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It is unknown who was the weightiest international player to have set foot on a cricket field but Jesse Ryder, who made his second hundred in successive Tests in the current series on Thursday, would surely be a frontrunner.

He looks beefy enough to be a brand ambassador for a four-bun hamburger with unsparing use of additions and toppings, but for all the seemingly extra kilos, Ryder seems to have splendid footwork, balance, and an impressive array of strokes, all played with the ease that is the hallmark of the very talented.

I suspect the Indian team may have taken Ryder a trifle lightly (no pun intended) despite his good start to his Test career only because cricketers with girth are an anomaly in the modern game. Nowadays every player wants and wears the mean, hungry look that comes only with the rigour of ceaseless work-outs in the gym. In that sense, six-pack abs is not only a Bollywood obsession, but afflicts almost every international sportsperson, and I have not seen anybody even on the cricket field who thinks differently these days.

This is quite different from how things have been in the past. The history of cricket is replete with players of extraordinary bulk - starting from the venerated Dr WG Grace to the more recent Dwayne Leverock of the Bahamas. Who can forget the sensational slip catch by the heavyweight Leverock of the Bahamas in the 2007 World Cup? The manner of his dive and the fact that he came up with the catch showed complete disregard for a centre of gravity in making his movements.

Cricketers with girth, alas, are in short supply in these days, and while this may have aided a better cumulative BMI for a team, itcertainly has robbed the game of some character. Big money, better training methods and greater knowledge of sports medicine however, have conspired to change the physical profile of the players and I wonder if Ryder will be compelled to go the same way.

I hope not. Over two super innings, both resulting in hundreds, he has shown that he has the talent and the temperament to be rated with the best of his time without the ‘extra’ weight becoming an issue. But then again, these are different times…

John Buchanan’s argument that Kolkata Knight Riders would be better served with three captains is ultra-radical and beats my understanding. This would only create multiple power centres and chaos in the rank and file. I am, of course, willing to revise my opinion if the team wins the IPL this season using through this rigmarole.

Even in gully cricket, where matches can be of three-four overs, a captain’s position remains inviolable and cannot be compromised with, so how does Twenty20 become any different? Unless, of course, Sourav Ganguly is not deemed fit enough.

The argument that since he (and by extension, also Dravid and Laxman) is getting on in years, has not played enough T-20 cricket and is therefore not as well equipped to meet the challenges of this format compared to some of the other players may not be unfounded. But in that case, how much better if it was made plain to the player(s) concerned.

If I was Ganguly, I would have some serious questions to ask of my franchise and myself.