Dancing with the stars

One more article that deserves to go into my ode to the original Little Master, GR Viswanath, is this one by Ramachandra Guha. It is full of anecdotes and is a treat for any fan of Vishy.

I once watched Vishy, at the Ferozeshah Kotla, in a Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Delhi, being beaten on the back foot by a delivery from the rising university star Praveen Oberoi. The ball had come in late with the arm instead of, as the batsman had anticipated, spinning away towards the off side. The ball was only narrowly missing leg stump, and the bowler, after pleading with the umpire to give the decision in his favour, sank to the ground in despair. At the end of the over Oberoi made a great show to his team-mates of what he felt was a case of justice denied. Vishy watched calmly but at the beginning of Oberoi's next over came dancing down the wicket to send the ball into the crowd over extra cover.

Even the gentlest of men are sometimes moved to show an upstart his place.