Nothing Beats Being On-Field – George Bailey

By: Sandipan Bose

Nothing is more satisfying for a cricketer than being in the thick of things. Money is, of course, important but it’s not an end onto itself. For a cricketer, nothing beats being on-field. There is something magically enlivening about it.

Drcricket 7 saw something like this at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday. Two seasons ago Australia’s George Bailey, who was the toast of the IPL, led the side from the front and also helped his team, the Kings XI Punjab, to enter the final.

After an ordinary last season with the Kings he remained unsold at the 2016 IPL auction. His base price was one crore rupees only, but none of the franchisees showed any interest in buying him till Faf du Plessis was injured and the Rising Pune Supergiants got Bailey as a replacement.

Today Bailey is a happy man with the Pune team. He has a spontaneous smile on his face and also a sense of relief being back on-field. He did look a bit rusty in the nets at the Kotla, but he was soon back on his feet after a few hits.

On the same lines, Darren Sammy, who is the captain of the World T20 champion team the West Indies, isn’t playing the IPL because he wasn’t sold.

Is it ironical to see such a disparity. Well, it’s true that Sammy isn’t a big player in world cricket, but he is the only T20 captain in the world who has won the World T20 twice. It’s also true that Sammy scored eight runs and took one wicket in the T20 World Cup 2016.

But he was a happy man on Wednesday when he sprang as a surprise commentator. He was on the field when he \appeared in front of the camera – happy as ever, smiling and even showed a bit of his now trademark dance steps. He was delighted to be back on a cricket ground!