Navjot Singh Sidhu story is as fascinating as a bollywood flick with different colour shades. He made a poor start to the international career with just 19 runs on debut against the West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983. Above all, he was heavily criticized for his batting style and was dubbed as a "Strokeless Wonder" by a noted Indian Cricket Columnist.
Sidhu took this criticism personally as this article made his father cry. He worked hard on his game and returned with a vengeancee in 1987 World Cup held in India. Sidhu scored four fifties in a row in the most popular cricket tournament.
He scored four fifties in the 5 World Cup matches in which he batted - 73 from 79 balls against Australia, 75 from 71 balls against New Zealand, 51 from 70 balls against Australia and 55 from 61 balls against Zimbabwe.
He played an instrumental role in India's success in the league matches of 1987 world cup. Unfortunately, he was not able to deliver the same result in the semi-final where India lost to England.
His sensational comeback proved the critics wrong who penned down earlier for his stroke less play as he hit 10 sixes in the tournament (highest by any player in the tournament). His powerful hitting earned him the title of "From a Strokeless Wonder to A Palm Grove Hitter" - It was from the same writer.
Sahir