The wisdom in Wisden

What does it mean to be among Wisdenrsquos Five Cricketers of the Year Obviously itrsquos a significant honour from the socalled bible of cricket bestowed on a cricketer who made an impression in the previous English season It also means that you get written about in the annual by a leading writerIrsquove yet to receive my copy of this yearrsquos edition launched recently at Lordrsquos so Irsquom not aware who has written articles on Shubman Gill Ravindra Jadeja Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj mdash the four Indians in Wisdenrsquos Five Cricketers of the Year 2025 mdash and Deepti Sharma among the two Leading Cricketers in the WorldIndian writers who have scripted appreciations on Indian cricketers of the year have been nothing short of reputed I discovered that DJ lsquo Dickyrsquo Rutnagurrsquos work in the Almanack included pieces on MAK Pataudi 1968 edition BS Chandrasekhar 1972 Sunil Gavaskar 1980 Dilip Vengsarkar 1987 and VVS Laxman 2002 Other Indian writers to embellish the Five Cricketers of the Year section are R Mohan Mohd Azharuddin in the 1991 edition the late Pradeep Vijayakar Zaheer Khan in 2008 Sharda Ugra Shikhar Dhawan in 2014 Anand Vasu Rohit Sharma in 2022 Nagraj Gollapudi Jasprit Bumrah in 2022 and Karunya Keshav Harmanpreet Kaur in 2023Dicky Rutnagur who contributed extensively to the annual PICSMIDDAY ARCHIVESMohan wrote about how Azharuddin gave a new definition to oriental artistry during the English summer of 1990 in which the India captain scored two Test hundreds Vijayakar quoted Zaheer Khanrsquos coach Vidya Paradkar as saying that the leftarm pacer used to arrive at the National CC nets Cross Maidan at 7 am and report again at 230 pm each day for training Ugra touched upon how Dhawan ldquoplayed his way past the tattoos the hairdo and the moustache he twirls with priderdquo while Gollapudi got Bumrah to tell him that his biggest strength does not lie in the skills he possesses but in his mind And Rohit Sharma opened up to Vasu on what made him tick on the 2021 tour to England 368 runs in four Tests ldquoI focussed on what I would be facing from Anderson and Broad I wanted to prepare very specificallyrdquo Keshav underlined how Harmanpreet is the face of womenrsquos cricket in IndiaPataudirsquos was the first portrait credited to an Indian writer pieces on CK Nayudu 1933 edition Vijay Merchant 1937 and Vinoo Mankad 1947 had no names attached to them Pataudirsquos hundred against Brian Closersquos Englishmen at Leeds was a stupendous effort And Rutnagur did justice ldquoAt Headingley in the first Test last summer he played his epic innings of 148 which lifted India out of the dark pit of despair India lost in spite of his courageous effort but in defeat they took away as much honour as the winners As a Test captain he could have reached greater stature had his tenure not coincided with a period of very lean bowling resources This weakness and the low standard of fielding seem to frustrate him which perhaps explains his periodic urge to call it a dayrdquo Rutnagur wroteTradition was broken for Laxman Cricketer of the Year in the 2002 edition The last Indian cricketer whom Rutnagur wrote about in Wisden wasnrsquot picked for his performances in England but for his epic 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 and Rutnagur was at the venue to watch the incredible unfold for the Sourav Gangulyled Indian team as Laxman and Dravid went about dismantling the Australians One expected Ganguly to be a Cricketer of the Year in the 1997 edition since he scored two hundreds in two Tests including a debut century at Lordrsquos but that didnrsquot happen Tendulkar earned his place in that edition for his imperious century in the opening Test of the 1996 series at Edgbaston and in the third Test at Trent Bridge Dravid was Cricketer of the Year in the 2000 edition for his exploits in the 1999 World Cup Ganguly too could have been considered for the same year through his World Cup performances that included 183 against defending champions Sri Lanka at Taunton Like Ganguly Virender Sehwag was never a Wisden Cricketer of the Year The Wisden criteria for this honour is clear mdash performances on English soil Bishan Singh Bedi is another despite making four Test tours there For the 2008 edition Wisdenrsquos then editor Scyld Berry commissioned articles on five cricketers who didnrsquot ever make it to the Five Cricketers of the Year section over the years One of the five was Bedi about whom former England captain Mike Brearley wrote ldquoBesides being a gentlemanly cricketer Bedi deceased was also a terrific competitor Tony Lewis who captained England in 197273 said he was a Dennis Lillee among slow bowlers If he liked you he would be extremely friendly I greeted him with a namaste mdash the Indian greeting with hands together mdash when I came in to bat at Lordrsquos and he enjoyed that But if he took against you he could be a fierce antagonistrdquoBedi would have welcomed the news of five Indians four plus Deepti Sharma in Wisden He loved a good read and this yearrsquos Wisden promises to be just that for us Indiansmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper