It wasn’t quite Eric Cantona in Manchester and India had in fact merrily won the last Teat to draw the series 2-2. But captain Shubman Gill dropped an equally mystifying 10 word cryptic post to celebrate one of Test cricket’s finest series, a massive W for the new Team India.
“The storm only rattles those who aren’t ready for it,” Gill’s official Twitter account posted. Four pictures of post match, including one with last day heroes Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna accompanied the line.
While there will be several interpretations of what the storm he was referring to, the Indian captain sure did Shiv Kumar Batalvi proud when he or his social media team posted that Cantona-ish line, in the land of Shakespeare.
The young Indian captain with a love for museums and deeper appreciation of written word, left sufficient air of mystery around the post and its meaning.
The Manchester United legend Cantona it may be recalled once came to a press conference and spoke sardines, trawlers and those who follow them for the nature of footballer-media equations (or so it is presumed) after he was once again in some sort of trouble. The calm Gill’s victory post might have been simpler. The Storm could simply mean the fire through which Indians have walked in this England series, the cauldron of emotions. Being ready for it might well mean his and his team’s level of preparation which was top notch, even as England tried multiple times to faze the young team’s equilibrium.
Other Team India members stuck to mushy emotion. Washington Sundar, who must never be dropped given how he’s a constant when India pull out these incredible wins against England or Australia, wrote, “Determination, self belief and resilience. Indebted to all the love, positive energy and support from everyone.”
For Yashasvi Jaiswal, it was, “Dare to dream (heart index thumb emoji) test cricket at it’s best”.
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Across, the cricket World, the last Test match win and the entire series got hailed as a great spectacle of the 5 day format, with many from West Indies to South Africa to Australia to Sri Lanka riveted as the games ebbed and flowed. The final day with the tireless Siraj finding redemption for a boundary catch, with spirited bowling and the final Yorker to send back Gus Atkinson reverberated across the commonwealth globe with its healthy cricketing addiction for Test cricket.
“Long live Test cricket. A format that rewards patience, skill and heart. No shortcuts here,” wrote KL Rahul on Insta, “just hard earned moments and real character. The whole group gave their everything over the last 2 months and this ending was fitting. Proud of this team”
Rishabh Pant took to FB to post, “A tour that asked a lot and gave even more in return. Proud of how this team stood up adapted and kept fighting. Representing the country means everything to us, it takes a everything out of you but we take pride in that. Big thanks to our incredible support staff and fans who stood by us throughout. This team is hungry, United and here to take Indian cricket forward.”
