Being Will Young has never been easy.
Always the sidekick. The person bereft of the spotlight. The merchant of misfortune. The purveyor of bad luck. And so many more. Imagine getting a chance to have a romantic night out with Salma Hayek, except on the way you slip into a sewage drain.
Yeah, that’s pretty much Will Young for you.
Bangladeshis can vividly remember the terrorist attack in Christchurch that shook the entire landscape of the cricket world – guess who was supposed to debut in that test match which was called off afterwards. Or the name of the person who injured his shoulder and saw his dreams of getting featured in the World Cup shattered in 2019. Or upon debuting at last, who saw his dream turning into nightmare when he scored a golden duck and eventually handed the responsibilities to a certain Rachin Ravindra – who took the opportunity with both hands and eventually pushed Young outside of the spotlight, again.
Had Ravindra not been injured, Young would have been watching the opening match of the Champions Trophy from the sidelines. At 31, that was surely the last thing he wanted. He longed for one moment of triumph, one defining shot to salvage his career. One proper ascension – to reclaim his place, to defy all the curveballs life had thrown at him.
You won’t be rewarded for getting the answers correct. By now you have already known the answers. Or should I say – the answer.
Being specialist in one role doesn’t necessarily ensure one getting a permanent spot in the starting lineup these days, unless you’re somebody like Kane Williamson of course. You have to be multi-dimensional. This is why each one of Rachin Ravindra, Glen Phillips and Daryl Mitchell have usurped him in the rat race, reducing the once u19 captain of the Kiwis to a bit part role. Age hasn’t been on his side too. An 8-year younger top order batter (with a bit of spin wizardry) called Rachin Ravindra has that as his friend.
Had Ravindra not been injured, Young would have been watching the opening match of the Champions Trophy from the sidelines. At 31, that was surely the last thing he wanted. He longed for one moment of triumph, one defining shot to salvage his career. One proper ascension – to reclaim his place, to defy all the curveballs life had thrown at him.
Karachi’s electric atmosphere provided the perfect stage.
Abrar Ahmed was roaring with all his spinning trickery with millions screaming his name. But Young didn’t faze, resiliently ended his excruciating wait to get an overseas hundred in a measured fashion by sweeping the wrist spinner – an art he mastered by playing without a front-foot pad, by the advice of his current coach Gary Stead. The idea was to create the muscle memory in such a way where he can play the spinners effortlessly, even in the adverse conditions.
Champions Trophy has seen a lot of hundreds. Will probably see a lot more. But only a handful will serve as true redemption arcs like this one – proving the age-old proverb true –
Where there is a ‘Will’, there is a way!