SKY: aasmaanii balle-baazii

November 30, 2022 H. Masud Taj Visual Spaces 0

Suryakumar Yadav_cvr_taj

SKY

He’s a tattoo warrior
With a soothing smile
Super scooper batting blitz
Gymnast and contortionist

Uppercuts, ramps
Inside-out drives
Lofts, pulls, sweeps
Reverse sweeps

If the ball comes at him
On a hard length
He hits it over
Backward point!

He can scoop, pull
Play an uppercut
Then play a slice
Over point.

Like he’s on the street
Facing a rubber ball
Not facing a hard ball
Hurtling at 150

He ramps, inside-out drives
Lofts, sweeps, reverse sweeps
Square of the wicket and behind square
Helicopter shot morphs into a flick

Shots that are predetermined
Shots that are predestined
Shots that defy logic
What do you call such shots?

Nasha hai
Sharāb hai
Mastī ki
Kaifiyat hai

Surya Kumar Yadav
Son of the sun
Mr. 360
SKY

– H Masud Taj

In-form Suryakumar Yadav, the hero of SC, ST, & OBC (that make up almost three-quarters of all Indians), and all cricket lovers, finds no place in India’s upcoming tour of Bangladesh (despite his 111 off 51 balls with eleven fours and seven sixes when the rest of India put together seven fours and two sixes in the recent 2nd T201 versus New Zeland).

One upon a time there was Kambli; now there is Surya. Hope we don’t drop the ball this time. It would help if the BCCI rethinks the composition and capabilities of its own members.

Architect-Poet-Calligrapher H Masud Taj is not a cricketer, but going by his school cricket captain’s recollection after 50 yrs, he could well have been (pg 5: Masud The Musafir). The calligraphic plate of Surya Calligram can be downloaded from the author’s Academia page. Note: The Urdu stanza in his SKY poem is inspired by the opening line of a Shaukat Wasti ghazal (rearranged and tweaked).

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H. Masud Taj in The Beacon

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