Richie Benaud passed away after battling serious health issues
It was the dawn of the last working day of the week — though, not for cricket journalists like me caught in the swirl of the Indian Premier League. The mobile buzzed before the eyes opened. A quick look at the unearthly hour whatsapp message and the enormity of the event hit like boxer’s punch on the face. Richie Benaud was dead, messaged a friend.
One of the last vestiges of a pristine past was gone. A sane cricket voice was silenced by the icy hands of death.
And then to wake up early to find out Richie Benaud is no more, it is a grief that can be described as ‘a soundtrack that contributed in making me fall more for the game has been muted.’
To a generation that has been weaned on the cacophony of “Karbon Kamals” and “Yes Bank maximums” the soothing voice Benaud imparting cricketing wisdom in his inimitable way would not resonate. Benaud’s silence spoke as much as his words. He was fabulous all-rounder, a cerebral captain, but it was a commentator that he almost acquired divine status.
Like John Arlott on radio, Benaud’s commentary made more interesting than the game itself. That was the magic of his voice, his words — and the amalgam of the two. It was a heady cocktail. Even when he voiced his disapproval, the tone and the tenor of his voice would not hurt the subject of his censure.
via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1Pty80V
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