water mark of English
cricket. Thrice he has totalled over 3,000 runs and no one else has equalled that record. And is
not his the astonishing achievement of scoring two double centuries in a single match on a single
day-not against a feeble attack, but against Yorkshire, always the most resolute and resourceful
of bowling teams?
But we do not judge a cricketer so much by the runs he gets as by the way he gets them. "In
literature as in finance," says Washington Irving, "much paper and much poverty may co-exist."
And in cricket too many runs and much dullness may be associated. If cricket is menaced
with creeping paralysis, it is because it is losing the spirit of joyous adventure and becoming a mere instrument
for compiling tables of averages. There are dull, mechanic fellows who turn out runs with as little emotion as a
machine turns out pins. There is no colour, no enthusiasm, no character in their play. Cricket is not an adventure
to them; it is a business. It was so with Shrewsbury. His technical perfection was astonishing; but the soul of the
game was wanting in him. There was no sunshine in his play, no swift surprise or splendid unselfishness. And
without these things without gaiety, daring, and the spirit of sacrifice cricket is a dead thing. Now, the Jam Sahib
has the root of the matter in him. His play is as sunny as his face. He is not a miser hoarding up runs, but a mil-
lionaire spending them, with a splendid yet judicious prodigality. It is as though his pockets are bursting with runs
that he wants to shower with his blessings upon the expectant multitude. It is not difficult to believe that in his little
kingdom Nawangar where he has power of life and death in his hands he is extremely popular for it is obvious
that his pleasure is in giving pleasure.
-A.G. Gardiner
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jzj
shower with his blessings upon the expectant multitude. It is not difficult to believe that in his little
kingdom Nawangar where he has power of life and death in his hands he is extremely popular for it is obvious
Explanation:
shower with his blessings upon the expectant multitude. It is not difficult to believe that in his little
kingdom Nawangar where he has power of life and death in his hands he is extremely popular for it is obvious
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many many returns of the day
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