Even before the man of the match was announced at the end of the second test match in Napier on Monday Jesse Ryder had staked his claim with an uprooted stump.

Yes, Gautam Gambhir’s solid performance to save India’s blushes deserved the title of the “Second Wall of India’ in the footsteps of “The Wall’, veteran Rahul Dravid.

But, indubitably, Ryder is the man TV cameras will follow, not only in New Zealand but around the world.

As Napier Technical Old Boys stalwart and former club and Bay representative teammate Craig Finlay points out, the world now knows of the talented batsman who could go on to rewrite many record books in the age-old game of willow on leather.

For those who were fortunate enough to have watched him in the Bay since he was a teenager, it’s the worst-kept secret.

His prowess is not just confined to bludgeoning balls over the boundary rope or switching to effortless stroke making. He is equally adept in other facets of the game.

The baby-faced allrounder is just as lethal on the field. A safe pair of hands and an educated line and length with variable speed in bowling make him even more marketable.

That is why so many Indians can’t wait to see the former Napier Boys High School pupil ply his trade in India.

Those who quibble about issues such as why he gave his bat a bashing after he was dismissed last Saturday following his double century have to juxtapose that with a player coming to grips with a world outside his comfort zone.

However, the astute media wallahs in the press booth at McLean Park are equally cautious, not surprisingly, about his off-field antics which have in the past year quite often detracted from his on-field ones. His trials and tribulations have been of major concern to New Zealand Cricket who have done a commendable job in keeping him off the booze wagon.

Central to Ryder not reaching out for another cost-free shot glass from money- grabbing watering-hole moguls around the country is the support he’s been receiving from friends who opt simply to drink coffee and tea when he pays them a visit.

It was only a matter of time that the lucrative IPL Twenty20 competition was going to snap up the 24-year-old middle-order batsman.

The imposing question is who will be Ryder’s big brother in time of need abroad?

The Indian media informed me the owner of Ryder’s Royal Challengers Bangalore team is none other than Vijay Mallya, the No 1 liquor manufacturer in the subcontinent.

“They have some huge parties after matches, win or lose. The celebrations then carry on board his luxury yacht so it’ll be a real test for Ryder,’ a journalist said.

A female scribe added Ryder would also have to deal with the distraction of the fairer sex in Bangalore, which boasts many famous long-legged beauties including the No 1 Bollywood actress, Katrina Kaif, masquerading as the team’s brand ambassador.

“When he comes back from there you guys here will be writing different types of stories about him,’ she said with a grin.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Ryder has shown discipline, albeit on the foundation of some sobering counselling and support.

He won’t be short of advisers. His former Wairarapa Bush age-group teammate, Ross Taylor, will be there. So will the likes of senior Bangalore players such as Rahul Dravid and Englishman Kevin Pietersen.

Perhaps the biggest saving grace for Ryder is that the IPL has been reluctantly moved to South Africa this month because of terrorism threats during the height of general elections in India.

That is not to say South Africa is any more safer than any other part of the world. Nevertheless, it could be an ideal location to acclimatise to an intriguing habitat.

Regrettably for Ryder, his life-long test, rightly or wrongly, will be to show he didn’t win the world only to lose his soul.

Warding off social undesirables, while rewriting cricket history, will become his main preoccupation, whether he likes it or not.

But only he can change that and, more importantly, he will always have that choice.

He can start by taking a leaf out of the book of milk-guzzling Indian Virender Sehwag.
Source – hbtoday.co.nz