It's steel and steady for Trott
Jonathan Trott, who not so long ago was trying his best to break into South Africa's national squad has stamped his uniqueness than those from his country of birth.
Just like the protagonist in Richard Bach's bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, an outcast from his flock who kept learning about the higher planes of existence, Jonathan Trott is exploring all that a batsman can with success in plenty.
The England batsman, who not so long ago was trying his best to break into South Africa's national squad, just like the seagull, has stamped his uniqueness than those from his country of birth. While the Proteas choke when it matters the most, Trott raises the bar in the hour of the need.
If his astonishing Ashes outing justified his class in the longest format, the last six weeks have seen the best of Trott as a limited-overs batsman. He may not be mesmerising as Tendulkar, wristy like Sangakkara, big-hitter like Yuvraj but still his grit has helped him overtake all these big names in the list of aggregate run-getters in the World Cup.
His gutsy 86 against Sri Lanka on Saturday not only helped England put on a respectable 229 for six in the Cup quarterfinal but also made Trott, who scored his fifth fifty of the Cup, the first batsman to cross the 400-run mark in the tournament.
Earlier in the tournament, Trott became the fastest to cross 1,000 runs in ODIs in terms of number of appearances.
Despite his stupendous success, Trott is often under the scanner for what is referred to as lacklustre batting. Critics feel he is one-dimensional and cannot up the ante. Probably they are correct to a certain extent but that can't take away Trott's achievements that have been so crucial to his team on slow sub-continent pitches. Moreover, he has plenty of time after the World Cup to work on specific areas.
The man himself, however, is not deterred by the criticism. "People are entitled to their own judgment," Trott said last week. "I work hard with (coach) Andy Flower, so his opinion is more important to me than what others say."
As long as he keeps trotting his way to success in the future, neither Flower nor his critics will have any reason to complain about batting.