Name
Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Date Of Birth
20th October 1963.
Nick Name
Sherry.
Titles
Sixer Sidhu, Jonty Singh, Pasha of Chichés.
Talent
India’s finest opener in the post Gavaskar era.
Reliable in both versions of the game.
At ease with both pace & spin (Understatement!!!).
Statistics
Test’s 51, Runs 3202, Avg 42.13, HS 201, 100’s 9, 50’s 15, 6’s 38.
ODI’s 136, Runs 4413, Avg 37.08, HS 134*, 100’s 6, 50’s 33, 6’s 44.
Sid Who
Navjot Singh Sidhu grabbed the attention of the selectors when he made 122 for North Zone against the touring West Indies in 1983/84. After top-scoring in another match against the visitors, Sidhu made his test debut at Motera, Ahmedabad against the West Indians. Having filled in for an injured player, Sidhu soon had to make way & his international career was as good as over.
Sixer Sidhu
Sidhu was recalled in the Indian line-up for the 1987 World Cup. In five innings he ran up scores of 73, 75, 51, 55 & 22. Sidhu’s mighty sixers earned him the title of ’Sixer Sidhu’, a far cry from his ’Strokeless Wonder’ days. In his third test, first since his recall, Sidhu cracked a 116 & an unbeaten 43 against New Zealand. Sidhu’s career was reinstated.
On the West Indian tour of 1988/89, Sidhu scored 116 against an attack comprising of Ambrose, Bishop, Walsh & Marshall at Sabina Park, Kingston. The next best score was 47. Prior to that test, he had scored 286 for Indians v/s Jamaica at the same ground, which remains the highest first class score by an Indian outside India.
Sidhu rates his 134 not out against New Zealand at Lucknow as his best knock. Chasing 256, when the seventh wicket fell India still needed 52 runs for victory. India finished the run chase with 2 overs to spare. In 1996/97, Sidhu scored his test best 201 against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain against Ambrose, Walsh & Dillon, an act of supreme endurance lasting 11 hours.
Master of Spinners
Sidhu had the technique, strokes & the temperament to play all kinds of bowling on all surfaces. But the single aspect for which Sidhu will be ever idolised is his ability to bat confidently even against the highest rated spinners. Sidhu’s assault of spin bowling is legendary. He mauled the spinners by jumping out of his crease and lofting them with the perfect follow through in a smooth arc. In 1993, when England toured India, Sidhu launched a savage assault on off-spinner John Embury so much so that he asked not to be considered for the 1st test. In 1993/94, his 124 against Sri Lanka had 8 sixes against a young Muttiah Muralitharan. In the 1997/98 series at home against Australia, Sidhu launched a brutal assault on Shane Warne, running up scores of 62, 64, 97, 74 & 44. Way to go.
Jonty Singh
Sidhu has always been a hard-working fielder, running around with the passion of a soldier. However towards the fag-end of his career, on his son’s insistence, he put a lot of effort into his fielding and was often referred to as ’’Jonty’’ Singh after Jonty Rhodes.
Comeback Kid
Sidhu was out for 3 years in the wilderness after his test debut in 1983/84. Similarly, after the 1987 World Cup, Sidhu missed an entire home series against West Indies through injury. During the 1989/90 tour of New Zealand, Sidhu suffered a knuckle injury in the first test & had to miss the rest of the series.
Sidhu made big news when he departed from England midway through the Indian tour in 1996. Difference of opinion with the captain was cited as the reason. Sidhu had said ’’I have been humiliated time and again but have withstood it all with all the courage I had, purely because the interest of the country was paramount... ’’. He soon announced his retirement stating ’’Nothing has given me more honour, pride and pleasure than playing for my country. It was as sacred as praying to the almighty. By quitting the game I have inflicted on myself a punishment whose scar will remain on my soul forever.’’ These are words that say a lot about the passion with which Sidhu played. Well, the comeback kid did make a come-back into the side after that unfortunate incident.
Pasha of Clichés
Sidhu started his career in the commentary box, much in the same way as he used to bat, a man who feels from the heart and shoots from the lip. Sidhu’s wise-crack’s - ’Sidhuisms’ have a huge fan following & attract an equally large number of critics. It is best described as an ’’entertaining concoction of mixed metaphors and garbled clichés.’’
Howzzat:
Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they hide.
If ifs and buts were pots and pans, there would be no tinkers.
Dravid has hit this shot as straight as a candle.
He is like Indian three-wheeler which will suck a lot of diesel but cannot go beyond 30.
U cannot kill a man who is hell bent upon committing suicide.
A parting shot:
Wickets are like wives - you never know which way they will turn.