'The Prince' shows the 'right' way forward

Brian Lara walked over to Ridhima Dilawari at the Prestige Golfshire course on a Bengalurean Sunday to get a tip or two to get his swing right. 

He pulled out his phone, recorded the Indian professional’s swing, passed his phone over to her and asked her to record his swing. 

You didn’t need video playback to gather who did it better, but that the 54-year-old was willing to suspend his experience as a golfer and learn finesse from the 20-something-year-old was endearing. 

All through his playing career, few even dared speak beyond him when it came to flair, and now ‘The Prince’ was being taught the art of grace and flow. Then again, that could have something to do with the fact that he was playing right-handed!

The left-handed savant with over 20,000 runs in international cricket, and arguably the most stylish southpaw of them all, was playing golf right-handed. 

“… (laughs) It’s because I noticed that it was affecting my batting,” said the Trinidadian. “If I had long sessions of golf, I couldn’t bat with the same flow and have the same power so I switched it up early in my career. It was obviously hard initially because my aesthetics were all over the place, but I eventually worked it out and I've since played with my right. 

“I must remind you that I can play with my left too (laughs), especially since I don’t bat much these days,” he added in typically cheeky fashion. 

It's an interesting outlook since cricketers of this generation have often relied on golf to hone their striking ability as batters, and few, if any, switch hands to maintain balance. 

And so, the conversation ensued with Lara in fine spirits, extending camaraderie to former Indian skipper Kapil Dev to his left. But when the conversation of West Indian cricket came up, he leant forward just enough and just intently enough.

Kapil sat back in his chair but tilted closer to the West Indian giant for his take.   

Lara wasn’t about to hold himself back despite suggestions from the Public Relations team to restrict the conversation to golf alone. After all, the legends were in Bengaluru as part of the Vishwa Samudra Golden Eagles' seventh annual golf championship. That wouldn’t halt Lara’s train of thought though. 

“We need to get good administration on board. We simply haven't done a good job of that,” he said about West Indies’ languishing fortunes of late. “We don’t have as many players taking up the sport and since that’s the case, we don’t have too many entering the system. That’s the problem, we don’t have a good foundation. 

“You see, a lot of players doing well, but they naturally gravitate towards franchise cricket because that’s where the money is. How can you blame them?! They deserve to be rewarded for their professionalism and their loyalty. That's one big change that can make things better for West Indian cricket.” 

He continued: “We've a lot of former players on the board now and I know they mean well for the sport. But we need to give them and the team time to settle into a rhythm, the system needed an overhaul and it’s happening now.”

Luckily for the West Indies, who did not qualify for the recently concluded 50-over World Cup in India, they are the hosts for the upcoming Twenty20 International World Cup. That, Lara reckoned, could be a blessing and a push in the right direction. 

“Luckily we automatically qualified (by virtue of being the hosts) so now we've the stage for us to revisit our great past,” he said. “We've talent, have good players, but we need stability. That'll happen with big events like these. I feel like we’re on the cusp of something important here.”

No sooner than Lara finished his sentence, Kapil Dev chimed in: “World cricket doesn’t feel the same without West Indies. It’s not the same. I hope, for the sake of all of us, they come back and win. They were the team we looked up to before we became what we have become now. Tragically, this has happened to them. But, I know they will fight. They’re not the types to give up.”