THE VERSATILE KHAN (Star Eveninger, Monday, January 23, 1989)
Star Eveninger, Monday, January 23, 1989
THE VERSATILE KHAN
By
Adil Ahmad
IMRAN? the Man? the Myth?
the Legend? or the Mortal Khan? Which Imran is it that we seek? Very pertinent
to answering that question is yet another question. Who wants to know? Is it a
smitten female? An adoring fan? Or is it a member of the cricket bureaucracy?
Or is it one of those thousands, maybe millions of cricket enthusiasts who take
a keen interest in the game as a team sport, but cannot bring themselves to
worship a mere mortal who may have succeeded beyond his own wildest
expectations.
To the first
category, that of the screaming, yelling, hysterical female, Imran is
everything she could ever want in a man. He is a tall, sun-bronzed symbol of
sensuality, accessible and yet wholly inaccessible. His exploits on the
'battle' field give him an aura of mystic nobility, rendering her into a damsel
in distress! Utter distress! And Imran is only too willing, on occasion, to be
the ever gallant knight in shining armour! But some of these damsels come in
for a bit of stick, especially when they catch Imran in a disagreeable mood. It’s
worth their while I’m sure, and in private moments they may even relish the
severity of his rebukes. Such is the all pervasive charm of this gift to womankind!
To the adoring fan
Imran can never be wrong. He is a demigod. His movements on field are sheer
poetry in motion. The sheer aggression and hostility of his pace attack,
coupled with the belligerence of his moments on the crease, help erase the memory
of a lost match, much to the relief of his team mates! Imran the Captain is a
born leader of men who the adoring fan would blindly follow into the valley of
death! The beauty of this relationship is that it will continue to exist long
after Imran has ceased to be. The adoring fan will remain loyal, narrating to
his grandchildren wondrous stories of his idol's conquests.
The smitten female
may however switch the focus of her attention to a newer, more current, demigod
with similar physical attributes. Such is life! You can't have them all!
The solidity of his
personality reflected in his continuity of purpose ever since school is
testimony to the quality of the material that went into his making. The Lord
was generous in His endowments, blessing Imran with an infrastructure which
very few mortal have been born into and grown up with. Imran has utilized it
judiciously. Born into a wealthy, landed family with deep roots, he could have
just as easily been detracted into a confused existence, pursuing the wasteful
pastimes of the landed gentry.
Instead he dedicated
his awesome single mindedness to the pursuit of excellence in cricket. Imran
has been justly rewarded in his own lifetime, and in his prime. Allah be
praised.
Members of the
cricket bureaucracy are uneasy and ill at ease with the likes of Imran. His
contempt for red tape and petty administrative shenanigans makes him come
across as arrogant. He is impervious to public opinion, which in any case is
overwhelmingly pro him. Imran delivers the promise of excitement in cricket,
and that makes him larger than life, the role model for every kid on the block.
As a technical
exponent of the art Imran is second to none, and during the course of his
illustrious career his exploits have given him a high profile existence. His
privacy is invaded at the drop of a hat. If someone could collect data on how
he sleeps and what he eats, it would make for headline copy. And a lot of it
has. How does he feel about this sharing with the general public of things that
are so personal?
This is the question
which intrigues the Admirer who constitutes the bulk of his following. What’s a
private moment like in their idol's life? But Imran has achieved a point where
he is mostly oblivious to intrusions, though sometimes he reacts with
irritation when his fans get over-enthusiastic. Once again what saves his
goose, probably, is his single mindedness of purpose.
Much as it might
surprise a few, there lies behind the brawn not just a wily strategist but a
man with feelings in the greater context of humanity. He lends his unreserved
support and endorsement to environmental and welfare projects ranging from the
preservation of Rain Forests in Brazil
to Healthcare in Pakistan
Much as I seek ground for criticizing and
maligning him, if only for the sake of a balanced perspective, I can't find
very much to hang it on. If Imran is conceited, then he has every right to be
having achieved the distinctions that he has. If he is egotistical, then it’s
an irrational public that has made him so.
But what of his
virtues? He's an honest upright human being who speaks his mind without fear of
repercussion. His complete abstinence from alcohol makes him a purist of sorts,
especially considering his long stints in England
Despite an
all-consuming passion for cricket, Imran has set a solid example for
generations to come by keeping his nose to the grind academically, and
acquiring a prestigious degree from Oxford
In their search for
sensationalism, critics tend to gloss over the man's positive attributes, and
concentrate on the tiny chinks in his armour. But what will become of him one
day when he is no longer the physical powerhouse that he is today? One thing is
for sure. Imran will not fade into oblivion, like so many superstars before
him. He has already made an indication of his inclination. His will be the lost
causes to champion. And a better champion a lost cause could not ask for. If
nothing else, he will inspire hope and confidence in a world steeped in dismay.
Go change the world,
Imran! You have changed a bit of it already, but there's a lot more out there
waiting for you. And should you feel frustration and futility on occasion then
just remember that each time you got slammed for a six by a Richards or a
Chappel, it was not the end of the world. You came out of it a more seasoned
player. Like steel forged in ice.
Imran the man, Imran
the player, Imran the demigod. These are all manifestations of the human
spirit. It seeks to excel. It seeks to float free. And in a highly regimented
and systematized society, it is all too easy to discourage the spirit.
But Imran's spirit
has preserved. Perseverances does indeed command success, a lesson Imran learnt
early in life from the motto on his school emblem. He has ridden rough shod
over career obstructionists. He has made a mockery of senseless though
established ‘values’, and shown the world that man is indeed in command of his
own destiny if he sticks to the fair and just.
Cricketer or not,
each one of us in the 'civilized' world has been touched by some aspect of the
great Khan. It can never be the sole prerogative of the cricket commentator to
offer an opinion on him. Each individual has a viewpoint on Imran. And this one
wishes he had played more cricket in his youth.
Comments
Post a Comment