Of Cricketing Beards and Baldness

Hirsute Tu, Brute?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Palash Krishna Mehrotra

If you’ve been following our cricket team this season, you must have noticed the beards—a little less than hipster length but definitely more than the five PM stubble. Wriddhiman Saha is the odd man out. The rest of the team is sporting lush facial hair; look at Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul. The trend was sparked by captain Virat Kohli, who already has a couple of white specks in the nest. Remember how quickly MSD greyed after he was appointed skipper?

The previous generation was clean-shaven to perfection. Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Yuvi, Ganguly, Prasad, Srinath and Kumble duly put razor to face before stepping on to the cricket pitch. Among all sports, test match cricket is the one that comes closest to resembling regular office life - a five day week. Working hours: nine to five, with short breaks for lunch and tea. And just like in a regular corporate job, you shower and shave before heading out to office.