Do you watch sports on television? Do you envy the sports stars as they travel around the world? You might think that they lead a glamorous life. But have you considered that there is a negative side to this lifestyle as well? Read the extract below from cricketer Sunil Gavaskar’s autobiography ‘Sunny Days’.
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is about the treatment meted out to Indian cricketers abroad and life in the countries I have toured. The general impression seems to be that going on tour is a lot of fun. This is only partly true because, apart from the pleasure one undoubtedly gets, there is the negative aspect also.
The immediate problems when you go to another country are the language and the food. Not everybody in the Indian team can speak English fluently and, by the time one gets used to the foreign accent, half the tour is almost over. For example, in the West Indies, the average man speaks terrible English. The grammar is all wrong and it’s a very difficult job trying to understand what they are saying.
Food is another problem. The good abroad is so insipid and tasteless that all our boys find it tough to get something to fill their tummies. The south Indians in the team long for rice and the north Indians for spicy food. Luckily in England one finds plenty of Indian restaurants to eat at and there are also some families who invite the boys for meals.
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Whether is another element which takes a long time for one to get used to. However, the players from the north adjust far more easily to the cold weather, than those from the west and sough, where there is no real winter as such. Playing with four pullovers on is certainly not the most convenient way of playing cricket, and keeping your hands in your pockets till the last possible second before the ball is bowled doesn’t ensure good catching. Hard hits often are very cleverly avoided and so also sharp close-in catches, especially in extremely cold weather. It’s also difficult to get a proper grip on the ball in such weather. I know a few players who catch a ‘cold’ in the plane, just thinking of the cold weather ahead.
Travelling can often be tedious. In England, particularly, it can be really wearying. The boys have to check out of the hotel on the last morning of a match and the coach is ready in the evening outside the ground from where the team leaves for the place where they have to play the next match. Because the stay in the Country is restricted to two days and departure is on the third morning, few boys bother to unpack their suitcases. Sometimes the team reaches the next Country well after midnight and, by the time one is allotted a room, it is pretty nearly dawn.
Travelling by coach, though tiring, is often entertaining. The boys often conduct mock interviews. Farokh used to interview most of the players and the one with Eknath Solkar used to be the most humorous. Songs are sung and the card addicts sit down to fleece the newcomers in the team.
On a long tour, one tends to get homesick. There are days when there is no news from home either by letter or telephone. I know of one cricketer who had booked a call to his girlfriend every night of the twin-tour and got it only once, and that too the day before we left for home. Apparently the international telephone operators had never heard of this place called India, and their Indian counterparts always reported that the line was out of order.
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Seeing the same faces day and night can also be quite boring and monotonous. Some members of the team are a little short-tempered and they don’t make good room-mates.
But the best part of a tour is the friends one makes in the countries one visits. More often than not one becomes more friendly with one from the opposite team.
An extract from ‘Sunny Days’ by Sunil Gavaskar