T20 cricket is like fast food: Gordon Greenidge

Gordon Greenidge with host Rakesh Mahajan at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
| Photo Credit: Rakesh Rao

To counter the famed Indian spin trio of leg-spinner B.S. Chandrashekhar and off-spinners E.A.S. Prasanna and S. Venkataraghavan, debutant Gordon Greenidge used his feet on way to 93 and 107 when Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium hosted its first Test in November 1974.

On Monday, to beat the traffic jam caused by a road-show in the middle of the Capital, the West Indian used the Airport Express Metro and made it to the Ferozeshah Kotla.

The opener made this flying visit to the Capital for a felicitation function by cricket equipment-major B. D. Mahajan (BDM) whose bat he regularly used in his playing days.

“No I don’t remember much of it,” was the candid answer to whether he could recall his second Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, best remembered for Vivian Richards’ unbeaten 192.

Quizzed about his views on the decline of West Indian cricket from the height of his playing days in the 1970s and 1980s, Greenidge, now 71, said, “It used to hurt me but it doesn’t hurt me anymore because I don’t watch cricket anymore.

“Only if it is Test cricket and only if it is about a young player, who I have heard about, I will try my best to go and watch that kid play and make my own judgement about what I feel of that player.

Asked about the white-ball formats, particularly the relevance of 50-over games against the popularity of T20, Greenidge said, “On a personal note, I would not like to see 50-over withdrawn and just T20 being played. I believe T20 is a spectator’s sport, and it is not any more a cricketer’s sport. Yes, cricketers play, but T20, for me, is like fast food. Test cricket is real cricket.

On the growing instances of ‘mankading’ and its fairness, Greenidge said, “It (Mankading) is not a pleasant way for anyone to lose their wicket. Some say it’s not within the spirit of the game.

“On the part of the batsman, I don’t think it is rightful to steal two or three meters while the bowlers get punished for marginally overstepping. I am certain that the authorities will probably introduce some kind of rule to curb this (Mankading) in the near future.”