Memories Of Greatest Cricketers - - #8 Shane Warne [Archive]

P_R

23rd June 2008, 05:44 PM

Mr.Murali, this thread is precisely for the likes of you to write about these greats of the past. Please write at length...

I started following cricket only from India's tour of Australia 91-92. One of the earliest cricketing memories I have is of Kapil Dev picking up Mark Taylor lbw as his 400th wicket. Kapil reaching 5000 runs against England (I think in Chennai) - and Gavaskar commenting that if this man had concentrated on his batting he would have reached 10,000. And of course when he equalled and broke Hadlee's record against Srilanka at home.

One other inoccuous memory that is lodged is Kapil picking up the wicket of Jimmy Cook in the first ball of the first ever test series in SAfrica.

While I wouldn't claim to have seen Kapil at his best there is one memorable match in that series I would like to recall.

After managing to draw the first two tests we got beaten in the third test. After conceding a lead we go into the second innings around tea on Day 3. We are down to 31/6 !!!! Courtesy Alan Donald and Brett Schultz.

I heard the 31/6 on news and was shocked ! Checking the scorecard (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63588.html)I see that we were 17/5 and then 31/6. The 6th wicket was Pravin Amre, the overrated hero of the previous test got out to a shot that was so grossly irresponsible given the scenario that even Sehwag would not play it.

From there Kapil took over. He built partnerships with the tail and took us to a respectable score of 215. Just look at his innings. 129 (180) 14X4 and 1X6.

It doesn't betray the kind of pressure he was in. And mind you Alan Donald was breathing fire. He picked up 7 wickets, including eventually Kapil , taking his match haul to 12 (which was his personal best for a long time).

We got trampled in the second innings and SA reached a well deserving victory. But that one innings by Kapil made the whole thing so memorable. Heroic, no other words for it. Prevented us from an innings defeat to a country which was just returning to Test match cricket and was - for all practical purposes a newbie.

There was no live telecast of those matches (DD used to telecast domestic tests live). Even the highlights would come in the next day night. Test matches used to have draw of stumps score-reports in the papers but you have to wait the whole day to watch the action on TV. It was worth the wait.

Everyone talks about Atheron duellin with Donald to save the day. When rewatching this innings on TV a few years back I see this is an equally good innings and Donald was attacking quite fiercely. But Kapil just battled it out without getting defensive. I think even that lone six was off Donald !! Kapil btw was aming the first who hit Donald - who was a sensation when he made his debut- for a six : that was in the world cup 92 match.

While I did not see his best, I could clearly see why my older cousins and uncles held Kapil in such high esteem.

wrap07

23rd June 2008, 06:23 PM

Kapil Dev, nicknamed, Haryana Hurricane was a phenomenon and a breath of fresh air in an era of spinners dominating the Indian Cricket scene. He was fast with a lethal outswinger and made people notice him instantly. Coming from a normal town with no back up and facilities to pamper him, Kapil rose on his own to become India's greatest Cricketer of his time. He is the first and one and only full fledged All Rounder that our Country could boast of and one who could change the context of the match with his bowling/batting as also fielding. He was always a livewire in every sense. The joy he gave to the public is enormous and people loved him for what he is. He could decimate the best of attacks on his day and make best of bestman look silly and also take stupendous catches. The innings of 175 n.o against Zimbabwae is rated as one of the finest innings of one dayers for his grit, determination and his style of hitting out of trouble. It is said a million times that the catch he took to dismiss Viv in World Cup was the turning point of the final. His 9/81 against West Indies in 1984(i beleive) is one of the finest expositions of fast bowling against mighty batting is one of the many such efforts.

Even now, during the commemoration of the 25 years of World Cup win, he is so humble about his achievements and he thanks God for all. He is not only a finest cricketer but a great human being who did not know the nitty gritty politics of our cricket est. and was hounded out often for no fault of his.

Kapil is a joy to behold and his mere prescence has attracted scores of people to the game and was proudly named the WISDEN CRICKETER OF THE CENTURY. As far as Indian Crikcet is concerned, Kapil is irreplaceable and one, who played with full commitment and prided himself in representing the Country. For Kapil, Country is above all and for cricket lovers, Kapil is above all.

:clap: 8-) :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

(while I had the fortune of seeing Kapil in action in his later days, the input from my brother/uncle made me read and watch his exploits in TV/CDs. He had made a big impact on those who watched him who keep him in very high esteem)

sriranga

23rd June 2008, 09:25 PM

We got trampled in the second innings and SA reached a well deserving victory. But that one innings by Kapil made the whole thing so memorable. Heroic, no other words for it. Prevented us from an innings defeat to a country which was just returning to Test match cricket and was - for all practical purposes a newbie.

domestic cricket in SA is very good like in australia and intesity wise they are on par with test cricket. So, you can't call them a newbie.
For ex, Michael Hussey made his test debut only recently but he is a veteran in their domestic cricket. No wonder he made a big impression in test cricket and is called Mr. Cricket.

There was no live telecast of those matches (DD used to telecast domestic tests live). Even the highlights would come in the next day night. Test matches used to have draw of stumps score-reports in the papers but you have to wait the whole day to watch the action on TV. It was worth the wait.

Everyone talks about Atheron duellin with Donald to save the day. When rewatching this innings on TV a few years back I see this is an equally good innings and Donald was attacking quite fiercely. But Kapil just battled it out without getting defensive. I think even that lone six was off Donald !! Kapil btw was aming the first who hit Donald - who was a sensation when he made his debut- for a six : that was in the world cup 92 match.

While I did not see his best, I could clearly see why my older cousins and uncles held Kapil in such high esteem.

If you are talking about the test match in port elizabeth, Kapil hit a six of one criag mathews( i am sure its not Donald ) to the upper tier in the stands near the press box and later seems to have told that he didn't quite get the timing right.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63588.html

Other memories of Kapil Dev,
In the lord's test match against england in 1990, India needed 24 to avoid avoid follow on with just hirwani at the other end.
When eddie hemmings ( the same guy who tooks kapil's wicket in the world cup semifinal in 1987) bowled the over, kapil hit 4 consecutive sixes. Though, we avoided follow on, we lost the test match.

( In this match Graham Gooch scored a 300+ in the first innings, i think he was dropped on zero. he made a 100+ in the 2nd innings, He holds a record for most run by a batsman in a test match. )

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63534.html

scored a brilliant century in the first innings in the tied match against australia.
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63438.html

Kapil took 5 wickets in the second innings to script a famous victory against australia in melboure in 1981. The match saw ugly spat between dennis lille and sunny and sunny almost walked off.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63281.html

under kapil's captaincy, the victory against pakistan in a low scoring ODI and defeat against pakistan with javed miandad hitting chetan sharma for a six cannot be forgotten so easily.

The icing on the cake is the 1983 prudentail cup win and Kapil's innings of 175 not out against zimbabwe which was a world record score at that time. We won the 1985 champion of champions too with kapil playing along with vengsarkar played a memorable innings against the kiwis. We were undisputable kings of ODI from 1983 to 1987 till australia took over. We were the hot favourites to win the 1987 world cup and everyone was expecting a india - pakistan final in eden gardens. We were cruising along till england hit us in the semis in mumbai. pakistan too lost to australia.

The legend has never missed a match due to fitness .

To sum up, Kapil Dev is the greatest all rounder that India has ever seen.

P.S. Opposition batsmen must've started wearing helmets against india only after Kapil Dev's debut. :wink:

thriinone

23rd June 2008, 09:35 PM

:clap:

Best all rounder India had known. When we were boys, and india was in any crucial situation, we depended on kapil's perfect boundaries and sometimes snapshot hits to take us to the victory, he never dissapointed us

As far as we have known, personal life sees him as a very down to earth humble person.

P_R

23rd June 2008, 10:54 PM

If you are talking about the test match in port elizabeth, Kapil hit a six of one criag mathews( i am sure its not Donald ) to the upper tier in the stands near the press box and later seems to have told that he didn't quite get the timing right. I stand corrected. I wasn't sure actually.

bowled the over, kapil hit 4 consecutive sixes. Though, we avoided follow on, we lost the test match. That too we were 9 wickets down and we needed 24 to avoid a follow on and he hits 4 sixes to get there. That's as crazy as it gets (http://youtube.com/watch?v=sv1S_Ug1Uls)!!

And here's that famous catch (http://youtube.com/watch?v=s2-bYv8kyMs&feature=related)...no words, just watch.

wrap07

23rd June 2008, 11:01 PM

To add further, I have rememberances of Kapil's brilliance in 80's. Even 1985 World cup and England tour victory of 1986 had Kapil’s stamp all over it. It was such a Kapil craze during my school days that kapil's picture will be invariably present with all mates. He was more than a sportsman. A hero and idol for one and all. . With the type of batsman we had those days with test cricket in dominance, Kapil’s natural stroke making was a sight to watch and attracted huge audience for the game and the public had a great time. His running between the wickets made co-batsman of his time sweat like anything. He was one of the fittest players in the game internationally..8-)

Most importantly, for a man who has played for close to 14 years, he was mostly injury free. This shows the hard work Kapil had put in day in and out and without the technological advancement of these days. And not to forget the fact that Kapil had bowled mostly in subcontinent pitches which were just tailor made for spinners and back breaking for fast bowlers. He had taken 400+ wickets in spite of all this. His was a natural & raw talent, a God’s Gift. Much of India’s cricket fortunes rested with him and he had always given his best to the team’s cause and made our country proud. 8-) :clap:

It not without reason that Kapil continues to be Only the World Cup Winning Skipper of our country, and this will continue to be the benchmark for all others to emulate.

For all his greatness, he has no airs around him and calls spade a spade. He had hit lot of sixers on the field which he continues off the field also.

Kapil ka jawab nahin.
8-) :D :clap: :clap:

wrap07

23rd June 2008, 11:10 PM

Shri Prabhu Ram, thanks for the video links. :D

littlemaster1982

23rd June 2008, 11:31 PM

Other memories of Kapil Dev,
In the lord's test match against england in 1990, India needed 24 to avoid avoid follow on with just hirwani at the other end.
When eddie hemmings ( the same guy who tooks kapil's wicket in the world cup semifinal in 1987) bowled the over, kapil hit 4 consecutive sixes. Though, we avoided follow on, we lost the test match.scored a brilliant century in the first innings in the tied match against australia.
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63438.html

They used to show this in a Boost advertisement with Kapil's voice over. Etched in my memory forever.

under kapil's captaincy, the victory against pakistan in a low scoring ODI and defeat against pakistan with javed miandad hitting chetan sharma for a six cannot be forgotten so easily.

Scorecard (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65732.html) of the match. Unbeliavable.

Read this somewhere. Kapil just told the teammates during the break "If they can do it, why can't we?". The team men responded superbly and skittled out Pakistan for a paltry 87.

ajithfederer

23rd June 2008, 11:43 PM

[tscii:a6c3ea8c92]http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080623/jsp/frontpage/story_9450251.jsp

Cup of love overflows
- Momentary pause in rancour at 1983 celebration
JAYDEEP BASU
Kapil Dev with Sunil Gavaskar at the celebration on Sunday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, June 22: Now we know how Gordon Greenidge had felt like 25 years ago when what he thought was an out-swinger darted back a mile to take his off-stump, starting India off towards its greatest cricketing glory.

Almost everyone at today’s celebration of the 1983 World Cup victory behaved like that freak ball by Balwinder Singh Sandhu, with legendary foes going gaga in each other’s praise. And an excess of champagne had nothing to do with it.

Kapil Dev dripped gratitude to cricket chief Sharad Pawar for holding the silver jubilee party — so what if the board had sacked him from the National Cricket Academy after he joined the breakaway Indian Cricket League, and removed his picture from his home ground?

“I must congratulate the board and its president Sharad Pawar for hosting such a reception for us,” the captain of the 1983 side beamed. “Frankly, we never expected to get such treatment.”

Bull’s eye on that one: the board had initially refused to organise the event just to avoid honouring Kapil and three of his ’83 mates who have joined the ICL.

Maybe it was the Rs 25 lakh the board handed each of the 14 Cup heroes? No, Kapil said it was the “love” that counted.

“Everybody needs money but it is not everything in life,” he said. “It is the love and affection that is more important. I am overwhelmed by the way the board has remembered us for what we did in 1983.”

Neither love nor cash, though, awaits the current cricketers who hitched their stars to Kapil, now chairman of the ICL executive board. A few hours before the party began, the board had banned English county teams that have ICL players in their ranks from its newest cash cow, the Twenty20 Champions League.

But Kapil wasn’t over. He virtually credited Sunil Gavaskar, with whom he had feuded through most of the ’80s, with inspiring the Cup victory.

Gavaskar was “our hero” Kapil said. “He taught us to win and inspired every one of our generation.”

Sunny, not to be outdone, saluted Kapil as “still the greatest cricketer India has ever produced”.

“The way people follow Sachin (Tendulkar) today, we used to follow Kapil at that time. He is the man who showed us the way. The time when Kapil lifted the trophy was the greatest memory of my life,” the former opening batsman said.

If Kapil could praise Pawar and the board, could Mohinder Amarnath, Man-of-the-Match in that final, be left behind?

He plonked himself beside former board president and selector Raj Singh Dungarpur, a man he had called a “joker” for running a vendetta against him. They were seen smiling and exchanging jokes for about five minutes.

All it needed was for Greenidge to turn up and embrace Sandhu, saying how marvellous it felt getting bowled by a beauty like that.[/tscii:a6c3ea8c92]

thilak4life

23rd June 2008, 11:48 PM

The first cricketer I knew.

Nerd

24th June 2008, 07:00 AM

Excellent thread and pics Sridhar :thumbsup:
When I started watching cricket seriously, he was at the retirement stage. He was treated rather shabbily and he was not on top of his game either. I have seen a lot of the matches he played in ESPN's cricket classics. He was pretty much a line and length bowler with an odd bouncer here are there. He was immaculately accurate as far as I have seen him.

There is a book on him in thamizh - cricket singam kapil dev . I own that book (its in India now) and have read that many times years back. Thats a very well written book, which summarizes his career beautifully. From his first wicket till the 434th wicket. I learnt from that book that Kapil commanded respect when he became the captain of a really-talented-but-not-performing players. In the book, Sunil Gavasker, srikant, jimmy and a bunch of others recount their experiences playing under him and how he was able to inspire them to world-beaters.

Another thing about him worth mentioning is his camaraderie with the opponents and his sportmanship. Quoting from Wiki:

In their first match of the World Cup, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the close of innings, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. In their reply, India scored 269 falling short of Australia's score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, it was reported that "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".

Favorite performances:
1. His death-spell in the 1983 semi-final
2. His 100* against the west Indies just before the world cup to save a test match
3. His 10-4-21-4 in South Africa in our first tour to SA
4. His 33 ball 50 which was the fastest fifty by an Indian player at that time.
5. His 5/70 against England in his early days in the Wankhede.

His biggest embarrasments: Ruthless windies drubbing India (5-0 in test, 3-0 in ODIs I think) right after the world cup victory and the last ball sixer by Javed!

Another thing about him worth-mentioning is his strike rate in ODIs, which I think is in the upper-90s. (Average in the mid-20s I think). He played in an era of no-fielding-restrictions. He definitely is one of India's best sportsmen ever :bow:

Sanguine Sridhar

24th June 2008, 10:47 AM

In their first match of the World Cup, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the close of innings, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. In their reply, India scored 269 falling short of Australia's score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, it was reported that "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".

:clap:

His biggest embarrasments: Ruthless windies drubbing India (5-0 in test, 3-0 in ODIs I think) right after the world cup victory and the last ball sixer by Javed!

Chetan Sharma was the bowler right?

sarna_blr

24th June 2008, 10:56 AM

The first cricketer I knew.

me to..

" Boost is the SECRET of my energy.... no ... our energy... " indha Ad'a paaththa piragu dhaan enakku Kapil and Sachin'E theriyum...

PS.. its OLD AD.... wn I was around 10... now I am 24....

sriranga

24th June 2008, 01:31 PM

Another thing about him worth mentioning is his camaraderie with the opponents and his sportmanship. Quoting from Wiki:

In their first match of the World Cup, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the close of innings, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. In their reply, India scored 269 falling short of Australia's score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, it was reported that "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".

The 1987 world cup opener took place in chennai. Ravi shastri was the fielder who signalled four to the umpire and later they changed it to 6 during lunch break. Like the thrilling tied test in 1986, this was also a nail biting thriller. Maninder Singh was the culprit on both the occasions - the last man to be dismissed.

His biggest embarrasments: Ruthless windies drubbing India (5-0 in test, 3-0 in ODIs I think) right after the world cup victory and the last ball sixer by Javed!

I don't think javed's 6 can be termed as embarrasment.
He was a genius and it was his day. Pakistan were staring towards defeat and he singlehandedly won the match.

But, Kapil mankad-ing peter kirsten was not in the right spirit and defenitely one of the embarrasing moments for Kapil.

P_R

24th June 2008, 01:41 PM

ramsri

24th June 2008, 03:55 PM

" Boost is the SECRET of my energy.... no ... our energy... " indha Ad'a paaththa piragu dhaan enakku Kapil and Sachin'E theriyum...

i thought the palmolive ad pre-dated this one??
the tag line - "palmolive ka jawab nahin" - mouthed by a beaming kapil - still etched in the mind :)

sivank

24th June 2008, 06:44 PM

I first saw kapil during the Pak-Indo series in 1978. It was awesome to see an Indian bowler running from a long distance to bowl. Till then I was thinking Madan Lal was the fastest we ever had. The long run and the sidewards hop and a perfect outswinger was really something we missed before.

The way he knocked at the Third test in Karachi was another thing we missed before. A hurra 59 in the first innings with 2 sixes and if I am not mistaken 38 in the second innings again with a six was also new to me. I have seen Gavaskar batting the whole day and here comes some 19 year old and knocks Imran, Sarfaraz and Mudassar so effortlessly was great.

I have read somewhere that Kapil is the greatest cricketer India ever produced and I certainly feel like that

Nerd

24th June 2008, 07:21 PM

Sri and Sri, kapil himself said in interview that it was embarassing to lose that way, off the last ball.. Pizhai irunthAl mannikkavum..

ajithfederer

24th June 2008, 09:54 PM

It is definitely not against the spirit of the game. I myself remember watching the match and Kapil had given ENOUGH warnings to kirsten.

But sriranga, Kapil did warn him multiple times and let him go. You can see him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt8zBpjlWq0)quite agitated and gesturing repeatedly that it was the third time that he decided to remove the bails. So I am reluctant to call it as against the spirit - as Wessels and co tried to portray it.

Movie Cop

25th June 2008, 03:16 AM

Before Aandavar - Kapil Dev was one of the reason why I got addicted to cricket! :thumbsup: The best all-rounder that India has ever produced till date and one of the best allrounders in the world! :clap:

Movie Cop

25th June 2008, 03:26 AM

But, Kapil mankad-ing peter kirsten was not in the right spirit and defenitely one of the embarrasing moments for Kapil.
That was India's '92 tour of SA sometime after the WC! The non-Indian media guys during that time made Kapil look like a villain by comparing him with Courtney Walsh's gesture against Pakistan in '87 WC semi final :x Walsh's gesture is legendary! :clap: But please.... Kapil did warn Peter Kirsten a few times before that but Kirstein paid no heed... Kapil, throughout his career, has set an example for all other Indian cricketers on how to be sportive on the field! Hence nice gift from media for him! :huh:

Nerd

25th June 2008, 09:17 AM

wrap07

25th June 2008, 10:24 AM

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/25/stories/2008062556742000.htm

A knock that rewrote history

Vijay Lokapally

A young all-rounder rewrote the history of Indian cricket at a non-descript cricket field in Kent 25 years ago.

That epic act transformed the face of how Indians took to cricket and Kapil Dev, as chief architect of that performance, emerged an undisputed icon among a galaxy of greats that included Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath.

It is difficult to persuade Kapil to talk about that innings. “The World Cup win was not about that innings,” he counters. It was not in his opinion.

But Gavaskar rates it the best one-day innings of all times while Sandeep Patil counts the knock as a “monumental” contribution from an all-rounder who ruled world cricket like few.
Cold day

It was a cold and windy day at Tunbridge Wells and India was laid low by the ball that seamed and kicked alarmingly. “Survival was next to impossible,” recalled Madan Lal.

But Kapil produced a gem, restricting himself to playing in the V and then gradually showcasing his wide range of strokes.

“I had to play a role and I am glad I did it to the team’s liking. The team reacted to a man that day and that to me has been the lasting memory of the Cup.

“You may have individual performances to gloat about but to me what mattered was that it was a wonderful team effort.

It remained so till the moment we shocked the West Indies,” Kapil underplayed his unbeaten 175.

India took Australia, England and West Indies in its stride and set new benchmarks for the generations to follow by winning the Cup against all odds.
Five wise men

But the team did not forget to pay tributes to five men who had trusted them to conquer the world. Credit has never come the way of Chandu Borde, Bishan Bedi, Hanumant Singh, Kripal Singh and Ambar Roy, who picked the best 14 available on form and merit.

As Bedi pointed out, those who sat out the final were Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Sunil Valson, three outstanding performers of the season.

Reflecting on the triumph, Kapil said, “there were no individual heroes as far as I am concerned. We cared and played for each other and that was the clinching factor. Team came first and the players responded to a man. I am proud of that team.”

So is the nation, which salutes the heroes of 1983 as they commemorate that glorious day at Lord’s by coming together at the same venue. Any regrets?

“None,” asserts Kapil. Any desires? “I want India to win the Cup again.”

The ball is in the courts of the young players, most not even born when Kapil’s team was adding an unforgettable chapter to the history of Indian cricket.

“It would be the best gift to us,” was Kapil’s emotional wish.

thilak4life

25th June 2008, 10:50 AM

Kalyasi

25th June 2008, 12:20 PM

The Peter Kirsten incident was like an eye-opener for us. In our gully cricket, we used to consider that as an *out*. Actually, we ground the ball first before removing the bails with it, for reasons unknown! We stopped doing that after that incident, though we still continued issuing warnings :P

Aamaam, Runout at the Bowler's end wud be one leg on the stone(no stumps available :oops: ) and catch the ball.... Ethukku ne theriyathu :lol: :lol: :lol:

sriranga

25th June 2008, 01:31 PM

But sriranga, Kapil did warn him multiple times and let him go. You can see him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt8zBpjlWq0)quite agitated and gesturing repeatedly that it was the third time that he decided to remove the bails. So I am reluctant to call it as against the spirit - as Wessels and co tried to portray it.

btw a quote about the original Mankad-ing. When the incident happened, Fred Truman was asked if he would have removed the bails in such a situation. His response was: "the question does not arise...when Fred Truman is bowling the non-striker is not eager to get to the other end" 8-)

The problem is there is no clear definition of spirit of the game. if you can define it, it becomes the law, i guess. Its left to the individual's choice.
for sangakara, gilchrist and lara, batsmen shud walk when they knick it, for others it will be knick it and wait for umpire ( respect the umpire's decision :wink:)

AFAIC, If the batsmen knicks and wait for umpire's decision, its not within spirit ( bad decisions that may go against the batsmen can't be an excuse). Similarly, what Kapil did was within the law, but it was not within the spirit.

wrap07

25th June 2008, 05:01 PM

sriranga,

I still think that Kapil was provoked into this. You may be right abt the issue. But, in overall perspective, Kapil had always been a good ambassador for the game and a legendary sportman with impeccable behaviour. I also feel that he is more wronged than others. He is once in a lifetime cricketer. 8-)

& today is the D DAY for Indian Cricket commemorating 25 years of Historic World Cup Triumph. :D :clap:

P_R

25th June 2008, 10:46 PM

sriranga, I get your point about law and spirit. Kapil did go out of the way to be fair that day. He warned Kirsten twice when it was well within his legal right to clip the bails off without warning. Even after that he was ambling down the track. How much more can be tolerated in international cricket ?

What annoyed me was the way how Wessels and Co. tried to portray Kapil as being cheap and ungentlemanly conveniently ignoring how he had graciously let Kirsten go the first two times. That is why I am particular that the incident be remembered in entirety.

sriranga

26th June 2008, 12:25 PM

Yesterday saw a TV program about the 1983 world cup.
India defeated Australia in a must win game followed by semis against england and the final against WI.

Beating the top3 of world cricket is no joke.

The icing on the cake is most of the team member's acknowldeged that Kapil's hurricane innings against zimbabwe and the victory over them after being reduced to 17/5 in 13 overs,
provided the spark for the team to beat the top 3 in the next 3 games to clinch the cup.

Kapil ka jawab nahi :clap:

sriranga

26th June 2008, 12:32 PM

wrap07

26th June 2008, 04:52 PM

http://sify.com/sports/cricket/fullstory.php?id=14702871&cid=14692923

Kapil returns to Tunbridge Wells

Thursday, 26 June , 2008, 05:01

London: “Nobody believed in us when we landed in England in 1983, so we decided to believe in ourselves and went on to win,” recalled Kapil Dev Nikhanj, who led India to an epoch-making World Cup win 25 years ago to the day.

'Kapil's Devils' are back in England, this time the cynosure of all eyes, to re-live the summer of 1983.

Kapil took time off on Wednesday morning for a personal pilgrimage to Tunbridge Wells, a small, county cricket ground in Kent where he single-handedly carved an impossible win against Zimbabwe to let the world know “we have it in us to make it to the final”.

India seemed down and out at 17 for five, but Kapil's unbeaten 175 saved the day for the team and put it on the path to glory.

“It was the turning point. As I returned to the pavilion after the match ended, we were telling ourselves that if we could win here, we can win in any situation,” he recalls.

Kapil spent an hour at the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club.

It was a stroll down memory lane as he walked up to the pitch, made his way back to the pavilion past the stands and into the dressing room where, as fellow team-mate Sunil Gavaskar recently recalled, “there was nobody when Kapil came… we were all hiding our faces because our captain had showed us how to bat”.

The Club officials and the media were at hand to welcome the former Indian captain.

All they would do after shaking hands with him was look at him and imagine him as a 23-year-old nervous youngster on whose shoulders the fate of his country rode.

Are the memories of that summer afternoon still fresh in his mind? “The memories are hazy. I really don't know what was going on my mind when I came in to bat. We were 17 for five then. Forget a victory, I was just thinking of somehow coming out of the ordeal respectably,”the legendary all-rounder said.

Alas, only memories remain of that memorable game: There is no footage of that innings.

Kapil remembers how, when they landed in England for the World Cup, the Indians were the underdogs, with betting agencies giving them a 66:1 chance of making it to the final.

“Initially, we never thought of the finals. But after beating the West Indies (in a league match) we realized we had it in us. Ham par junoon sawar tha jeetne ka (we were in a frenzy to win). After the semi-final victory, we were confident of making it to the top.”

Mohan, who runs a fashion business in Southall, is a close friend of Kapil and he recalls of the World Cup final: “There was a West Indies woman sitting next to me who would jig her backside in my face every time an Indian wicket fell. She stopped doing that once the West Indian wickets started falling.”

He remembers seeing a poster on a newspaper stand at the entrance of the stadium which read: “Lloyd heads for treble.”

As he walked out of the stadium after the Indian win, “I saw someone had struck off the word, treble, and instead scribbled, trouble.”

The most important incident of the final? “When Viv Richards fell, there was a sudden silence. We were all looking at one another in the stands. You can't imagine. It was really pin-drop silence. The West Indies weren't sure of victory any longer and the Indians weren't still confident of it either.”

The next thing he remembers is going to the hotel where the Indian team was staying. “The sound of Punjabi drums was ear-shattering. None of the players was saying anything. I think the victory really sank in only the next morning.”

Mohan, however, has a regret, even 25 years later.

“I did not go to Tunbridge Wells. I thought it would be a one-sided affair and expected India to win. So I gave my ticket to someone else. How was I to know that the turning point was out there?”

Sanguine Sridhar

30th June 2008, 11:34 AM

It would be great if you people nominate cricketers. Please send me a PM with your nominations.

Thank you.

Sanguine Sridhar

4th July 2008, 06:04 PM

Sir Viv Richards

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Bio-data :

Full name : Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards

Born : March 7, 1952, St John's, Antigua

Current age : 56 years

Major teams : West Indies, Combined Islands, Glamorgan, Leeward Islands, Queensland, Somerset

Batting style : Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm slow

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Record:

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/52812.html

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sriranga

5th July 2008, 12:38 PM

The original MASTER BLASTER :notworthy:

wrap07

5th July 2008, 10:41 PM

GGreatest of Batsman with robust style who gave enormous joy to the people in a typical west indian way and made bowlers shudder on his entering the crease. The great master bat had treated fastestest of bowlers with utter disdain, at time even moving outside the crease and whose range of strokes are to be seen to be believed. The best receipient of his strokes is his close friend Ian Terrance Botham who had to bear the brunt of the Richards special often.

His commanding walk to the crease with nonchalnace and not a care in the world attitude is a treat to watch. This great never wore a helmet even against the quickest. Rather the bowlers and fielders needed one.

Calypso king has won many matches single handedly for the windies. When Kapil said that once they got the wicket of Viv, our team believed in winning the Cup speaks about
Viv's greatness and invincibility.

Viv was voted by Widen as the greatest one day player ever. For sheer magic and ferocity of strokes, he remains unique. 8-) :notworthy:

(courtesy my friend, I have videos of his best of innings which is a treasure no doubt)

ajithfederer

8th July 2008, 12:25 AM

Ellarum ippadiyae amaithiya pesama irundha eppadi panjayatha arambingappa :huh: :lol:

sriranga

8th July 2008, 10:32 AM

not a care in the world attitude is a treat to watch

His innings in the finals of 1983 WC. watch out for the casual stance. Treats indian bowlers like club bowlers and the match as a club match, hits the ball with utter disdain and never bothered to run, just a stroll towards square leg and back in time to face the next ball. :clap:

P_R

8th July 2008, 11:40 AM

sivank

8th July 2008, 01:20 PM

[tscii:dae1610800]
I heard that before Somerset he was signed to play for some other county. But his contract was terminated because they were annoyed with his behaviour of throwing his wicket away when he didn't find the bowling challenging enough :lol:

Can someone confirm if that is true !
I don´t know about this prabhu, but certainly he gave the feeling that at certain stage he gets bored and get out[/tscii:dae1610800]

mgb

8th July 2008, 04:52 PM

Oops.. :oops: missed out the chance to talk about my most favourite cricketer Kapil Dev :P
however my two cents on the legend :P

Kapil was the only reason I started watching Cricket ( at the age of 11). Whenever India wins a toss, most Indian supporters will hope for an Indian batting. But as a kid, i always wanted India to bowl first because i can see my hero with red cherry walking upto the run up :P

Many of us talk about his hitting 4 6's in a row of hemmings to avoid a follow on against England in 1990. Not many know that during the previous tour to England in 1986 in the 1st test at Lords, he hit 4 4's in a row of Edmonds to seal the victory (India were 5/110 chasing a target of 133. Kapil stepped into blast 23 of 10 balls and nipped any hopes english had in their mind ). India went on to win the series.

He was a supreme athlete. He has played 131 test matches but he was never been run out nor has he dropped a catch.

During 1982 tour of West Indies ( Kapil's first tour as captain ), in the 2nd one day match he blasted 72 in 38 balls for a victory over West Indies (Beating West Indies in West Indies those days were near impossible and that to by India). To me this was the beginning of the fairy tale of India winning the world cup 3 months later. Infact India also beat West Indies in the 1st of the league matches in the World Cup.

Kapil :bow: for all those pleasant moments in my teens :clap:

crajkumar_be

8th July 2008, 09:10 PM

Wow! King Viv :clap: :notworthy:

During the mid-eighties, for some strange reason myself and my bro would support W.I whenever they played against India (guess mainly because of Sir Viv) :lol:
Richards was my first cricketing idol. andha walk to the crease, stance, gum-chewing nonchalance and arrogance, backlift(?), power - SINGAM :notworthy:
My best memory of his innings is in a one day match against India in India. He hit a record 6(7?) sixes in that innings innings.

Video ellam pottu paakkanum...

ajithfederer

8th July 2008, 10:35 PM

My father used to be a big fan of him. He used to call him "sixer manna" when he walks out to bat.

wrap07

9th July 2008, 01:08 PM

Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was born on 7 March 1952 at St. John’s, Antigua. Considered to be one of the finest batsmen of all time, he was also a part time off break bowler. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, he was nominated Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1977.
Richards made his test debut at Bangalore against India in 1974-5 and his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka in the World Cup of 1975. His last test was against England at the Oval in 1991 and his last ODI was at Lord’s in the same series. Playing 121 tests, he scored 8,540 runs at an average of 50.23, with 24 hundreds and 291 as his highest score. He claimed 32 wickets and took 122 catches. In 187 ODIs, he scored 6,721 runs at an average of 47.00, with 11 hundreds and 189 n.o. as his highest score. He also claimed 118 wickets and took 100 catches.
For more than fifteen years, Richards dominated cricket – the traditional as well as the instant version – like nobody’s business. The very sight of him walking in with his famous swagger, chewing gum, his huge shoulders loosening up for action, sent shivers down the spines of international bowlers. He could play all the shots in the game, but his flicks to mid-wicket and the pull shots were absolutely breathtaking. He could easily dispatch a short of a good length ball to the cover boundary with a classical back foot drive, or just swish it through mid-wicket for four. Such was his genius. A brilliant cover fielder in his early days, he later took some outstanding catches in the slips.
One young – highly rated - England fast bowler once beat him with his first four deliveries in a side game. at troubling the great man, the bowler said, “ Hey, Viv. It’s round and red in colour. Can you see it?” Richards did not say a word, but dispatched the next delivery right out of the ground, into the river across the road. While the groundsmen were looking for the ball, Richards walked down the pitch, tapping at imaginary bootmarks, and chewing his gum and drawled, “ You know how the ball looks like. Now, go get it!”
A genius and a gentleman! Modern cricket badly needs someone like him.

snippets about the great

wrap07

9th July 2008, 01:15 PM

GREAT BATSMAN

West Indies debut v India, 1974; scored unbeaten 192 in second Test; highest score 291 v England at The Oval in 1976

Hit 8,540 runs in 121 Tests at an average of 50.23, with 24 centuries and 86 sixes

Scored the fastest Test century, from 56 balls against England in Antigua, 1986

Made 6,721 one-day international runs, with 11 centuries and 45 fifties, including unbeaten 139 in 1979 World Cup final

Highest first-class score 322 for Somerset against Warwickshire at Taunton 1985

GREAT CAPTAIN

The only West Indies captain never to lose a Test series (14 series, from 1980-91)

GREAT ALL-ROUNDER

Off-spin took 32 Test and 118 ODI wickets

Ran out three Australians in the inaugural World Cup final in 1975

Played football for Antigua in the qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup

GREAT MAN

Refused a 'blank cheque' to play for a rebel West Indies side in apartheid South Africa

Never wore a helmet while batting

GREATNESS RECOGNISED

Depicted on an Antiguan stamp in 1975

A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1977

One of the Wisden's five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, along with Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garry Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Shane Warne

Knighted for services to cricket in 2000

Murali Srinivas

9th July 2008, 07:08 PM

Sri,

Sorry for not being regular. in fact I wanted to add on what I had written on Kapil. Pre-occupation. But many hubbers had written about Kapil, the legendary.

Coming to the present icon, the very name (Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards) was majestic. Though this word is often misused now, we can safely use it for Sir Viv. Yes, he was a bowler's nightmare in all its true sense.

He made his debut in the 1974-75 series against us. In the first test at Bangalore, his scores were minimal. Come second test at Delhi. Patuadi captaining India pulled out due to injury and Sunny was named as the skipper. There was a Ranji trophy match in between the first and second tests involving Bombay and Gavaskar had his finger fractured and he was ruled out of the next three tests. So on the morning of the match, Venkat was named as Captain. [If I remember correctly this was the match Parthasarathy Sharma made his debut and Bedi returned after serving a 1 match suspension on displinary grounds]. The first wicket fell cheaply and Richards walked in. Our Venkat was bowling his heart out and he had our man. Richards snicked and w/k Farook Engineer caught the ball. But umpire Gothaskar negatived the appeal. Richards was on 12. With this reprieve he went on to score 192* which included 5 sixes. He later confessed that he knew he was out but in his heart of hearts he had a fear that "walking" would finish his career. WI went on to win that test. This is not to undermine Richards but just to state that however talented you may be, you need a bit of luck on your part. Poor Venkat not only returned back the captaincy to Patuadi but was made as 12th Man in the Madras test.

The Madras test saw Richards scoring 50 in the first innings(the test of Viswanath - the unforgettable 97* aginst Andy Roberts & Co who were breathing fire) In the second innings he went for a big hit against Prasanna and was stumped. This prompted Tony Cozier who was on the commentary box (Radio) to say "Only if he had connected, it would have gone to Ceylon".

The much touted 1975-76 series between WI and Australia down under rather ended as a one sided affair. Australia beat WI 5-1. Thommo and Lillie literally spat fire and with Greg Chappell in the form of his life, it was cake walk for Aussies. Richards could sparkle only occasionally. Even the only test won by WI (the second one at Perth) it was Roy Fredricks with his 71 Ball hundred and Super Cat Clive Lyoyd with his 149 stole the show.

The 1976 series against India at Caribbean (March -April) helped Viv to score heavily to retain his reputation. He scored two centuries (or three?) and except Venkat, no bowler could make an impression on him. That series saw the relations souring between the two teams as India successfully chased 406 to win the third test at Port of Spain to tie the series 1-1.[The irony was the test originally scheduled at Guyana due to rain was shifted to POS]. The WI orchestrated a "Bodyline" attack at Kingston Jamaica - Sabina Park and won 2-1.

Then came the biggest moment of Viv. Not knowing what he is indulging is, the foul mouthed Tony Grieg commented that "We will make them Grovel". He was referring to the Tour to the Old Blighty by the Windies. The entire WI team was picqued but two men took this insult to the heart and they simply demolished England. If Viv took care of the batting the "Rolls Royce of Fast Bowling" Michael Holding scathed through the brittle England line up. They were white washed 5-0. Richards' innings of 292 at Oval is folklore. That calendar year (1976) saw Viv amassing 1610 runs, a record of sorts. From there on, his march continued. He came , he saw and he conquered.

His clinical annihilation of England in the 1979 finals of World Cup with a 132 made way for one of the most one sided finals of the World cup, untill Australia reduced Pak to 132 in the final, after 20 years. Viv's 33 in 1983 was a sheer treat (Srikanth openly admitted that he was literally enjoying the innings). He dominated the cricket scene for 10 years and the late 80s saw his decline, though he could do it again. Remember his 56 ball century in 1986? Same way he got hooked to SriLankan attack in 1987 World cup and his whirlwind 180+ was a testimony for it.

Will come back.

Regards

Bala, the match you are speaking about was during the tour of 1987-88. In that match he literally toyed with the Indian bowling.

sriranga

9th July 2008, 08:30 PM

That calendar year (1976) saw Viv amassing 1610 runs, a record of sorts. From there on, his march continued. He came , he saw and he conquered.

checked the stats in cricinfo just now.
Viv made 1710 runs in 1976 ( 2 double centuries, 5 centuries, 5 half centuries, 5 20+ scores, 2 single-digit scores in 19 innings ). WOW :clap: - A world record for most runs in a calendar year which he held for 30 years. only Mohammad Yousuf broke it in 2007.

ajithfederer

9th July 2008, 10:45 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vep6z5L-aAY

Found this when searching for philips sachin ad..

crajkumar_be

9th July 2008, 10:51 PM

Murali Sir,
:clap:

Bala, the match you are speaking about was during the tour of 1987-88. In that match he literally toyed with the Indian bowling.
Oh yeah... I think he repeated the same feat (or was it before this series) in England also (189 and 181 were his scores i think)

ajithfederer

10th July 2008, 08:03 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uyLYQzyOzpY&feature=related

Dennis lillee to Viv richards

Vivasaayi

11th July 2008, 08:23 PM

Never wore a helmet while batting

:D

Vivasaayi

11th July 2008, 09:24 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uyLYQzyOzpY&feature=related

Dennis lillee to Viv richards

whata bowling exhibition

first ball - a clear intimation of what lillee was trying

second ball - nasty bouncer just over the head- reaction of richards was 8-)

third ball- nasty bouncer over the head- richards trying to hook rather than leaving it over the head without helmet :notworthy:

fourth ball - nasty bouncer again ...it was like lillee want to end richards career

fifth ball - richards defends on the back foot expecting a bouncer

last ball - perfect inswing . ..*bang*

chance illa...
thanks af

Vivasaayi

11th July 2008, 09:42 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AamQVDdCcBg&feature=related

fastest test century - vivian richards

*A RARE SCENE IN THE TEST MATCH

everyone at boundary.no slips.noone in inner circle.bowthAm bowls with the anticipation of richards hitting a confortable single or getting caught at long !

richards hits the ball for a massive six on leg side :notworthy:

he looks like a boxer in the cricket field :D

ajithfederer

11th July 2008, 09:42 PM

Thanks Viv :D
4 bouncers on the trot is fatal. Now its just one per over. Players safety is much bigger than the game :)

Nerd

16th July 2008, 09:21 AM

Vivasaayi

16th July 2008, 11:54 PM

Viv :bow: :bow: :bow: The only inspiration for me to chew a gum while playing (periya richards-nu nenappu :P) More on him later 8-)

Here's kapil dev P.Kirsten incident :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbWWXY0EGw

nerd,

vivian richards carries a charismatic aura with him which no other cricketer had i think..i mean the heroic attitude,body language and persona.

sachin is adored like a our home kid...but richards had been watched like a hero :D

Sanguine Sridhar

17th July 2008, 10:02 AM

[tscii:ec3504d21f]Wasim Akram said this incident in a talk show. During a test match against West Indies, Viv got out in his ball, for no reason Akram shouted with some foul and rude language. Viv gave a polite look and left the ground. At the end of the day Viv was waiting for him in the boundary line and when he saw Akram he removed his shirt and shouted with an angry face “Come on! Let’s fight!!” Looks like Akram got scared and pummified :rotfl:[/tscii:ec3504d21f]

Sanguine Sridhar

30th July 2008, 12:12 PM

ARAVINDA DE SILVA

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Bio-data :

Full name : Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva
Born : October 17, 1965, Colombo
Age : 42 years
Major teams : Sri Lanka, Auckland, Kent, Nondescripts Cricket Club
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm offbreak

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Record:

http://content-search.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/48462.html

Murali Srinivas

30th July 2008, 02:09 PM

Dear Sri,

I don't have a great recollect of Aravinda. But of course he was still active till early 2000. Prabhu a great fan of Aravinda will be able to capture more of him.

My favourite shot of Aravinda was his hook cum pull shot. He had a dream run in 1996 World Cup. In fact he was the one who was responsible for our defeat at the World Cup semifinals at kolcutta.

Another knock of his which almost snatched victory from us was in the 1998 cup final at Sharjah. With Sachin and Sourav having put on a record stand of 256 (or 254?) for the opening wicket , India piled up 307. With Aravinda's century, SL almost made up and fell short by just 7 runs, with Aravinda getting run out.

But one thing about him. He was all class when compared with his colleagues who were more of power rather than grace and timing.

Will come back if I can recollect more

Regards

P_R

30th July 2008, 03:50 PM

To me Aravinda will be the greatest SriLankan cricketer.Yes Jayasuriya and Murali will have more records to boast of, more matches won by their dominance and command over the craft. Aravinda, was not just a craftsman. He was an artist. To watch him in flow, control the pace of a match, adjust his game to the situation is to understand what batting is all about.

I first saw him only in the '92 World Cup. He had 8 years of cricket under his belt already and was captaining the side for the tournament. In many matches he outshined his team mates. The first match I remember him is the knock is the Hero Cup 2nd semi. A half century for a losing side when everyone else collapsed. The story of his career..till then. Post '96 his class was up for display.

First: my favourite de Silva shot.

The way he would use the pace of the ball is remarkable. He would spot a furious outswinger early, lean back and away (instead of forward and into the line). And then he would wait. And wait he would for a thrilling agonizing amount of time. Even the backlift would seem defensive with no sign of what is to come. Then he would let loose that late cut with such ferocity that one would understand why he was called Mad Max. Point had absolutely no chance seeing the ball, let alone stopping it. A wide third man would madly attempt to race with a perpendicular ball, in vain. And all this in one fluid motion. From his demeanour you won't even be able to gather whether he knew he was aware that he was poetry. His expression would be something like: "okay, what's next" !!!

I remember a match against South Africa (don't recall where) where he collected half a dozen boundaries through his late cut off Donald and company. Jonty Rhodes at point/backward point, mind you. Donald tries to bounce short to get him to nick something to third man. Aravinda would have none of that. Excellent control of bounce, his backfoot movements adjusting to the line to dispatch actually very good balls.Call me old, but we just don't get to see these kind of context in these days of slam-bang cricket.

And there is this charge that he was not comfortable with spinners. People who say that have not watched him play his late cuts of Warne. He was one of the very few who were comfortable playing Warne staying in the crease - everyone else who tasted success with Warne - came down the wicket and thereby changed the length of the delivery. A bit like reverse sweeping :-)
But Aravinda's played Warne on 'fair' terms. This is not to say he did not come down the wicket. He was good at that too. But where he stood out was in bravely late-cutting Warne even when Taylor, Waugh etc packed the place with silly point, slips etc. He had so much confidence in having sighted the ball, picked up the line and spin. If that is not comfort I don't know what is. Dravid is the only other player I have seen whose range of shots of the backfoot come close to Aravinda.

More to come on....

His hook
His innings pacing
When he goes ballistic
The intelligent bowler that he is

PS: Sorry am not sharp with the match details in this post. My recollection of exact matches is pretty sketchy for matches/tournaments without India.

P_R

30th July 2008, 03:58 PM

Another knock of his which almost snatched victory from us was in the 1998 cup final at Sharjah. With Sachin and Sourav having put on a record stand of 256 (or 254?) for the opening wicket , India piled up 307. With Aravinda's century, SL almost made up and fell short by just 7 runs, with Aravinda getting run out.
That match (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/66157.html) was in Colombo.

de Silva's wicket was the turning point. They needed less than 6 an over with Mahanama and de Silva batting it was SL's match.
Agarkar - in one of the rare matches when he played for India - won the match for us.

But one thing about him. He was all class when compared with his colleagues who were more of power rather than grace and timing. :yes:

Roshan

30th July 2008, 04:22 PM

Mr Murali and Prabhu :clap: :ty:

Prabhu, waiting for you to continue :)

crajkumar_be

30th July 2008, 08:50 PM

Vivasaayi

30th July 2008, 09:07 PM

Aravindha de Silva

A very compact player.My next favourite batsman after sachin.whats special about sachin,aravinda type batsmen are.. they make the shots look easy.his footwork,shots everything look compact and easy.

The linchpin of the succesful team in 1996 who consolidated whenever jayasurya dint fire.Useful offspinner.

He carries the innings with such confort and good pace like INZI.his cut shot and the leg flick(not squarer...a bit straight)were :clap:

he fields quite well for his physique :D

hub rap

30th July 2008, 09:48 PM

A class act. He once on-drove an inswinging delivery from aquib-javed to the fence. mei-silirththu-pOnEn :notworthy:

I believe the above emoticon is noteworthy and not notworthy :P

ajithfederer

30th July 2008, 10:08 PM

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo?? :lol2:

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) :evil: He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!

Kalyasi

30th July 2008, 10:11 PM

Murali Sir/PR,
:clap:

His short-arm pull and the square cut :notworthy:
Also, his on-drives (slightly towards midwicket rather than straight down) were deadly

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) :evil: He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!

That match (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/66157.html) was in Colombo.

de Silva's wicket was the turning point. They needed less than 6 an over with Mahanama and de Silva batting it was SL's match.
Agarkar - in one of the rare matches when he played for India - won the match for us.

:exactly: adhuvaraikkum gaali nu dhaan nenachitrundhen

Agarkar - :lol: Rarest of the rare occassions

I still remember the 97-98 Test series when India was desperately trying to get him out by placing a deep square leg, a deep mid wicket and bowling short deliveries at him... he used to perfectly pull, hook them into the gaps.... Frustration na apdi our frustration namakku... When India toured to SRL(the series where SRL made a record score of 952) in the second test at SSC he scored centuries in both the innings(ennama pull pannuvaaru) and made things worse for us!!!! Vaazhga De Silva !!!

Kalyasi

30th July 2008, 10:14 PM

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo?? :lol2:

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) :evil: He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!

ellarukkum intha maadri cricket series la paritchaiya kotta vitta kathai irukkum... for me it was 10th Science, 1998 April.... I need not tell why.... Sandstorm sharjah la naa paritchaikku padikave illa.... Nalla vela pass panniten!!!

crajkumar_be

30th July 2008, 10:25 PM

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo?? :lol2:

//Dig.. naansanss :twisted: "oru thadava exam mudinjiruchu na yen mark-a naaaaneeee nyabagam vechikkamaatten" :razz:

selvakumar

30th July 2008, 10:37 PM

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo?? :lol2:

//Dig.. naansanss :twisted: "oru thadava exam mudinjiruchu na yen mark-a naaaaneeee nyabagam vechikkamaatten" :razz:
:rotfl:

Murali Srinivas

30th July 2008, 11:05 PM

ajithfederer

30th July 2008, 11:14 PM

P_R

30th July 2008, 11:16 PM

I am ICSE. Exam-kku appuram dhaan Sandstorm.

So I lost a lovely excuse :-(

app_engine

31st July 2008, 12:05 AM

Sorry for posting one on Kapil so late -

One of his fiery innings was for the semi-final in WCC down under against Newzees (remember his hitting the seagull and requesting water?).

The Newze total was not huge but the harakiri of our "batsmen" except Dilip made it appear tough and as if India were losing grip in the match. In came Kapil and handled Hadlee in a way only he can and then it appeared like such an easy game:-)

We didn't have opportunity to watch 1983 world cup live (enjoyed running commentary) but the WCC was live with that new TV in the hostel common room! That was one of the most enjoyed Kapil scores!

sriranga

31st July 2008, 12:06 AM

PR,

I think he is nicknamed mad max for his love for sports cars.
i remember ranatunga saying this in an interview long back, i am not sure though, he cud've been nick named for his agressive batting style too.
i remember couple of one day matches apart from the 1996 WC semis and finals where he was the man of the match in both semis and finals.

one odi against india, aravainda just rushes to the crease, first ball of chetan sharma ( by his walk, we wud be thinking the ball is going to disappear to the stands), he spoons the first ball to midoff and rushes back to the pavilion.

Another match, he went down the track and tried to hit ambrose out of the park, his bat breaks into two. :lol:

P_R

31st July 2008, 01:39 AM

PR,

I think he is nicknamed mad max for his love for sports cars.
i remember ranatunga saying this in an interview long back, i am not sure though, he cud've been nick named for his agressive batting style too.
No. It was for his batting

Q:They used to call you 'Mad Max.'

A: It was after the 1986 tour of India that they started calling me Mad Max. I guess it was probably the way I approached the game in the initial stages of my career. I tried to get on top of the bowler right from the start and I believed a lot in myself. I was able to do that at a very young age.

From this interview (http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2002/oct/04inter.htm)

Anyone knows what he did in that tour ?

i remember couple of one day matches apart from the 1996 WC semis and finals where he was the man of the match in both semis and finals. The final is ultimate. No other ODI has been so comprehensively dominated by a single player.

The semi was his match. I don't think I can put it better than this (http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/281229.html)[/url]

The match couldn't have begun in more dramatic fashion. Both of India's tormentors were gone in the first four balls, playing mirror-image shots - slashes to third man off Javagal Srinath. But what happened in the next one hour was breathtaking and magical.

Aravinda de Silva batted as if he was in a trance, untouched by the gravity of his team's situation, immune to the roars of a 100,000-strong partisan crowd, and undaunted by the occasion. He was in the zone.

His 50 came off 32 balls and contained 11 fours. Yet there was no trace of violence in it. Not for a moment did it feel manic. Instead, he was a picture of serenity and played the purest of cricket strokes, hitting cleanly and crisply between cover and extra-cover with such precision that fielders were rendered redundant. It inspired Christopher Martin-Jenkins to invoke Nevile Cardus who once said wrote of Reggie Spooner: "He uses the bat as a lady might use her fan."

Another match, he went down the track and tried to hit ambrose out of the park, his bat breaks into two. :lol: :lol: I think this was in the Hero Cup

Kalyasi

31st July 2008, 10:00 AM

Kalyasi, uuu matriculation ?? :P

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo?? :lol2:

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) :evil: He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!

ellarukkum intha maadri cricket series la paritchaiya kotta vitta kathai irukkum... for me it was 10th Science, 1998 April.... I need not tell why.... Sandstorm sharjah la naa paritchaikku padikave illa.... Nalla vela pass panniten!!!

Chi I yaam very saari... It was the Kochi match on March 31st where Jadeja scored a century and Sachin Picked up 5 wickets... this one spoiled my Science board exam.....

BTW Stan naa CBSE!! Still naa yen april 22nd nadantha intha sharjah match a thiruttu thanama maadilenthu paarthen nu theriyala... Annual leave thaane :roll:

littlemaster1982

2nd August 2008, 12:24 AM

Aravida De Silva was rated next to Sachin by Peter Roebuck in one of his articles in India Today.

One of the most underrated batsman, IMO.

P.S: That Kochi match was on April 1 ;)

Kalyasi

3rd August 2008, 09:05 AM

Aravida De Silva was rated next to Sachin by Peter Roebuck in one of his articles in India Today.

One of the most underrated batsman, IMO.

P.S: That Kochi match was on April 1 ;)

Oh Yeah then My science exam must have been on the 2nd of April!!

mgb

4th August 2008, 11:54 AM

To me some how Aravinda's style of batting resembled Roy Dias who was part of Srilankan test team in the inagural dates :)

P_R

4th August 2008, 12:56 PM

Any team's technically best batsman comes in at one-drop. The reason is that he can enter at various stages of the game depending how the opening pair fared. So you need someone who is comfortable in seaming conditions and against spin. He would also need to be able to change the pace of the game as the situation demanded. Aravinda was a master.

As mentioned in the previoius post, his innings in the WC semi in Kolkata '96. When the deadly openers were gone India perhaps assumed the game was as good as over. They couldn't have been more wrong. de Silva's steadied the boat. The steadying was not about getting his eye in and playing a sober 'behind-the-line-of the-ball' innings.
He played freely and elegantly as if nothing happened. Scoring at a brutal pace.

He reached his 50 with 10 boundaries !!!
But not a single slogging shot. All of them well time drives, late cuts and signature pulls. One ball from Srinath was a little short of length but an extremely uncomfortable line. The only humanly possible scoring shot was a hook to deep square leg. The fielding restrictions were still on and Azhar had a deep square leg in place.

de Silva rose with the ball, a little jump in fact and got on top of it to play it through mid wicket. It beat the fielder to the fence. That was a clear example of reading the field, the wicket (the bounce - his innings was still only a few balls old at that time) and choosing the perfect shot.

He did such things several times that day and in the final. Have seen him play that stroke in tests too.

Perhaps if he had gone back and hooked it he may have still gotten six runs. His hook was one of his better strokes. But the way he played the pull seems to me to reflect a certain admancy about being in control of the ball despite his height. That makes it more exciting for me.

And of course, he could change gears and slog too. Like Chanderpaul and Azhar he also had this half step walk into the shot sometimes. Every now and then, he would walk a clear step ahead to play a shot.

In Sharjah he made Damien Fleming's life miserable once by ambling down and smashing him over mid-on/mid-wicket. Sachin has a drag and pull kind of shot. When he completed the execution - pardon the pun- it will look like he is losing the balance to his leg side. It essentially opens up so much room for him to play that stroke.

OTOH de Silva used to create room dangerously. Opening the gate between bat and pad when walking down. Many times he would sky a medium pacer to the covers but when it clicked he would have made the bowler look like a fool.That was clear arrogance, announcing to the bowler he was coming down even before the bowler had completed his run up. Daring him to choose a difficult length for him to negotiate even now.

Everything about de Silva is 'sometimes'. There is very little typicality in his game. He was flexibile as the situation demanded. He would get out to the most unthinkable shots sometimes. But many times the memories will be of de Silva creating runs out of the most impossible balls.

Darren Gough is one of the best death bowlers of the 90s. In a C&U series in Aus, Gough made a habit of picking up atleast 2-3 wickets in the last few overs. One matches de Silva showed him (and captain Stewart) why he himself is the king of death.

Straight and back over the bowler she'll go, an inch of width and he'll pick the gap perfectly, a couple of attempted yorkers (Gough's deadly ones) where turned into lollipops with de Silva walking down that half steps.

The extent to which he controlled the bowling reached hilarious levels in a Pak-SL match before the indpendence cup. SL won th match by 9 wickets. They just lost Jayasuriya. de Silva had scored a century (or 50+). They needed one to win and had plenty of overs to make them. de Silva was saving that one run for Atapattu who was hanging at 49. (Mind you Atapattu opened the innings and had a partnership with Jayasuriya !). The bowler sent down an express down the leg side. Left alone it would have been a wide, he had to stop it with the face of the bat. An edge may have run to the fence !

He moved his bat beyond his left leg, with a straight face and stopped it dead. Atapattu hit the winning run next over.

Raghu

12th August 2008, 05:17 PM

[tscii:228bbfd4ef]I dont know much about Cricket terminologies, but he was delight to watch, being small in size, one wonders how he used to terrorise the bowlers, i remember in the 2000 (or something world cup) Lee was smashed to all over the park :rotfl:

1996 World Cup
De Silva did not play in Kent's two last County Championship matches having left to join the Sri Lankan squad on their tour of Pakistan. Sri Lanka had embarrassingly lost a first-class match against Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI and the following first Test against Pakistan both by an innings.[10] He joined the team only few days before the second Test and was dismissed for a duck in the first innings; however, in Sri Lanka's second innings his third wicket stand of 176 runs with Chandika Hathurusingha helped to win the Test for Sri Lanka.[11] Sri Lanka went on to win the third Test and clinch the Test series against Pakistan 2–1. Sri Lanka also proved victorious with the same numbers in the subsequent three-match ODI-series against Pakistan, where de Silva was Sri Lanka's leading wicket-taker with five wickets at an average of 17.80.[10][12]

In the three-nation Champions Trophy tournament in Sharjah in October 1995 with Pakistan and West Indies each team ended up with two wins and two losses in the preliminary round-robin stage, and West Indies and Sri Lanka were selected to play in the final due to their higher run rates. In the final Sri Lanka proved victorious by 50 runs. De Silva ended up with a modest 117 runs at an average of 29.25 in five matches.[13] His batting form slumped lower in the three-test Series in Australia, where the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled with the bowling of Glenn McGrath, who took 21 wickets while de Silva managed 98 runs at an average of 16.33. In the third test he acted as captain after the regular captain Arjuna Ranatunga pulled out due to finger injury. The series was shrouded in controversy, as in the first Test Sri Lanka was first found guilty of ball-tampering only to be exonerated later by International Cricket Council, while in the second Test the Australian umpire Darrell Hair no-balled Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan seven times in just three overs for throwing.[14] Concurrently with the Test series Sri Lanka also participated in three-nation ODI series with Australia and West Indies. In the seventh match of the tournament against West Indies Muralitharan was again called for throwing and did not play again in the ODI series. The tournament was won by Australia, who beat Sri Lanka in both final matches, confirming their favourite position in the forth-coming ICC World Cup in the Indian sub-continent. In the absence of Ranatunga, de Silva captained Sri Lanka in the ODI tournament until Ranatunga returned in the later stages and finished the series as Sri Lanka's top batsman with 258 runs at an average of 25.80.[15]

In 1996 World Cup Sri Lanka, who hosted the cup together with India and Pakistan, played only three games in the preliminary rounds as both West Indies and Australia forfeited their matches in Colombo due to security reasons. Neither Zimbabwe nor Kenya were able to truly test Sri Lanka team – in both matches de Silva was selected man-of-the-match following his 91 and 145 runs with bat. De Silva's 145 from 115 balls against Kenya was the highest ever score for Sri Lanka in ODIs, and the third highest in 1996 World Cup. India proved a stronger opponent, but despite Sachin Tendulkar's 137 runs, Sri Lanka cruised to a comfortable six wicket victory.[16]

In the quarter-finals Sri Lanka defeated England by five wickets, the first time they had ever beaten England outside Sri Lanka.[17] The semi-final opponent was India, which had beaten Pakistan in their quarter-final match. Winning the toss at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, India selected to field and had a very good start with Javagal Srinath dispatching Sri Lankan opening pair for only one run. Playing at fourth batsman, de Silva lead the Sri Lankan recovery hitting 66 runs from 47 balls as Sri Lanka set the target of 252 runs. This 66 runs that does not really stand out in statistics tables, is however regarded as one of the finest innings by Aravinda. In their response, the batsmen of India failed to score with the exception of Tendulkar (65 runs).[18] After India had collapsed to 120 runs for 8 wickets at 34.1 overs, a densely-packed home crowd vented their anger by throwing bottles on to the outfield and setting fire to the seating. Eventually the match referee Clive Lloyd had to abandon the game and Sri Lanka won by default.[19]

However, the highlight of his career was almost certainly the 1996 World Cup Final against Australia, where he took 3 wickets for 42 runs (including the Australian captain Mark Taylor and the future captain Ricky Ponting), two catches and then followed that with 107 not out with the bat to secure Sri Lanka a convincing 7 wicket victory, thereby clinching the World Cup, and also the Man of the Match award.[20] His role in the final was recognised by Wisden in 2002 as the eight most significant batting performance in ODI cricket while his bowling was ranked 82nd in Wisden top 100 bowling chart.[21]

On 28 July 2007 he made a one-off appearance for a friend for Dorset county league side Sherborne.[22]
[/tscii:228bbfd4ef]

Sanguine Sridhar

18th August 2008, 05:19 PM

Prabhu,

What happened to

His hook
His innings pacing
When he goes ballistic
The intelligent bowler that he is

P_R

19th August 2008, 01:19 PM

Sridhar, I kinda covered some of the innings pacing in the last posts.

Aravinda's hook is stuff of legend. It is a myth that short batsmen can play the hook naturally. They are more suited to it that is all.
Nor is the hook only the preserve of short batsmen - Mohinder Amarnath was not noticeably short - but played the shot gloriously.

It is a shot that calls for split-second selection and fearlessness. Take your eye of the ball - which is on a scary trajectory - and you play an ill-controlled shot. Lobbing it to deep backward square or worse still square leg/fine-leg.Aravinda de Silva wore a grillless helmet and fearlessly hooked the fastest in the game. That too with such grace and control.

One of the rare times when I saw Wasim Akram being dominated by a batsman was in a match in Sharjah when he locked horns with Aravinda. Wasim very rarely changes his line to go from around to over to a right hander.He maintains the same annoying line. But de Silva tortured him so much that he moved to over the wicket and tried bowling short to cram him for room. That is a very difficult angle to hook as you are trying to hit the ball away from where it is naturally headed. Yet de Silva did exactly that.
There was the signature slight movement to his right from which he generated yards of room. Converting a perfect line ball into a wide short pathetic delivery that deserved the assault.

He is one of those batsmen you shouldn't watch and learn from. you simply can't. Only Aravinda fossible. :notworthy:

P_R

24th August 2008, 11:40 AM

makkaLE, PM me nominees for the cricketers who you think should be up next here. Needless to say, those who are nominating would be contirbute significantly by writing about the cricketer.

directhit

25th August 2008, 06:44 AM

P_R

31st August 2008, 09:22 PM

Great #4
Imran Khan

One of Pakistan's greatest cricketers. One of the game's most popular captains. In his heydey he was among the quickest bowlers in the game and consistently improved his batting to become a good allrounder. He is best known for leading his team to the 1992 World Cup triumph. Let us know more about him.....

[html:774eefc1f3]
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/01/0130_lifeafter_sports/image/07_imran_khan.jpg
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sivank

1st September 2008, 07:24 PM

[tscii:d3b230331c]Thanks Prabhu for nominating my favorite cricketer the great Khan, Imran. In my opinion Imran was the greatest cricketer Pakistan has ever produced. Ofcourse, there were better batsmen and better, faster bowlers came from pakistan. Still, Imran was the born Leader. I can talk about this legend for hours and hours. He was the main reason why pakistan became such a formidable force in Cricketing world. No one attained the heights Imran reached in Pakistan cricket. The way how I see things it is likely that one one would achieve this place in Pakistan cricket.

Imran Khan Niazi hailas from a very wealthy family, who were able to send their son to England for studies. Imran aged 17 in fact played against the Indian Team of 1971 in a practice match with worchester. Again, he played against the visiting Indian Team of 1974. Gavaskar, fondly remémbers the encounter with the young Imran in his memoires. Tha slim and well built Imran actually made his debut for Pakistan Test team in 1971 against England. Intikab Alam the genial pak. captain gave a chance for the 17 year old whou couldn´t make a big impact in his debut. He sprayed a lot while trying to be faster. Logically, he was dropped and it took 3 years for him to play his second test in 1974. During this Test he showed that he could bat as well. He was at those days considered as a second line bowler who could bat a bit. This was the situation till 1976.

A dramatic change went through Imran after 1975. He started playing for Sussex under Tony Greig. I think he learnt a lot from Tony Greig at those times. He beacme really good at the art of fast bowling. Being narrow hipped and broad shouldered he was the man girls were looking for. Whenever and whereever he played the girls were thunder struck. Still Imran was on the beginning stages of his great career[/tscii:d3b230331c]

P_R

4th September 2008, 09:52 AM

Nice intro. Hope to read more. Particularly about...

1) About his pace. Have heard from Wasim Akram that he was among the fastest bowlers in his heyday. And if the injury that ate up a couple pf years (?) of his career had not happened, he would have been among the leading wicket takers.
2) Picking cricketers from nowhere: Akram, Waqar, Abdul QAdir, Inzamam ul Haq
3) The tour of Pak where he decimated India with his outswingers - a battery of slips and gullies
4) His gentleman tag. Gavaskar and Imran shared a good camaraderie I hear. I once heard Gavaskar say: "those were the days when opposing captains used to be able to talk without the umpires having to come in between and separate them" :lol:
5) While searching for a pic there was one I saw where Imran was pulling up Saleem Yousuf for claiming a catch which was grounded
6) His relationship with Javed Miandad. It was always thorny I hear but they put on many partnerships on the field. The one I remember best is the '92 WC final. You can recount more memorable ones too.

Murali Srinivas

4th September 2008, 07:45 PM

Imran was a Pathan whose ancestors hailed from NWFP but Imran was a Lahore boy. [The eternal ego clash between Imran and Javed can be traced to the historical rivalry between Lahore and Karachi - Javed being the street figher of Karachi]. Coming to the cricket part of Imran, it was not a great start (Sivan had said this). He and Javed made their World Cup debut in the inaugural cup of 1975.

He shot into prominence during the 1978 Test series against India played at Pakistan. Cricketing relationship was revived after 17 years (the last series between the sub continent rivals was in 1961) and Pakistan floored India 2-0. Zaheer Abbas and Sarfaraz were the heroes with Imran chipping in with the side being captained by Majid Khan (Imran was related to Majid).

Next year 1978- 1979 saw Pakistan touring India and India took a a sweet revenge by beating them 2-0. That was the tour when Imran came to India for the first time as a player and the crowds simply loved him. Asif Iqbal captained the side but lost the same just like Bedi was axed after the 1978 tour.

The real Imran emerged in the 1982-83 series played in Pakistan. With his famous reverse swing, Imran demolished India with a haul of 40 wickets and India lost 3-0. Nobody could fathom the swing and our batsmen were all at sea. If my memory serves me right, except Jimmy, no other batsmen could counter Imran and that bowling performance ended the illustrious career of Vishy.

Subsequent World cup (1983) saw him playing as a batsman because he had an injury (shin or ankle?) which did not allow him to bowl. The return series in India in 1983 was a tame affair with all the three tests getting drawn. Same way the next year 1984 series (2 tests and the third abandoned due to the assasscination of Indira Gandhi) produced a resultless series.

There was no Imran for the 1985 World Series Benson & Hedges Cup which India won beating Pakistan in the finals. But he had his sweet revenge when he captained the side that won the 1986 Auatralasia cup on 18th April, 1986, at Sharjah but Javed took the entire credit with the last ball six of a full toss.

The captain in him came out in 1987, about which I will come back.

Regards

sivank

5th September 2008, 11:57 AM

[tscii:71a7321860]After the 1974 tour in England Imran found himself out of the team other than the 175 WC. Intikhab Alam has given way to Mushtaq Muhammed as the new captain of the Pak Team. MM preferred Sarfaraz and Asif Masood as the new ball openers.

It took more than 2 years for Imran to play again a test series this time against the Kiwis in Pakistan. Imran has become a very good pace bowler during this period thanks to the numerous games he underwent with Sussex. What a come back it was. Pak won the 3 test series with 2-0 by winning the first two tests and drawing the last one. Imran took 13 wickets in that series and from then on there was no more turning back. Subsequently Pak visitied Australia for a 3 test series.

Australia was with their full team with Lillee and Thompson raring to go after their debacle with WI. A bouncer war started. AUS with Lillee, Thompson and gilmour were definitely the stronger side. But Pak retaliated strongly with Imran, Altaf and Sarfaraz.

With the first test drawn and the second test won very comfortably by Aussies Greg Chappell was very confident about the third test in sydney. Lillee was bowling his heart out.

GSC won the toss and elected to bat. Imran was breathing fire. He and Sarfaraz tore the Aussies for a mere 211. Imran took 6 wickets in the first innings. He was so fast that made sarfaraz like a slow bowler. Aussies were so surprised at the pace of Imran and Lillee showed why he was considered as the best fast bowler of the world at that time. Bouncers were used even at the non regular batsmen.

The second innings of Aussies was a repetion of the first innings. Imran was even more faster and again picked 6 wickets for 59 leaving the Pak to score 32 for a win, which they did after loosing 2 wickets to Lillee. It was a very ugly match where the umpires had to warn Imran and Lillee for bowling bouncers at the non Regular batsmen. The victory against Australia was the moment for Imran to announce the world that even the sub continent can produce world class fast bowlers. A very shattered Greg Chappell admitted in the press conference that he was surprised at the pace Imran produced and he also admitted that at times Imran was as good as Lillee, which was the greatest compliment one can ever get from an Australian.

After the australian tour the Pak team visited WI to play a 5 test series where again the fast bowlers were the center of attraction. WI with their battery of fast bowlers against the pace trio of Pak. Imran was again the best bowler for the paks with 25 wickets from 5 tests. WI won the series with 2-1.

Imrans sussex captain Tony Greig with Ian Chappell and Asif Iqbal were the cheif architects for forming the Kerry Packer´s World Series of Cricket. Pakistan was robbed of the servcices of Imran, Sarfaraz, Mushtaq Muhammed, Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan and few others. Eventhough Javed was included in the side of WORLD XI up to my knowledge he never took part in any of those games. Instead he was palying for Pakistan under Wasim Bari´s captaincy.

Imran was a huge success in Australia with the WSC. He learnt a lot from other fast bowlers like Andy Robers, Mike Procter, Garth la Roux. The cameraderie was very good between the WSC Australia, WSC WI and WSC World XI since they were outcasted as rebels.

[/tscii:71a7321860]

Iqbalvora

5th September 2008, 02:05 PM

[tscii:cf8f69fac1]Imran was originally a raw pace bowler but gradually developed batting skills. He was one of the fastest bowlers during his era.

On 82 series, some factually incorrect information ! May I correct :

It was Imran’s Indipper which caused havoc. There was no concept of reverse swing those days. Imran’s favourite delivery is inswinger but this time, the swing was too much. It came from wide outside the off stump to middle stumps !

Apart from Mohinder, Sunil Gavaskar scored 430 + runs @ an average of 48. Considering that he was an opener, you can assess the value of 48 as an overall avge. He scored 1 century and 3 fiftees plus 1 forty I think. I remember Gavaskar even carrying his bat once ! proof of his mastery over Imran.

Yashpal Sharma played the later part of the series and did well. He also played Imran confidently. Even Shastri played reasonably well in whatever chances he got.

The real failures were Vishvanath, Sandeep Patil, Vengsarkar etc. Guys like Arun Lal ( who talks so many things about Cricket now ) also failed.

Kapil was considered an arch rival of Imran and everyone expected a good contest between them. Sadly Kaps failed with the bat
Before the series, Sunil said that Pak will crush us to Pulp ! and India lost. Sunil lost his captaincy to Kapil who led the team to WI.

Though India lost there also, the team went to England for the WC with confidence having faced the most fearsome bowling attack.

Vishvanath was given extended life by his BIL. Else, he would have been axed before. Finally, the Imran indippers ended his career. The Karachi test saw Vishvanath shouldering arms to an indipper which vicisouly came in sharply from outside the offstump to take the stumps ! Many guys fell for this similar delivery.

It was a 6 test series out of which Iindia lost 0-3 . The latter part of the series saw Indians playing Imran to some extent.

The series in India in 83 .There was no Imran at all ! The team was led by Zaheer Abbas.This was conducted after the worldcup. India won the onedayers while the tests were drawn.

India won the Victory cup in Australia under Gavaskar, the captaincy went to Kapil again. The team went to Sharjah and won a series sensationally ! Imran bowled well there.

Imran was never the same threat after that 82 series. Srikanth used to blast him . Imran actually bowled well in a series in England . That was his real boosting series before the Indian series.

Imran was a very good captain. Astute leader. Commanded respect fm members.

Groomed world class guys like Wasim Akram, Waqar Yunis etc
[/tscii:cf8f69fac1]

sivank

5th September 2008, 03:09 PM

[tscii:352c415213]
Nice intro. Hope to read more. Particularly about...

Hi Prabhu, I will try to answer some of your questions as far as I know and heard from my pakistani friends

1) About his pace. Have heard from Wasim Akram that he was among the fastest bowlers in his heyday. And if the injury that ate up a couple pf years (?) of his career had not happened, he would have been among the leading wicket takers.

Imran had pace from the beginning. In fact he got one of the visiting Indian batsman of 1974(England) in his very first over with his bouncer. The batsman held the bat like periscope and got caught. He was considered one of the fast bowlers of that time. Infact in 1979 Imran took part in a fast bowler competition where the best 10 fast bowlers took part. He clocked a steady 139 to 143 in his hey day. Due to his shin trouble he couldn´t sustain his pace for a long time but he was a very clever bowler. He missed lot of tests due to his injury and he played in lot tests only as a batsman without bowling. Gavasker writes in his memoires that the 3 overs Imran bowled him in Calcutta (not sure)before Imran broke down due to back problems was the fastest he ever faced.

2) Picking cricketers from nowhere: Akram, Waqar, Abdul QAdir, Inzamam ul Haq

Imran had an eye for young hungry youngsters whom he took personally under his wings and groomed. I am not sure about Abdul Qadir since AQ was playing from 77/78 and at that time Imran was not the leader which he became later

3) The tour of Pak where he decimated India with his outswingers - a battery of slips and gullies

I will write about the 1978 tour separately

4) His gentleman tag. Gavaskar and Imran shared a good camaraderie I hear. I once heard Gavaskar say: "those were the days when opposing captains used to be able to talk without the umpires having to come in between and separate them" :lol:

Up to my knowledge Imran was gentleman on the field. I have never heard of any controversy. Ofcourse Gavaskar had a good relationship with Imran from 1976 as they stayed in Delhi at the same house for benifit match

5) While searching for a pic there was one I saw where Imran was pulling up Saleem Yousuf for claiming a catch which was grounded

you should try for a picture of his bowling. The smooth run up with a beautiful hop and the side wards delivery is perfect

6) His relationship with Javed Miandad. It was always thorny I hear but they put on many partnerships on the field. The one I remember best is the '92 WC final. You can recount more memorable ones too

As Murali mentioned Imran belonged to a old, rich family which had ties every where. Imran was a sort of cosmopolit where as Javed from Karachi was not that educated. Moreover everything came to Imran as he wished whereas Javed had to fight for it. Imran and the Lahore Gang went to the WSC whereas Javed initially picked up for the squad didn´t get to play a single game. Javed insisted that only players who play for the local cricket should be considered which was not applicable for Imran who came from England everytime to play a Test match in Pakistan. In Javed´s point of view Imran got all the credit where as Javed could be considered as the best batsman pakistan ever produced didn´t recieve that much [/b]

.[/tscii:352c415213]

Murali Srinivas

5th September 2008, 04:28 PM

I had written about 1986 Australasia Cup being a grudge match for the Benson & Hedges cup of 1985. There was one more tournament in 1985 April at Sharjah (Asia Cup?). In the finals, the sub continent rivals clashed. It saw one of the most hostile spell of bowling from Imran when he single handedly demolished India for a platry score of 125 and his analysis read 6 for 14 in 10 overs which was a record untill Aquib Javed claimed 7 wickets in 10 overs in the same sharjah (including a hatrick) in 19991. Records apart, the spell of Imran on that day was awesome. Nobody could even play a correct shot and even the 14 runs came through edges. India only after his spell was over could breathe easily and piled up 125. But the pakistani batsmen let Imran down and with Kapil marshalling his resources well, Pak was shot out for 89 and we won by 36 runs. So the 1986 triumph (from the jaws of death) was a very sweet one for Imran.

When 1987 dawned, Imran made public his 4 desires. The first one was to beat India in India, second was to beat England at England, the third one was to beat WI in Windies and last to win the World Cup. These have never been achieved by any other Pak team. Pakistan was scheduled to tour all these three countries and participate in the World Cup of 1987 to be joint hosted by India and Pakistan.

Indian tour turned out to be a watershed in Pak cricket's history. in the First Test at Madras, Srikaa scored 123 to set up a decent Indian score. Imran who could not take part in the later part of Indian innings due to stomack upset was on trips. But when Pakistan innings began to crumble, he came out to bat. What an innings he played. He scored 135 which not only pulled Pakistan out of trouble but also effectively ended any hopes India had in mind. This man without any solid food intake stood for 4 hours and also hit 5 sixes, which showed what he is made of.

He could inspire the fellow players. During those times, the Tests and one dayers were interwined and so the first two one dayers were held after the tests. In the second test at Calcutta, Roger Binny opened up the Pak batting and captured 6 wickets. [This was the Test that Sunny opted out citing the reaction of Calcutta crowds towards him. Arun Lal who came in scored two half centuries but had to sit out in the next Test as Sunny "rightfully" reclaimed his place]. But Imran made sure that there was no hiccupps and again draw resulted.

Coming to the second one dayer at Calcutta (the first having been comfortably won by Pak), Srikka again scored 123 and when Pak started chasing, wickets began to tumble but imran found one man for the occasion. Salim Malik simply toyed with the Indian bowling and in 40 odd balls scored 70 + runs to set up an improbale win. The one dayers ended in favour of Pak with the score line reading 5-1, the only victory for India coming at the third match at Hyderabad but that could be called pyrrhic because India won on a technical point.

With the third and fourth tests meandering to draw, it boiled down to the fifth and final test at Bangalore. The curator Kasturi Rangan had prepared a pitch which turned out to be a minefield of a pitch. Imran on reading the pitch choose Iqbal Qasim and Abdul Quadir. Pak won the toss and elected to bat but Manninder spun a web around the Pak batsmen by claiming 7 wickets and Pak was bundled out for 116. India stared off well and finished the day at 72 for 2. The chances were bright for India. But Imran had a long team meeting and lot of strategies were discussed. Iqbal and Abdul Qadir as a part of the strategy went and met Bishen Singh Bedi and asked for tips Bedi gladly gave the same. his main advise was dont try anything extra. Pitch the ball in the right area and the turf will do the rest. On the next morning India overtook the Pak score and were 119 for 4 when the collapse happened and we ended up at 145, with just 29 runs lead. In the second innings, Pak batsmen fared better and they scored 249. Set 221 to win, India started disastrously losing Srikanth and Mohinder very cheaply. imran opened up with Wasim and Iqbal Qasim and his strategy started paying off. Sunny alone was waging a lone battle while wickets were falling at the other end. End of the day, we were 113 for 5 with Sunny and Azhar at the crease. The next day was rest day and the entire Pak team were working on so many plans. 5 wickets stood between Imran and his dream.

He started with Wasim on the fourth day and Azhar started with his customary wristy flicks which fetched him some runs thus by raising the hope of India. But it was not destined to be. Azhar fell and soon Shastri was gone. Sunny after battling the pitch and the bowlers finally fell for 96 which turned out to be his last outing for India, the writing was on the wall for India. Binny scored some lusty blows but Imran was not to be denied his due and we ended up at 204 falling short by 16 runs. I still remeber the glee and euphoria in Imran's face as the final wicket fell and for us who were watching it live on TV, it was a shattering blow (same emotions we had when we were watching the last ball 6, in the previous year) but here was a man who showed what leadership is and we could understand what does it mean when people say leading from the front.

Will come back later.

Regards

littlemaster1982

5th September 2008, 06:35 PM

Sivan sir & Murali sir :clap: :clap:

Movie Cop

6th September 2008, 01:23 AM

Imran Khan The Legend!
August 4, 2008
http://niuse.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/imran-khan-the-legend/

I will write my thoughts/memories on Imran Khan sometime later. 8-)

Movie Cop

6th September 2008, 01:36 AM

Few quick notes on Imran Khan!

* Imran was widely considered as the BEST allrounder of the "famous 4" of his era (i.e. Imran, Botham, Kapil, Hadlee)
* During his times, Imran Khan was a huge "box office" draw not just in Pakistan but across the world alongside Viv Richards & Ian Botham!
* Besides cricket, Imran Khan was a philanthropist who tried his hands in politics (albeit with little success)! But he was successful in fulfilling his dream of building a cancer hospital for the poor and needy!

I will write more about his cricketing stuff and my memories later! 8-)

P_R

6th September 2008, 12:04 PM

Great posts folks. Enjoying reading them :thumbsup:

P_R

6th September 2008, 12:06 PM

5) While searching for a pic there was one I saw where Imran was pulling up Saleem Yousuf for claiming a catch which was grounded

you should try for a picture of his bowling. The smooth run up with a beautiful hop and the side wards delivery is perfect

Sure. But what I meant was if you knew about the incident of Imran pulling up Saleem Yousuf for claiming a grounded catch

P_R

6th September 2008, 12:19 PM

Imran in flow

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http://www.pakistanpaedia.com/cricket/imran2.jpg
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Murali Srinivas

6th September 2008, 07:40 PM

1987 England tour - Pak had played 5 tests and won 1-0. If my memory serves me right, it was the third test at Headingly (?) which produced the result. If I am not off the mark, it was an innings victory for Pakistan and of course the hero was Imran. He had a 10 wicket match haul (or was it 11?) and Pak triumphed in a low scoring match. I remember the weather God was not kind enough and 2 tests ended in draw because of rain. In the fifth test at Oval, Javed scored a century but it ended in a draw. Thus Imran's second wish of beating England in England also materialised.

Come October 1987, the Reliance World Cup started. India and Pakistan were in different groups and so India played all its matches in India and Pak in Pak. There were six matches for each team and India after losing the first match in Madras to Australia by 1 run came back strongly to win the next 4 matches. Pakistan on the other hand had won all the 5 matches in a row and the "invincible" tag attached to them looked real. Before the final match started, it became more or less sure that India , Pak, Aus and England would make it to the semis. The only issue was if India loses or wins by a lower margin, it had to travel to Pak to play the semifinal against Pak, which was dreaded by the team and the public. But in Nagpur against NewZealand, Sunny played his Lifetime one day innings (eventually his only one day century came in this match) and he was ably supported by Cheekaa. [To quote R. Mohan, who covered the match " The onslaught was started by the master and sustained by the pupil" , which came out on the 1st of Nov 1987 in "The Hindu", the match having been played on Oct 31st Saturday, the previous day. The match had assumed so much importance that another news that of MGR returning for the one final time from USA on the same day (Oct 31st) after his annual check up took a back seat in the minds of TN people]. This ensured that we would play our semi here in Bombay against England. Pakistan who had to play WI in the last match surprisingly lost it. For Viv Richards led WI, it was something to rest content with, they having been denied entry to the last 4 stage for the first time.

If my memory serves me right, the semifinal between Pak and Aus was on Nov 4th at Gadaffi stadium, Lahore. Aus batted first and had piled up a good score with Boon scoring a half century but Imran realising the danger came with a sudden burst that claimed 3 wickets but in the process did a cardinal mistake. When he came back for the second spell (having bowled 5 overs in the first spell), he came at 41st over and bowled the 43rd,45th,47th and 49th overs. Wasim (surprisingly off colour on that day) finished his quota by 48th over. Now the 50th over was a problem and Imran threw the ball to Salim Jaffer. Aussies who were on 249 at the end of 49th over made full use of this gift and scored 18 runs of it, taking the score to 267.

This 250 + score boosted their morale and Border put the pressure right back on Pak. The Pak batsmen till that time in that tournament had not experienced such a pressure and within no time Craig McDermott struck leaving Pak limping having lost 3 wickets for less than 40. Imran joined Javed and slowely they steadied the ship. They scored their runs in singles and twos and notched up a century stand and Imran himseld had scored a half century. When things started looking again bright for Pak, Border did a master stroke by bringing himself on. Imran looking at the climbing asking rate tried to take on Border only to hole it out. With the main block gone, Border attacked more vigoursouly. But the old wily fox, Javed was still there. Off day or on day, Javed was Javed and he nudged, pushed and kept going, though he lost one more partner. But when Bruce Reid breached his defence, the writing was on the wall. [My joy no bounds when I saw Javed falling. Though in hindsight, it looks childish, the feeling at that time was Pak should lose. திமிர் பிடிச்சவங்க]. As usual Pak tail enders hit some lusty blows but they could manage only 249 with one over remaining. The irony was the 50th over of Aus innings had produced 18 runs and at the end the victory margin was 18 runs with one over remaining.

Imran who had cherished the dream of lifting the World Cup after his two earlier wishes had come true, stood shattered and at 34 it seemed, it was the end of the road for him. But how we were proved wrong !

Let me come back.

Regards

P_R

6th September 2008, 11:15 PM

Murali Srinivas

8th September 2008, 11:57 PM

Thanks Prabhu and Thanks Senthil.

After the World Cup, England started its tour of Pakistan but Imran was not playing. Javed led the team. England who swept the one day series 3- 0, lost the Test series 0-1. It is more remembered for the Mike Gatting - Shakkoor Rana spat in the second test at Faislabad.

Came the West Indies tour of 1988. Imran who was out with an injury had come back and led the side. WI after the Indian tour of 1987- 88 had just come back with the series having ended in a tie (1-1). With Gavaskar retired and Kapil stripped of the captaincy, it was Dilip Vengsarkar who led India. But due to a disiplinary action, he had sit out the last test at Madras and Ravi Sastri captained the team. Narendra Hirwani rewrote history books with a haul of 16 wickets on his debut (equalling Bob Massie of Australia who did the same against England in 1971-72) and series was levelled.

Viv and his team smarting under this defeat came back roaring at the Pak and they black washed the Pak 5-0 in the one day series. The interesting point was Viv was not available for most of the one dayers. But when Test series started, Pak team or for that matter Imran spat fire. With Viv out of the first test at Georgetown, Pak beat WI and Imran had a 10 wicket haul. With Javed scoring a century, Pak saw two of its top players firing at he same time, which helped them.

Richards was back for the second but Imran again was fire and claimed almost a 10 wicket haul and again Javed scoored a century(I was fuming that this guy is going on scoring centuries and coming at WI against Marshall and Patterson, it was special) But WI managed to draw. I think this was at Port Of Spain.

Third test (Bridgetown?) had become a prestige issue for WI. They have never lost a series for the past 10 years at home preceding that and so Viv and his team won but they struggled before reaching there. When it mattered most Imran couldn't recreate the magic and WI scrapped through and kept their home record intact. Neverthless Imran ended up with 23 wickets, the highest on either side.

From a spectator point of view, it was one of the best competitive series played. Though Imran the captain couldn't fulfil his wish, Imran the bowler delivered.

Regards

sivank

9th September 2008, 05:57 PM

[tscii:b3faa446c0]I was mentioning that I will try to cover the 1978 Tour to Pakistan by India which happened after a gap of 18 long years. As I heard( I was 12 ) from my friends and neighbours who were all elder to me and cricket fanatics India was hoping to meet a Pakistani Team minus the WSC players. But unfortunately for India the Pakistan Board suddenly solved their problems with their WSC stars and presto the Team against India was again led by Mushtaq Muhammed with his strike bowlers Imran and Sarfaraz. The team also consisted Zaheer Abbas, Javed, Asif Iqbal who was burning to play against India where he was born and grew up.( Asif was from Hyderabad and studied in Osmania University). Spin dept. was in the hands of MM and Iqbal Qasim.

India came to Pakistan with its famous spin trio (venkat was not selected for the Test matches, oh god we were furious at Bedi and BCCI which was actually a blessing in disguise as it was prooved later) and its unchanged batting order for the last couple of years and 2 fast bowlers. A very young lad from Haryana who was 19 was selected to play his debut. The Amarnath brothers were there to give boost in the middle order along with Vishy and Vengsarkar.

The hype was very high about this match. It was the first match I saw live in DD. I think we didn´t go to school for couple of days. The streets were empty during the match.

The first test match took place between the 16th and 21st of oct. 1978. Bedi lost the toss and MM had no qualms in batting. The pitch was slow and apt for batting. Kapil opened the bowling with M. Amarnath. Pak lost 3 wickets for 110 and then the roasting started. Zaheer and Javed were merciless. They added about 250 runs before a careless shot of Zaheer was caught for 176 by Vishy of Prasanna. On the other end Javed was very cautious but reached his 50, 100 and 150 by hitting enormous sixes. Javed carried his bat with a score of 154 n.o. Imran joined the circus and hit a whirlwind 32 before he was out. Altogether they made our famous spinners looking very old and declared the innings for 503 for 9 at the stroke of tea on the 2nd day.

We were sitting at house was completely frustated by the pakistani batting. As the Indian innings started with Gavaskar and chauhan we were astonished to see the pace Imran produced in that dust bowl. But Imran was not accurate since he tried for raw pace. The Indian openers were not bothered and at the end of the day they were 64-0. We were thinking of a century from sunny the next day[/tscii:b3faa446c0]

sivank

9th September 2008, 07:42 PM

[tscii:59cbeb64bc]India actually answered the Pakistani innings with good knocks from Gavaskar, Vishy, Vengsarkar with Vishy top scoring with 145. Sunny missed his ton by 11 runs and vengsarkar by 17 runs. Good knocks by chauhan and S.Amarnath brought the Indian total to 462.

Since the match was edging towards draw it was sheer batting practice for Zaheer who was again merciless against the spinners. He was well poised for a second century of the Test as he was removed for 96 by Gavaskar. Yes, Gavaskar´s only wicket was of Zaheer Abbas who was 4 runs short of his second century. The test ended in a drab draw. Imran couldn´t make much impression is this match as he tried too much for pace. His hurricane knock of 32 should have warned Bedi, as he realised it later at the 3 rd Test.

The only highlight of Indian innings was the bowling of kapil who really bowled well. Ghavri the other fast bowler didn´t get a chance to play. By scoring 145 in the first innings vishy became the first Indian to score centuries against all Test playing countires of that time.

The negative imprint was the verbal clash Gavaskar had with umpire Shakoor Rana regarding M.Amarnath walking in the pitch.

[/tscii:59cbeb64bc]

sivank

9th September 2008, 09:20 PM

[tscii:3ce820ef9c]The second Test match in Lahore was between Oct.27 and 1st Nov. After drawing the first Test Indians were confident that they carried the same team as they had for Faisalabad. Pak. made 2 changes Mudassar Nazar came in for Sadiq muhammed, Saleem Altaf the veteran seam bowler came in for the young sikandher Bakt. MM won the toss and opted for fielding. Where as Faisalabad was a dry dust bowl Lahore was a grassy pitch.

If Imran was fast in Faisalabad here was absolute unplayable. Bari was standing a good distance away from the stumps which was not normal in Sub continent. Even then he had to gather balls from Imran in front of his face as they were still climbing. Altaf who opened the bowling with Imran got rid of sunny as he went fishing out side the off stump. Imran and Sarfaraz were very severe to the Indian batsmen. Only Vengsarkar managed a score of 76 and the next highest was 20 by vishy and mohinder. Mohinder had to leave the field after being hit by an Imran bouncer. It was so sickening to see mohinder drooling after being hit. As the wickets were falling regularly mohinder came again and this time fell over the stumps as he tried to hit a bouncer from sarfaraz. kirmani helped a bit and with 28 runs in extra India made a total of 199. At the end of the day´s play pak were 28 for 1 after losing mudassar to kapil. Incidentally Sunny was the openeing partner of Kapil.

Wasim Bari who came as Nightwatchman and Majid made merry of Indian bowlers soon Zaheer joined the band wagon and after that it was only zaheer. All the others were silent spectators. Mushtaq dec. the pak innings at 539 for 6 with Zaheer 235 n.o. at the stroke of tea on the 3rd day with a lead of 340.

We couldn´t believe our eyes as we saw sunny and chetan playing such strokes that too at the end of the day´s play. With in no time India were 92 - 0 with sunny at 50 and chetan at 40. sunny cut, drove hooked Imran and sarfaraz as if they were slow medium bowlers. The fourth day was no different the opening pair went to build the then record opening stand of 192 as Javed was given the ball by mushtaq. He immediately got chetan out edging to Bari(WK) for 93. Chetan was not happy about the decision indicating that the ball brushed the pads. He had to go. The very next over Mushtaq got sunny out for 97 caught by sarfaraz at forward short leg. Again sunny was unhappy at the decision indicating that it was not from the bat. But he too had to go. Suddenly from 192 - 0 it is 202 -2. Surinder and Vishy started to build the innings slowly but steadily. At the end of day´s play India were a healthy 307 -3 after losing a dashing surinder for 60.

We were shocked about the dismissals of the opening pair. we couldn´t beleive that the umpires have decided like this. Sunny who had a bout with umpire Rana at the First Test was really a victim. Action replays showed very clearly that it was the pads at both case not the bat. Clearly wrong calls. Still vishy is at crease and middling the ball clearly. We were certain India would post a good total and draw this game as well. How wrong we were.

After a partnership of 70 runs Imran broke Kapils defence who went for 43 and again it was vishy and vengsarkar who was very slow in building the innings saw through lunch. The match was moving towards draw. Just an hour after the lunch, MM brought Mudassar into attack. Mudassar bowled Vishy for 83 and had veng. caught for 17. After that it was pretty down hill with a sick mohinder who was peppered with bouncers who mercifully got out for 7. Solely kirmani who sheltered the spinners made 39 n.o to give a lead of 126 leaving pak to score 127 in about 90 minutes.

The match which was supposed to be a draw was won by pakistan by losing 2 wickets.

We were shell shocked. We couldn´t believe that India lost. The test was ugly. MM was having trouble in containing Javed and Sarfaraz. The way how they menacingly ran towards umpire for the verdict as chetan and sunny were judjed out. To be fair Imran even though he bowled bouncers he never bowled bumpers as Sarfaraz did. Neither he had a grin as Mohinder was struck on the head. Infact it was Imran who was among the first who went to Mohinder who went down to the ground.

[/tscii:3ce820ef9c]

sivank

9th September 2008, 10:54 PM

[tscii:57a73be54c]The third Test at karachi was scheduled between the 14 and 19 of Nov. Before that Bedi made a novum of forfeiting a One day match. Along with the 3 Tests 3 one day matches were also in the programm. After winning the 1st one day match India lost the 2 nd one. On the 3 rd nov. India played the 3 rd one day match against Pakistan. After palying the full 40 0vers ( it was a 40 over match with 5 bowlers of 8 overs each) pak scored 205 runs. India replied strongly with gaekwad and surinder scoring fluenty. suddenly the bouncer and bumper war started. Sarfaraz bowled a over full of bouncers. Nothing was called from the umpires. As the score was 183 and 22 runs required from 18 balls with India losing only 2 wickets the dices were rolling in India´s favour. Sarfaraz started his 7th over again with bumpers. He bowled 4 bumpers without being called wide. The batsmen were in no position to score since the balls were too high. A very angry Bedi recalled his batsmen and forfeited the match. It stood in the match report:

Bishen Bedi conceded the match in protest against the short pitched bowling tactics of Pakistan. Sarfraz Nawaz's last 4 deliveries were all out of reach of the batsmen, and not called wide by the umpire

The tempers were not good between the team. The entire tour was supposed to be full of harmony. But the atmosphere was anything other than harmony.

Bedi won the Toss for the first time in tests and decided to bat. India made one change by bringing Ghavri for prasanna who never again played for India. Pak. also made one change by bringing sikandher bakt for saleem altaf.

The scoring was slow. Imran was nearly unplayable. India finished its innings with a score of 344 out of which sunny scored 111. Kapil Dev who came as a nightwatchman scored a free 59. Kapil is now being talked as a good allrounder. Pakistan batted strongly to post a score of 481 a lead of 137. javed got exactly 100 before edging to kirmani off kapil. Infact every one scored including a whirlwind 32 from Imran. India playing its 2nd innings on the 4th day was 131 for 2 with sunny 67 n.o still on the crease, losing only chetan and mohinder who scored a great 53. Everything once again looked as a draw.

Imran started with a great over to kirmani who came as NW. In trying to fend a fast short ball kirmani could only lob it to Iqbal Qasim who was posted by Imran just before this delivery. vishy followed soon after edjing to bari of f sarfaraz. Surinder who was sick played a short innings but was run out soon after standing at the same end as sunny. vengsarkar gave some support for sunny who was playing a lone fiddle. soon vengsarkar was also gone for blinder from sarfaraz. Ghavri gave some support to sunny who was again given a very suspect verdict of caught behind off sarfaraz after making 137. As every one was expecting the curtains to fall, Kapil and ghavri started hitting merrily. Ghavri who gave tremendous support to sunny to move the score from 173 to 246 was finally cleared by an Imran outswinger which he edged to the hands of javed in first slip after making 35. Two runs later kapil who was playing strongly tried to hit sarfaraz for a 3rd six found MM at long on. India were all out for 300 leaving pakistan to score 164 in less than 2 hours time.

It was a very close shave. India could have made it as a draw, but the was how Asif Iqbal and javed were stealing singles was unbelievable. Asif who should be 12 to 13 years older than Javed was running as fast as Javed. At the fall of Asif ´s wicket everyone was expecting mudassar or zaheer but Imran was sent by MM. Imran showed why he was condsidered as the best allrounder at his time. He smashed Bedi for 2 huge sixes and took 19 runs from his over. This one over changed the match for pakistan. Till then it was touch and go.

So, a match which could have been a draw ended with a victorius pakistani team.

Imran showed that even in dull Sub continent pitches firery spells could be bowled.

[/tscii:57a73be54c]

Vivasaayi

9th September 2008, 11:00 PM

could imran be called as "the most celebrated cricketer " from pakistan without any hesitancy?

sivank

9th September 2008, 11:04 PM

[tscii:09f50c5c80]
could imran be called as "the most celebrated cricketer " from pakistan without any hesitancy?
lesaa ul kuthu irukkura maadhiri theriyudhe j/k

In my opinion he was the greatest cricketer Pak. ever produced. I don´t think anyone would have that much of authority and acceptance in pak cricket. Imran was the born leader who led from the front[/tscii:09f50c5c80]

m_23_bayarea

9th September 2008, 11:04 PM

could imran be called as "the most celebrated cricketer " from pakistan without any hesitancy?

:yes: And the most number of fans for any Pakistani Cricketer till date... 8-)

Nerd

9th September 2008, 11:07 PM

Sivan/Murali - What do you think of the alleged soda moodi inside Imran's pant pocket in the 92 world cup? To put it in another way, what do you think of the ball tampering allegations against him?

sivank

10th September 2008, 01:53 AM

[tscii:382a0e5c58]hi Kasi,

It is a very good question you have arised here. You must think Imran was with Tony Greig in Sussex for a long time. Any cricket fan would know that TG would go to any level to win a game. As I mentioned before Imran learned a lot from TG.

Here is something I found:

"Imran Khan may have had a successful career in county cricket - he took the only hat-trick of his first-class career for Sussex at Old Trafford - but by his own admission not all of his bowling feats in England were entirely legit. As he revealed in his autobiography, there were numerous occasions when he scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam. Only once, though, did he use an object, he claimed. "When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981, the ball was not deviating at all," he wrote. " I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top." The upshot was that the ball began to move around as it had not done before in the match. Sussex won and the umpires emerged none the wiser"

Here is something from Wasim Akram:

You have said earlier that the most important thing about reverse swing is how you look after the ball. What are the secrets of looking after the ball?

I am not giving that away so easily. Not in a freebie interview!

Everyone in our team knew what we had to do. And we even had to change Saqlain Mushtaq's action. He used to rub the ball in a manner that used to soften the rough side. As a captain, I had to tell him, "Saqlain don't do that." In team meetings we used to go after him.

That much detail?

That much detail. Even if while throwing the ball from the outfield, if the rough side comes in touch with the grass, it will become soft. Sometimes bowlers used to stop the ball played back at them with their foot. If the boot spikes hit the rough side, it was Christmas. If it didn't, you shone the ball and moved on.

We just took our time. It all depended on the wicket, the weather, the dryness of the outfield. If the wicket is dead and the square grassy, it's not going to happen. If one drop of sweat falls on it, the reverse swing won't happen.

And now with this rule to change the ball after 34 overs, you have taken reverse swing out of the one-day equation

Here is something about Pringle :

After his side was outdone in the first two Tests on the tour of Pakistan in the autumn of 1990, mostly by prodigious reverse swing, New Zealand bowler Chris Pringle took matters into his own hands. The New Zealand players, most notably Martin Crowe, had been crying foul through the series. On the first morning of the final Test in Faisalabad, Pringle decided to put to use what he had learned while experimenting in the nets. He cut an old bottle top into quarters and covered the serrated edge with tape, leaving a sharp point exposed. At the first drinks interval the umpires did not ask to look at the ball, and with Pakistan making sedate progress, Pringle began to scratch the ball with the masked bottle top. The results were almost immediate. Pakistan crashed from 35 for 0 to 102 all out and Pringle finished with his best Test figures of 7 for 52. He recalled that as he left the stadium after the first day's play, a local dignitary tapped him on the shoulder and said: "Pringle, it is fair now. Both teams are cheating

What I want to say is, I followed very actively Cricket till Dec. 1983. After that for about 20 years. I was really out of touch. Now thanks to internet and modern communications I am able to follow. But by now lot of water has passed under the bridge. I don´t know anything about Sachin. I have never seen his batting at his young days.

The last world cup game I saw was 1983 and after that the next one was in 2003 thanks to VCDs my brother sent me. So I don´t know about the allegation you make of Imran. But he is capable of that. You should think he groomed young bowlers who think like him who worship him and would go and do anything for him. Under his tutelage the art of Reverse Swing flourished till they mastered it.

As you can see from the article about Pringle, others used it as well. So when every doesit, wrong in this modern world becomes right[/tscii:382a0e5c58]

Nerd

10th September 2008, 07:59 AM

Sivan sir, thanks for taking pain to research about this, I am floored. The reason I brought up this issue was because of this (http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1982-83/IND_IN_PAK/IND_PAK_T2_23-27DEC1982.html) match I saw in cricket classics in ESPN. May be I am rushing things here, this is the 82 series, you are still at 79. I hope you cover this game, here is my two cents.

India courtesy of a disastrous made 169 in their first innings, thanks mainly to Qadir's spin and Imran's first and second spells. No signs of reverse swing in the first innings. Pakistan, thanks to Zaheer Abbas' genius put up a big score on the board. Abbas was at his best, free flowing and he was the only player in that test match who read Kapil very well. Mudassar Nassar, on accounts of sickness came down the order, also managed a hundred.

India on Day 3 started their innings a little after lunch I believe. Imran was safely negotiated by the Indian top order, though there were a few unplayable deliveries - mainly due to the pace variations. India were sitting pretty at tea (70 odd for one wicket). After India reached three figures, Imran came back for a spell. It was a deadly. I mean the ball was doing all sorts of things - have only seen Wasim being *that* deadly on many occasions (I have not seen much of Imran). Vishwanath's wicket was the best, he had no clue what had just happened. A fierce leg-cutter did him. Benaud (I think) was the commentator, even he did not have a clue on what was happening, because the ball was doing something which he was witnessing it the first time. He tried to draw parallels with another spell by a 70s pakistani bowler who I don't recall. But he was stunned to say the least. Charu Sharma the anchor while concluding finished with this punchline. Commencement of a new class of fast bowling - Reverse swing.

Later I read somewhere that Imran put in a soda bottle cap in his trouser pocket which aided in writing that dream script. Not sure how true is this, may be you two can throw some light. First time I am reading first-hand reports on those classic matches. I am thrilled to bits! Also I heard people saying that he was instrumental in *teaching* reverse swing to Akram and Younis. Will come back later to write about the '92 world cup. In the mean-time please keep us enlightened, Murali and Sivan :bow:

Sanguine Sridhar

10th September 2008, 02:02 PM

Great going! :clap: :clap: :clap:

villan007

10th September 2008, 02:25 PM

Excellent write-ups :clap: :bow:

Murali Srinivas

10th September 2008, 02:40 PM

sivank

10th September 2008, 04:32 PM

Great recap Sivan. But one or two doubts. Venkat was definitely in the team to Pakistan but didn't get to play any Tests, right? In fact on the first day of the third Test, the press reports said that Venkat would be playing but it was not be.

Was there Live telecast for that series? We (at Madurai or for that matter rest of Tamil Nadu) didn't have TV coverage. I am damn sure that 1982-83 series was telecast because on a trip to Madras, I had seen the live relay from my friend's hostel. But 1978? Since we had to follow thro' radio, I didn't do it ball by ball. Moreover it came during our semester exams and in between Deepavali (Oct 30th in that year -1978) also intervened and that didn't allow us to concentrate ball by ball.

Nerd,

I mentioned about reverse swing that Imran used to gain upper hand in 1982 -83 series and I had the bottle top in my mind when I wrote this. But one person contradicted me saying it was indipper. As for as my limited knowledge goes, reverse swing is an inswinger or indipper that is bowled with a outswinger action just like googly. Correct me if I am wrong. Imran's admission of doing it at Sussex in 1981, substanciates my theory for 1982-83.

Regards

Hi Murali,

Venky was in the team but was not given a chance to play a Test. As you mentioned Prasanna was omitted for the last test and naturally there were talks that venkat would take his place. As we saw the team announcement to our utter sorrow Ghavri was included instead of Venkat. Even though Venkat got to play all the 3 one day matches it was a pity he was side lined for the Tests.

I am very much sure that we had live Telecast in Madras. The match started at 10.30 a.m. due to the 1/2 hour difference between India and Pakistan. By that time we would have had our food and get ready for the match. Being a 12 year old, I was under the impression that the match was telecasted all over the country. We had a dynora (was it spelled like that) TV and the whole gang was at our house to watch. Sometimes when it was too much for my mother we used to watch it in a friends house

Murali Srinivas

10th September 2008, 06:37 PM

Thanks Sivan, you should be right.

About the third test in that series when Sunny scored a century in each innings, there was this incident of he getting caught behind for nought but since the umpire was a bit hesitant and Sunny having a grouse that he was wrongly given out when he was on 97 in the previous test stayed put in his crease and went on to complete a century. Sunny himself disclosed it after some years. But in Pakistan, where Javed in his entire career was given out lbw only on two occasions, these umpiring blunders were a part and parcel of their package.

Regards

P_R

10th September 2008, 07:33 PM

But in Pakistan, where Javed in his entire career was given out lbw only on two occasions
:lol:

Enjoying the posts Mr.MuraLi and sivan

Murali Srinivas

10th September 2008, 08:12 PM

The 1989 tour of Pakistan by India was quite a sensational one. We had not visited them for 5 years and after the 1987 series, this was going to be the return series. Though they had lost the World Cup in 1987, the Nehru Centenary Cup (reasons for BCCI to host a tournament) in 1989 saw them lift the cup in the finals against WI. Imran was in the forefront in the entire tournament and in spite of losing to WI and England, Pak came back strongly. I remember the India - Pak match on the Deepavali day of 1989. Went to "Vetri Vizha" for the morning show came back and watched India (under Srikanth) put up a very good fight (a century stand for the opening wicket) only to lose its way in the middle and the match. Went for "Mappilai" evening show. In the finals when it appeared that WI would win the match, Imran came in and batted so well and was there till the wining run was hit in the last over. If my memory serves me right, he not only lifted the cup in Calcutta but also bagged the Man of the Match award. In hindsight, we can conclude it was curtain raiser for 1992 World Cup.

So when India started its tour, everybody expected a thrashing. Srikanth was again the Captain and the only happening news was about a small boy. Aged 16 years and 205 days, one boy answering to the name of Sachin Tendulkar made his debut on Nov 15th of 1989 at Karachi. Pitted against him were Imran and the two Ws along with Abdul Qadir. The two Ws unleashed bouncers at the young boy and even made him spill blood. Imran as a captain failed to reign in his bowlers but the boy after getting first aid came back and played. The rest is history.

Coming to the series, India drew it. Imran could not recreate the same magic and ended up with less than 15 wickets for the entire series. It is still remembered for Sanjay Manjereker's double century at Lahore, Azhar's century at Faisalabad, Sachin's two half centuries, Manoj Prabakar's 6 wicket haul in one innings, Shoaib Mohamed's doule century, Sachin's go at Qadir in a one day match etc. It was remarkable that India could come out unscathed in Tests though they lost the one day matches in close margins. There was one match which was abandoned when crowd invaded the pitch because Pak had been reduced to 28 for 3. Any captain not losing a series against Pak at Pak is bound to keep his captaincy. But Srikanth found himself replaced by Azhar and dropped for the NewZealand tour. That's Indian Cricket for you.

Regards

Murali Srinivas

11th September 2008, 12:27 AM

1992 World Cup

It had many firsts to its credit.

South Africa played its first World Cup.

Round robin League was followed for the first time, in the sense that every team played every other team. That means the strength of each team could be judged.

Coloured clothing was used for the first time.

Day Night matches were played for the first time in WC under floodlights.

Pinch hitting was put to use for the first time and the term coined, with Martin Crowe taking the credit.

Spinner opened the bowling. Off Spinner Deepak Patel of NewZealand (again thanks to M.Crowe) got the honours.

When the tournament started there was not even a hint that Pak would win. The only celebrity who predicted a Pak win was our Sunil Gavaskar and he was felicitated in a function held in Pakistan after the Cup was won.

Since it was a round robin league, every team had to play 8 matches and initially it looked Pak would be eliminated. They lost their opening match to WI by 10 wickets. The WI, now under Richie Richardson chased a score of 220 odd without wicket loss. Lara had to retire hurt after he nearly scored a century. Though Pak beat Zimbawae, they came totally unstruck against England and were shot out for 74. Imran did not play this match and Javed led in his absence. But for tail enders swinging their bat, Pak would have been still worse. Engalnd in their reply were 24 for 1, when rain interupted and play was washed out. There was no rest day provision and Pakistan who was staring at certain defeat escaped with 1 point.

Then came the crucial match. India vs Pak [March 4th,1992] at Sydney. The sub continent rivals were facing each other for the first time in a World Cup. India won the toss and elected to bat. Imran was back for this match and he opened up with Wasim and Aquib. Both were breathing fire and Aquib was simply unplayable. Srikanth was all at sea [I have never seen Srikanth "thadavify" so badly before]. His agony ended soon. Azhar came in at no 3 and he Ajay Jadeja steadied the innings before Azhar fell. Vinod Kambli who was specially flown in came next. [India were touring Australia and the team stayed back there. Kambli joined the team]. Kambli was good though he consumed more balls [By today's standard, the no of balls would be huge]. Jadeja's fall brought the two buddies together and at one stage it looked it would be a smooth affair when Kambli in trying to give a charge to Mustaq Ahamed fell. With Sanjay Manjerekar falling immediately, India was again pushed back. But Kapil gave good support to Sachin and we could cross 200. We finished at 216 with Sachin unbeaten on 54. For people who were following the game, it is still a mystery why play was stopped after 49 overs. We had a doubt whether it would be enough?

Pak innings was rocked back by Kapil and Manoj Prabakar. With Inzy falling to Kapil, Prabakar accounted for Zahid Faisal [This is one guy who was spoken highly by Imran but who failed to live up to the hype] and Pak were 2 down for less than 20. Now aamir Sohail and Javed slowly started to bring them out of trouble. Javed was not his usual self but he fished, missed, scratched around. Readers who had seen the live relay would remember one thing. Javed was complaining of back pain and was using runner. There was one moment when Venkatapathy Raju was bowling and Javed in trying to cut him missed it and wk Kiran More went up and down in glee claiming for a catch but that was disallowed. Javed on seeing this started jumping like a fox, making fun of More and that started a war of words and even the calm Azhar had a heated exchange with Javed. The partnership was almost worth 100 runs when Azhar ran in a change that turned the course of the match. Ball was handed over to Sachin and Aamir sohail in trying hit against the spin on the leg side scooped up and Srikanth at cover completed a low catch. Salim Malik who came in started with a flourish and hit two boundaries. Manoj was brought back and his ball moving away caught the thin edge and for the first time I saw a Pakistani batsman walking back without waiting for the umpire.

Imran came in and by this time the noose was getting tightened. He couldn't open his account and in desperation and confusion (because of the runner) saw V.Raju rearranging the stumps, while he could not reach the crease in time. Wasim the other danger man stepped out to Raju to miss it completely and More did the rest. Te next over saw Srinath breaching the defence of Javed and it was but over. Moin Khan and Mustaq tried to delay the inevitable but Pak was all out for 173 and we won by 43 runs.

The next match for Pak was with South Africa. SA batting first scored around 210 and odd. Pakistan in its reply started well and after the openers fell, Inzy and Imran did a good job and Pak were cruising at one stage. Readers would remember one photo which was a photgrapher's dream picture. Inzy hit the ball hard and ran but Jhonty Rhodes sprung from nowhere and stopped the ball and while he was still airborne, threw down the stumps to run out Inzy. That photo is still a collector's dream and got published everywhere. Rain interuptions made the targets to get revised but SA romped home. With just one victory and three defeats and one near defeat, Pakistan was staring at elimination with just 3 points against its name at the end of 5 matches.

That was when Imran the leader emerged.

Regards

Murali Srinivas

12th September 2008, 12:53 AM

The next match was against Australia. Pakistan batted first. Aamir Sohail scored a half century and Javed contributed but Pak could not go beyond 225, I remember. Imran by that time (for the entire World Cup) was using Wasim and Aquib as opening bowlers (Waqar was not there) and he himself was coming at one change. This was paying rich dividends. With Aquib taking care of openers, Musthaq Ahamed accounting for middle order, Wasim to demolish the tail, Imran could chip in with crucial wickets. Here in spite of Marsh, Jones and Mark Waugh trying hard, Pak could beat them and they got a breathing space.

Next match for them was against Srilanka. SL batted first and ran up a acore of around 220 [that was the norm of all the matches during that time]. This was one match, I remember Imran walking in at one down and though the no of runs scored was not great, it was leading from the front and taking the cue from their captain, the team performed and Pak won that match. Now with 2 consecutive victories and 4 points, Pak were at 7 and with one more match to go, they now sensed a real chance of sneaking into the semis.

But the biggest hurdle was the last match that was against NZ. NZ till that time had won all their matches. With Martin Crowe in great form, Mark Greatbatch clicking as a pinch hitter and Deepak Patel suffocating the batsmen in the initial overs, NZ was coasting. So Pak, everybody thought has a tough job in their hands. But when the match was played NZ was so pathetic in their batting and were shot out for less than 175. Rameez Raja came good after a very long time and Pak won comfortably finishing with 9 points. Tongues were wagging that NZ did lose the match with an ulterior motive of staying back and playing the SF in NZ itself instead of going to Aus, as they have already qualified for the semis.

If that was true, they dug their own grave because the same teams clashed in the SF. NZ was in great form and the last match loss was an aberration, people thought. The match also started to unfold in the same manner. Crowe played a great innings in spite of using a runner and NZ made 262, which was surely a winning total. But again Imran came in at no 3 and Javed gave him good company. But the real revealation was Inzy. He played a hurricane innings and his 60 came of just 48 balls or so that simply tilted the match in Pak's favour. The fact that Crowe was not there in the field [Jeff Crowe was deputing] also was a big set back for NZ and Pak scramped home in the 49 th over itself with Moin Khan hitting the winning run. NZ tipped to be the winner found itself out of the tournament.

The Final was between Pak and England. In the other SF, England had scored a technical victory with rain interfering and when SA was asked to hit 22 runs in one ball, it was not going to happen any way. England came to the finals.

The Final was played on March 25th of 1992 (surprisingly not a Sunday). Pakistan won the toss and the loss of two early wickets didn't deter Imran. He again came at No:3 and he, Javed, Inzy and Wasim played as if possessed. They ran up a score of 249. England wanted a good opening partnership and lot depended on Gooch and Botham. But when Botham was dismissed for a nought by Wasim and Alec Stewart left immediately. Soon Gooch was gone and England were in dire straits. Lamb and Fairbrother then started building up a partnership but when Lamb and Lewis fell in succession, the fight was over. Fairbrother was the only person who fought and with the help of Defraites, Pringle and Illingworth tried to prolong the end but Imran was not to be denied his due. Ironically it was Imran who took the last wicket of Illingworth and well the victory celebrations were wild and beyond description. England a third time finalist had to end up as the eternal bridegroom in waiting.

Was Imran or Pakistan lucky? Definitely yes. But as the saying goes, fortune favours the brave and he took chances and made good strategic decisions. His team backed him to the hilt. He showed that age is not a restriction for performers like him. While other teams grew up and succeded because of their infrastructure and system, Imran and his team won in spite of their system. That was Imran's greatest quality, IMO.

Regards

P_R

20th September 2008, 12:33 AM

Nice post Mr.MuraLi

The Final was played on March 25th of 1992 (surprisingly not a Sunday) Yeah. I remember having to bunk school for this. :-)

One nitpick....

The fact that Crowe was not there in the field [Jeff Crowe was deputing]

The deputy was our very own John Wright. Jeff Crowe did not play in the 92 World Cup at all.

John Wright was struggling to place fielders to Inzamam and Miandad. Imran's innings was on the slower side. Inzamam had to compensate for that. One of the most enjoyable innings I remember watching.

omega

20th September 2008, 06:16 PM

The 1989 tour of Pakistan by India was quite a sensational one. It was remarkable that India could come out unscathed in Tests though they lost the one day matches in close margins. There was one match which was abandoned when crowd invaded the pitch because Pak had been reduced to 28 for 3. Any captain not losing a series against Pak at Pak is bound to keep his captaincy. But Srikanth found himself replaced by Azhar and dropped for the NewZealand tour. That's Indian Cricket for you.
Regards

I remember this series too. I think Azhar had 6 catches in one of the Tests @ slips ( in one innings).

About the one day game that got abandoned, it was sensational swing bowling by Pabhakar. His banana inswingers were too hard for the top order (I thought they lost atleast 4 wkts before play was disrupted, not sure though). To top it off, when the the crowd was indeed brought under control, Imran Khan agreed for a reduced match to be played all over again (ithukku per thaan shrewdnesso :hammer: which offcourse was not accepted by Srikanth, hence abandoned).

P_R

25th September 2008, 11:39 AM

Shall we move over to the next one ?

littlemaster1982

25th September 2008, 12:27 PM

:yes:

mgb

25th September 2008, 05:39 PM

How about Ian Botham :P

vramesh

25th September 2008, 11:34 PM

Hi Friends,
I saw this thread for the first time. I have videos of most of these matches...pm me if you need them :)

vramesh

25th September 2008, 11:41 PM

But Imran had a long team meeting and lot of strategies were discussed. Iqbal and Abdul Qadir as a part of the strategy went and met Bishen Singh Bedi and asked for tips Bedi gladly gave the same. his main advise was dont try anything extra. Pitch the ball in the right area and the turf will do the rest.

Dear Mr.Murali,
Hats off to you for your pains-taking write up. The story about Bedi appeared only in Outlook before the 98-99 series and I notice you have precisely recollected it. Cheers! :clap:

vramesh

25th September 2008, 11:53 PM

Great post Mr.MuraLi. Felt like I was following the Aus-Pak match real time.

1987 England tour - Pak had played 5 tests and won 1-0. If my memory serves me right, it was the third test at Headingly (?) which produced the result. If I am not off the mark, it was an innings victory for Pakistan and of course the hero was Imran. He had a 10 wicket match haul (or was it 11?) and Pak triumphed in a low scoring match. As you were unsure I looked up cricinfo. The match (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63463.html) was indeed at Headingley, Leeds. 10 wickets for Imran and 5 for Wasim.

A note about the Leeds test...Pakistan came to England and were soon out of confidence, as their famed pace bowling line-up conceded big totals(440+ and 368) in the first 2 Tests. Their batsman were all at sea. It was rain that prevented their embarrassment in the first 2 Tests.

Came Headingley and its seaming wicket: It was the awesome Imran who lead from the front taking 3-37 and restricted England in the 1st knock. But credit has to go to Salim Malik, who scored a matchwinning Dravid-classic 99 to take them to 300+. Till then he had been accused of being a flat-track bully(Malik also had two gems of 82* and 84* at Leeds in the 1992 tour).

It was on that July Monday morning when I woke up to see the headline "Imran tops 300 wickets, Pakistan sitting pretty", after seeing Pat Cash win Wimbledon previous night. Imran 7-40 and innings defeat to England.

In India, Pak were outplayed totally in first 4 tests, Miandad and Qadir being flops. Came back to win at Bangalore through Qasim.

In England, Pak listless in first 2 tests...when the weather gave relief, Imran stepped in and took them to victory.

When we say 92 WC semifinal, everyone talks of Inzamamul Haq. Look carefully at the scorecard, when Pak struggled initially, there is Imran coming in at #3 and scoring an anchoring innings of 44!

That's the genius of Imran Khan. My favorite cricketer from age 6 and I used to copy his bowling action though the pronounced jump before delivery used to hurt a lot :lol:

P_R

26th September 2008, 03:49 PM

Welcome to the thread vramesh.

P_R

26th September 2008, 04:19 PM

Next....

Arguably one of the greatest wicketkeepers in the game

Rod Marsh

[html:448d708b26] http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42112000/jpg/_42112630_marsh416.jpg [/html:448d708b26]

He was the first keeper to achieve 300+ dismissals in tets - finished with a then world record of 355. As a competent batsman he also has three test centuries to his credit.

Lets hear more about him...

vramesh

27th September 2008, 12:04 AM

A very competitive keeper who grew up in leaps and bounds once he got into the Test team. Forged a great partnership with Lillee and Thomson. A very aggressive and dangerous batsman, he wouldn't stay much long but if he did, would cause serious damage.

Marsh - very good to pace. Not much chance to spin(mallett) or seam(Gilmour).

Australia had a long history of legendary keepers and it wasnt easy for Marsh to step into their shoes. Tallon, Oldfield and Grout are reputed to be their all-time greats, Healy might join them too.

A quick recap of keepers since 70s and their strengths:
Knott - easily outstanding of the lot. Kept well to raw pace(Snow/Willis), quality spin(Emburey/Underwood), seam/swing(Hendrick/Arnold). Excellent player of top quality spin bowling(Bedi/Pras/Venkat/Chandra). If we had thrown in Bangladesh/Lanka teams in his time, his stats would have been phenomenal.

Healy - Next all time great. Valuable bat. Outstanding to spin(Warne/Bevan/May). Good to pace although McGrath/Gillespie not in same class of Lillee/Thomson. Not much opportunity to prove himself to medium pace.

Taylor - Very ordinary bat and very good classic keeper.

Gilchrist - Extraordinary bat, very okay keeper.

Dujon - Delightful batsman, when he made the test team as a batsman, he was not yet regular keeper for his state. Grew rapidly to be a great keeper for pace. Very acrobatic in movement though little op for spin.
I read somewhere by an aussie guy describing a chance dropped by Parthiv Patel, "Dujon would have caught this while flirting with a woman and holding a glass of wine in his other hand" :banghead: :banghead: :evil:

vramesh

27th September 2008, 12:08 AM

vramesh

1st October 2008, 11:13 PM

I heard that before Somerset he was signed to play for some other county. But his contract was terminated because they were annoyed with his behaviour of throwing his wicket away when he didn't find the bowling challenging enough :lol:

Can someone confirm if that is true !

Somerset were having a lean time around mid 80s so it does mean the bowling was challenging enough :) Viv and Garner were rumoured to be not giving their best. But the real issue was that Martin Crowe was considered next to Viv as their second-choice overseas player. At that time, Border prematurely terminated his contract with Essex and Essex approached Somerset for permission to take Crowe. Fearing they might lose Crowe to Essex, Somerset went ahead and fired Viv and recruited the kiwi.

On hearing of Viv's sacking, Botham promptly stepped down.

P_R

1st October 2008, 11:53 PM

Ok thanks for the clarification vramesh.
Crowe for Richards !!
Even I, who haven't followed either closely enough, find that atrocious.

vramesh

2nd October 2008, 04:57 AM

Crowe in 1985 had a series of hundreds(188 v WI in WI). Plus he had matchwinning 100s enabling NZ to beat Aus in Aus('85) and Eng in Eng('86). So Somerset wanted to have someone for the future and it did not go well with Viv :)

sivank

4th October 2008, 07:38 PM

[tscii:1fa3db856f]Thanks prabhu for bringing a wicket keeping legend into focus. Rod Marsh was in his active days one of the most successful WK batsman. He usually comes at position 7 and gave a very solid support for the lower order. He made about 3600 runs at an ave. of 26. He made 3 centuries and got out at the 90s for 5 times. He had the enviable record of 355 dismissals behind the stumps. 343 catches and 12 stumpings.

Up to my knowledge Rod Marsh is the only wicket keeper to have this record of having the highest number of catches from one particular bolwer. The tandem of Lillee nad Marsh shared 95 wickets among them. Yes, this word caught Marsh bowled Lillee was repeated 95 times.

Even though Marsh was not the first choice to represent Australia. As Brian Taber decided to hang his gloves some how Mr. Iron Gloves as RM was called then was given a chance among heavy and loud protests. He was over weight and his gathering and moving behind the stumps was not perfect. Still he was given the choice since he was good at lower order batting. Bill Lawry the captain then took the risk.

The oncoming Test series against England was the starting for Rod Marsh. He batted brilliantly in the 2nd test in Perth which was held for the first time in Perth. He scored 44 and supported ably Greg Chappel who scored his maiden century on his first test. People slowly started to believe in RM as they saw that he gave the lower order a good batting support. Marsh should have scored his maiden century on his 4th Test on Melbourne but Bill Lawry didn´t allow it. Australia batted first and scored more than 400 runs, Marsh was 92 n.o. as BL declared the innings. Everybody criticised BL for his action. Already a very didliked person and captain BL made no new friends for his action. His deputy Ian Chappell criticised him the most. From there a wonderful friendship started between the Chappell brothers and Marsh. Bill Lawry was sacked after the England series and Ian Chappell took over as the new captain for the coming Test Series again against England (this time AUS visited England).

RM reduced a lot of weight for the new season and became more fitter. The chemistry between RM and Lillee flourished. Marsh must have learned a lot from IC as he stood always at the first slip. RM had the uncanny ability to notice the weakness of the opposing batsmen. He used to give tips for Lillee where he has to bowl. This is acknowledged by Lillee by running into Marsh´s hands everytime he takes a wicket.[/tscii:1fa3db856f]

vramesh

6th October 2008, 12:59 AM

Ghavri gave some support to sunny who was again given a very suspect verdict of caught behind off sarfaraz after making 137.

Apparently Sarfraz got Sunny plumb in front when he was on zero but Shujauddin the umpire ruled in the batsman's favor to compensate for the first innings mistake. Sunny fell to Sarfraz for 137 when he lost concentration after Sarf came round the wicket and there was some problem with the sightscreen being moved.

But all in all, a great and outstanding performance from sunny...He had a run of 89, 8*, 5, 97. 111, 137 in Pakistan followed by a run of 205, 73, 0, 107, 182* against the West Indies. If not for that bad decision at 97 he might well have headed for 5 centuries in 5 innings!

Starting 1977 till end of 1979, he played close to 24 tests, where barring 3-4 tests, he scored atleast a 50 or a 100 in every test. This doesn't include the fact that in the midst of a 5 or 6 test home series, he would play 3-4 matches in Ranji or Duleep and score some more hundreds. He once flew back in the morning from an away series and few hours later, was batting in the Kanga League.
The ultimate and dedicated run machine. 8-)

One of the reasons that those who followed Sunny in the seventies say there can never be a batsman like him. I am sad to say I only watched him on TV from 84.

There was no Imran for the 1985 World Series Benson & Hedges Cup which India won beating Pakistan in the finals. But he had his sweet revenge when he captained the side that won the 1986 Auatralasia cup on 18th April, 1986, at Sharjah but Javed took the entire credit with the last ball six of a full toss.

Regards

Dear Mr.Murali, I think there is a typing error above and you are referring to Wasim Akram who missed the final match. Imran led Pakistan in the cup, starting with the opening match v India at Melbourne. It was a terrific hostile spell from Imran who took 3-27. Srikkanth was clueless to the swing and movement and India fell to 42-3 chasing 183 if I remember right. It was Azhar(93*) and Sunny(54) who took them to victory and it was debutant superstar Azhar fresh from 3 hundreds who was the star. I bought the disc just to see how Azhar tackled Imran but the Paki guy who sold it edited the innings and showed only the victory stroke apart from Indian dismissals. :banghead:

Gavaskar wrote that in the final, Imran had a tremendously huge lunch and was surprised by the quantity as he was due to save Pak with his bowling. Miandad had complained to Sunny that the first game was lost due to one bad decision against Pak but admitted that Pak were beaten fair and square in the final(the lack of Akram also hurt them a lot)

Richards was back for the second but Imran again was fire and claimed almost a 10 wicket haul and again Javed scoored a century(I was fuming that this guy is going on scoring centuries and coming at WI against Marshall and Patterson, it was special) But WI managed to draw. I think this was at Port Of Spain.

Third test (Bridgetown?) had become a prestige issue for WI. They have never lost a series for the past 10 years at home preceding that and so Viv and his team won but they struggled before reaching there. When it mattered most Imran couldn't recreate the magic and WI scrapped through and kept their home record intact. Neverthless Imran ended up with 23 wickets, the highest on either side.
Regards

There was also some issues between WI officials and the senior players that series and it affected their performance. To their great credit, Dujon and RIchards delivered when it mattered and silenced their critics(with some help from umpires)

Seriously those were the two of Javed's best centuries. Truth to tell, Javed had his own style of batting but seriously he cannot be bracketed among the greats like Sunny, Sachin, Richards. Miandad was a big flop in most of Pakistan's great victories(talking about tests only) such as Leeds 87, Bangalore 87, Lords 92. No wonder for a batsman with a prominent shuffle across middle stump, he was dismissed 25 times lbw abroad and none at home from 1976-86, first lbw in Pak came in '86 and therefore his career figures were little inflated.

But as I said he had his own strength and Javed as a person is much more mellow than he is talked about, very approachable and friendly guy. In 1996, when India were getting thrashed by a really insipid ragtag England team, it was Javed who went to the Indian nets to help them out. But seriously, battingwise, not as great as he's talked about, and not above Inzi or Yohana.

vramesh

6th October 2008, 01:04 AM

Sorry if my post is distracting the flow of the thread. Lets continue with Rod Marsh.

Sanguine Sridhar

22nd November 2008, 08:02 PM

Who is next? Let me know!

littlemaster1982

23rd June 2009, 12:53 PM

Reviving...

littlemaster1982

23rd June 2009, 12:55 PM

Port-of-Spain, 30 March 1994

West Indies had a small total to defend. They also had Ambi (http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/407728.html)

West Indies were defending a paltry 193 runs with three sessions to play on the last day. England had a point to prove and their resolve appeared strong. In the press box, English cricket writer and erstwhile Somerset captain Peter Roebuck said, "This ought to be England's game". I nodded.

And then Richie Richardson handed Curtly Ambrose the ball. These were the days when West Indian crowds still understood and loved Test cricket, even preferred it to the one-day game, and the Oval went absolutely silent as the ground focused on Ambi's long, loping run-up. With every breath held, every pair of eyes checked to see if Ambrose's back foot fell behind the line, if the ball pitched between wicket and wicket, at what length - it was the last point of "good" before "full" - and we all watched the ball as it skidded, at an incredible pace, into the England captain's pad with a thud heard plainly before the cries went up, first from the fielders, appealing, and then from the crowd, cheering. The ball was so fast, so deadly, the crowd did not need the umpire's finger to begin celebrating raucously.

I turned to Roebuck and said, "I think I have to watch this in the ground." It's not considered polite to scream in the press box.

England were all out for 46, still one run fewer than West Indies' lowest score against them, and the seven extras Ambrose and Courtney Walsh allowed in 19.1 overs outscored every English batsman bar Alec Stewart.

Anyone present at that ground could tell you that the English defeat was secured not with the last ball but with the first. If that was not a magic moment, brother, the word "magic" may as well be stricken from the dictionary.

ajithfederer

23rd June 2009, 12:57 PM

Raging Bull Ambrose :notworthy:

Easily my fav 90's Bowler. Thanks LM For the link.

Sanguine Sridhar

23rd June 2009, 02:21 PM

Good Choice LM! :clap: :clap:

Sanguine Sridhar

23rd June 2009, 02:25 PM

CURTLY AMBROSE

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Dinesh84

23rd June 2009, 03:51 PM

Curtly vs S Waugh (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZnx5oBBMuI)
CA: "Don't cuss me, man"..

Sanguine Sridhar

23rd June 2009, 09:50 PM

Curtly vs S Waugh (http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...577857&q=waugh)
CA: "Don't cuss me, man"..

No the video is not working. Can you provide us the correct link?

littlemaster1982

23rd June 2009, 10:14 PM

Sanguine Sridhar

23rd June 2009, 10:22 PM

Nerd

23rd June 2009, 11:04 PM

Maams, Great avtar :D

My most fav 90s bowler is Akram followed by Walsh. Ambrose is devastating too. One of my favorite spells is the second innings of this (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63557.html) match. Especially the balls that got rid of Smith and Lamb were unplayable. More later..

Vivasaayi

24th June 2009, 12:29 PM

littlemaster1982

24th June 2009, 03:03 PM

SS,

This (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6442816157289206202) is the video I guess. Superbly edited. That Atherton wicket mentioned in the previous article, is at 1:24.

This is what you call devastating bowling :notworthy:

Youtube has the same video. Few of the comments in it,

Read in some interview when Steve Waugh was asked who would you prefer to face, Walsh or Ambrose, he said niether. Now i know why!

Remember when Dean Jones asked Amby to remove his armbands (which were white) during a day/night one dayer? The next 3 balls were the quickest you could ever hope to see & even Deano knew he'd made a terrible mistake - they were fast!!!!

:lol: :notworthy:

Roshan

24th June 2009, 04:16 PM

Maams, Great avtar :D

My most fav 90s bowler is Akram followed by Walsh. Ambrose is devastating too.

For me it is Walsh followed by Akram. Ambrose'um pidikkum.

littlemaster1982

24th June 2009, 04:32 PM

Official website of Curtly Ambrose (http://curtlyambrose.com/).

ajithfederer

25th June 2009, 02:07 AM

Curtley Ambrose devastating spell of 7 for 1 run v Australia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5G4pqb4nns)

Roshan

25th June 2009, 02:43 PM

Curtley Ambrose devastating spell of 7 for 1 run v Australia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5G4pqb4nns)

Youtube allAtha vERu link kodukka mudiyumA ? :roll:

Vivasaayi

27th June 2009, 09:44 AM

For me the fav fast bowlers are ambrose followed by akram...especially ambrose for his bowling action.

My most fav bowling action is allan donalds action

Sanguine Sridhar

30th June 2009, 03:22 PM

No one is discussing about this gentleman? :huh:

PR, CR, mgb, Plum, Murali Srinivas pondravargal engE?!

crajkumar_be

30th June 2009, 03:27 PM

Sanguine Sridhar

30th June 2009, 03:29 PM

Nest-u Wasim Akram thaan but adhu varaikum please share some memories. I love to read!

Vivasaayi

30th June 2009, 03:35 PM

P_R

30th June 2009, 03:47 PM

SS,
Ambrose is a deadly, miserly bowler and immensely likable like most from W.I but my all time favorite is Wasim Akram (and Shane Warne too) - avar bowling oru kavidhai, majestic and beautiful.

A measure of Ambrose's greatness was the way Sachin treated him.
Another thing we must keep in mind is he was fun to watch while batting also :lol: Bat avaru kai la pencil madhiri irukkum!

once against India he kissed his bat after hitting a six in a crucial situation and we went onto win that match with sachin bowling the last over....or am i confusing between two matches

was very young while watching that match...

1991-92 opening match of the Aus-Wi-Ind tri series
126 in 50 overs was India's total and Wi struggled to chase it !
Ambrose hoists Kapil Dev for a 6 in the penultimate over and then gets run-out next ball (IIRC).
Sachin bowls the last over and gets Patrick Patterson (IIRC) out caught by Azhar when the scores are level.

Vivasaayi

30th June 2009, 04:00 PM

ohh..yeah

and that was a good catch by azhar... :)

mgb

30th June 2009, 04:02 PM

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?

crajkumar_be

30th June 2009, 04:12 PM

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?
91-92 la Venky illaye. Subroto Banerjee right? And i think it was Srinath's debut (yaanai thumbikkayala kaasu vangittu aasirvadham panra madhiri poduvaaru modhalla ellam - high bowling arm action)

PR,
Perth tie match dhaane idhu?

mgb

30th June 2009, 04:35 PM

correct cr.. it was subroto banerjee.. he bowled well in that match.. he moved the ball both the ways, as against srinath who was bowling only inswingers

P_R

30th June 2009, 05:11 PM

mgb

30th June 2009, 05:18 PM

i think ambrose got the man of the match in that tied one dayer for his 2 for 9 and 35 odd run partnership with cummins.. appaadi some thing relevant to this thread..

Plum

30th June 2009, 09:45 PM

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?
Oh Cummins-A....atleast Patterson was the non-strikernu ninaikkarEn.

last over ..I meant last over of the match (happAdA ! eppidiyO samALichAchchu).

How come they didn't use Ravi Shasthri ? I remember he played the match..and made 120 ball 30 something :-)

CR, adhE adhE.

Cummins was the non-striker. Kapil Dev Flitnoff-Lee vaidhyam-lam koduthaaru Cummins-ku
(Avainga apdi thaan establish paNNa try pannuvanga, namma othukka padadhu, muthirai kuthiduvainga:lol:)

Plum

30th June 2009, 09:46 PM

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?
91-92 la Venky illaye. Subroto Banerjee right? And i think it was Srinath's debut ( yaanai thumbikkayala kaasu vangittu aasirvadham panra madhiri poduvaaru modhalla ellam - high bowling arm action)

PR,
Perth tie match dhaane idhu?
:rotfl: :rotfl2:
(CR, sema form-la irukkeenga pola!)

Plum

30th June 2009, 09:51 PM

correct cr.. it was subroto banerjee.. he bowled well in that match.. he moved the ball both the ways, as against srinath who was bowling only inswingers

Banerjee was hard done by. Nalla thaan pottan. Epdiyo kazhatti vuttutainga.

In the 92 World Cup, India had a close match against England. Banerjee and Srinath brought India to the brink of victory thanks to the former's big hits. And he was doing it calmly. Srinath was a nervous wreck meanwhile.
Vazhakkam pOla, last over-la, thevai illama non-striker end-lerundhu vegama Odi poyi run out aayi we lost by 9 runs. When they were returning to the pavilion, you could see Banerjee calmly walking back and Srinath berating him as though it was Banerjee's fault
1. Banerjee was the one who was hitting big, so he had to be on strike even if there was a run in that shot it had to be ignored since that would bring Srinath on strike
2. There was no run for that shot!
3. Our daddhi still ran and got run out - for what, I ask?
4. And then made a big show of berating Banerjee

That day, I learnt the value of CYA. Thappu nadandha parava illai, adhai mathavanga mela pazhi podum thiramai vENum. Appo dhaan pozhaikka mudiyum-nu naan katRa naal adhu.

Plum

30th June 2009, 09:53 PM

Srinath-kum mela dhaddhi na adhu raju dhaan. In the same world cup, with 4 to win, Srinath hits a trademark vertical sixer (i.e.) huge height - actually, the batsmen could have easily ran 3 for that shot. But our Raju is paraaaku parthufying as Steve Waugh drops the catch but throws back the ball. By the time Raju completes the second run, Srinath has caught up with him at the non strikers crease for his third run :rotfl:

Indha dhaddhi paraaakku parthundu run out aayi we lost by one run. Ozhunga Odi irundha tie aayirukkum. Enna Kodumaiyana kaalangaL avai.

Sanguine Sridhar

30th June 2009, 10:53 PM

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?
91-92 la Venky illaye. Subroto Banerjee right?
And i think it was Srinath's debut (yaanai thumbikkayala kaasu vangittu aasirvadham panra madhiri poduvaaru modhalla ellam - high bowling arm action)

PR,
Perth tie match dhaane idhu?

:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

ajithfederer

30th June 2009, 10:55 PM

Over lollu !!! :lol:

prabhu.. was that patterson or andreson cummings :? was it not 41st over but kapil, manoj, javagal and venky had bowled their overs and hence sachin was given the over ?
91-92 la Venky illaye. Subroto Banerjee right? And i think it was Srinath's debut (yaanai thumbikkayala kaasu vangittu aasirvadham panra madhiri poduvaaru modhalla ellam - high bowling arm action)

PR,
Perth tie match dhaane idhu?

vramesh

1st July 2009, 07:01 AM

Plum,
Banerjee was eased off because he was thoroughly unfit for a fast bowler. If he bowls a dozen overs, you could expect him to stay off the ground for the next couple of days. Case in point is the sydney test in australia 91-92. We badly needed a bowler to finish off Aussies and our man was quietly recovering in the hut.

Ironically Shastri was a match winner in that game, 30-odd of 110 balls or so. No other player could last half the time on that perfect fast bowling pitch.

I still recollect Srinath bowling a beauty to clean Arthurton first ball.

Then there was that Ambrose six off Kapil towards the end. If I remember right, Cummins survived a confident shout for lbw one ball before he edged to Azhar.

The video of the game is floating somewhere on the net I think..

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 02:28 PM

Ironically Shastri was a match winner in that game, 30-odd of 110 balls or so. No other player could last half the time on that perfect fast bowling pitch.

Sir,
The problem is he used to bat like that and have a similar strike rate in most of the matches, irrespective of the nature of the wicket, illaya? :)

I still recollect Srinath bowling a beauty to clean Arthurton first ball.

:exactly: Keith arthurton's stance would be inviting for any RH fast bowler.

P_R

1st July 2009, 02:33 PM

CR, that's what I used to think about Ravi Shasthri. I surely caught only the very end of his career. But apparently there was a time when he was known for pacy batting. The fourth innings of the Madras tied test is quoted as one instance when Shasthri continued to be attacking even when there was pressure.

P_R

1st July 2009, 02:46 PM

Kalyasi

1st July 2009, 03:20 PM

Consumed by guilt of not making relevant posts...goes for a tangent:

Did Ambrose tour India in 1994 (Padams) series ?
I remember Kenneth and Winston Benjamin (!). I remember Walsh hitting Prabhakar (gAji party carefully moves away from the stumps before falling). I don't remember Ambrose at all.

But I distinctly remember an instance relating to him, which I am not able to place.

Srinath was trying hard to get a bouncer right but only managed no-balls, wides that too to unsurprised Windies batsmen. By the time he finally got it right, the batsman unfortunately was Curtly Ambrose who pulled it to square leg for an effortless six.

Bouncer pOduradhula oru vivasthai vENAmA.

No He Didn't.... Sachin 179 adicha Series thaane athu!! WI had Walsh, K Benjamin, Cummins and Cuffy as their main fast bowlers...

Cameron Cuffy appo chinna payyam... I guess he was not picked up for the first 2 tests and India were leading 1-0 when the final test arrived.... Cummins was dropped and Cuffy was brought in, Indian second innings just required Walsh, Benjamin and Cuffy to finish them off for 100 odd runs... Series ended 1-1

Antha Series la thaan enakku therinju Rajesh Chauhan debut pannaan nu nenaikaren!!

P_R

1st July 2009, 03:37 PM

Rajesh Chauhan played in the '93 England tour of India

Chauhan-Raju-Kumble periya Prasana-Bedi-Chandrashekar range-kku promote paNNi Hindu-la ezhudhunAinga

Plum

1st July 2009, 03:49 PM

Rajesh Chauhan played in the '93 England tour of India

Chauhan-Raju-Kumble periya Prasana-Bedi-Chandrashekar range-kku promote paNNi Hindu-la ezhudhunAinga

:rotfl:

Plum

1st July 2009, 03:51 PM

Ravi Shastri - his career strike rate would closely match his individual inning strike rate for most of his innings.
Appappo, six sixes in an over-lam favourable conditions-la adippar. adhellam choice-la vuttudaNum
In both the aforementioned WC 92 matches, Shastri contributed a gazillion ball 40+ scores - and remember we lost by 1 run and 9 runs respectively

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 04:22 PM

Rajesh Chauhan's action was even reported by some umpires, seerthirutha palli ku ellam ponaar nu nenaikkaren...
But bayangarama taen pannuaar ball-a..

V.Raju Biraju naale semma comedy :lol:

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 04:23 PM

India were leading 1-0 when the final test arrived.... Cummins was dropped and Cuffy was brought in, Indian second innings just required Walsh, Benjamin and Cuffy to finish them off for 100 odd runs... Series ended 1-1

Mogaali, right? Lara kooda nalla adichaaru nu nenaikkaren andha match la..

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 04:29 PM

Rajesh Chauhan played in the '93 England tour of India

Chauhan-Raju-Kumble periya Prasana-Bedi-Chandrashekar range-kku promote paNNi Hindu-la ezhudhunAinga

:rotfl:
Was R.Mohan still with the Hindu then? Or was it Vijay Lokapally?

Plum

1st July 2009, 04:33 PM

I think Mohan was there.
Keeping with my theme of the day for posts:
Trivia: R Mohan pethu pOtta tamizh thirai singer yaar?

P_R

1st July 2009, 05:21 PM

Mohan was there in '93 right ?
Photo-ops of the three. Calling them the new spin trio. Impressionable age-la adhellAm padichittu picture ellAm cut paNNi notebook-la ottittEn. appuram dhaan therinjidhu eppidi ellAm nammaLai yEmAthirukkAngannu (to be read in the same emotion as Thangarbachan discovering ulaga cinema)

P_R

1st July 2009, 05:27 PM

Trivia: R Mohan pethu pOtta tamizh thirai singer yaar?
singer illai singi. Correct-A ?
aanaa adhu (ungaLai maadhiri yAro) kiLappi vitta puraLi, appidinnu Mohan-Oda daughterE yEdhO blog-la maRuppu ezhudhinadha padichcha nyAbagam.

adhula pArunga, ellAm nyAbagam irukkura enakku andha alleged daughter-singer pEru mattum nyAbagam vara mAttEngudhu

Plum

1st July 2009, 05:30 PM

Anuradha Sriram-ai epdi marandheenga?
singi aanalum avangaLum singer dhaan.

P_R

1st July 2009, 05:36 PM

Anuradha Sriram-ai epdi marandheenga?
singi aanalum avangaLum singer dhaan.

Refer comment section here

An unrelated fact - Mohan fathered a squeaky, high-pitched female child, which went on to torture Tamil Film Music listenets with these assets. Anuradha Sriram

I can see why my dad was hugely popular, if people can talk about him 10 years after he left the Hindu! :-)
As for the squeaky child, wonder where that piece of news came from, ridiculous! Anyways, free country, people can say what they like!!!

Plum

1st July 2009, 05:40 PM

holy sh*t! That anonymous was me :-). I never checked the reply. This is freaky

Plum

1st July 2009, 05:40 PM

you were right, naan keLappi vutta puraLi dhaan :lol:

mgb

1st July 2009, 05:44 PM

I think even when India toured W I, Ambrose'a vida Franklin Rose'nu oru soththai bowler got more wickets :(

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 06:10 PM

Anuradha Sriram's father did work for the Hindu (peru nyabagam varla)

P_R

1st July 2009, 06:13 PM

Anuradha Sriram's father did work for the Hindu (peru nyabagam varla)
The plot thickens :lol2:

Plum

1st July 2009, 06:15 PM

Yes, there seem to be wheels within wheels :-)

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 06:20 PM

OK, wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuradha_Sriram) says his name is Meenakshi Sundaram Mohan, enave Plum appadi yosichirukkalaam :)
K.K Nagar la avanga irundha flats la irundhom. Appo avanga appa Indhu le ezhudharaar nu kelvi patten...

P_R

1st July 2009, 06:33 PM

1) Kenneth Benjamin: Curtly Ambrose:: Gavaskar: ?
2) Ambrose plays bass guitar for the band "Big Bad Dread and the bald head". Who plays rhythm ?
3) Which batsman most famously objected to Ambrose's armband, complaining it was distracting only to have disastrous consequences for his team

Plum

1st July 2009, 06:47 PM

2) Richie Richardson
3) Dean Jones

P_R

1st July 2009, 06:48 PM

adhE adhE

1 guess paNNA oru vengaLa kiNNam

Plum

1st July 2009, 06:53 PM

kuLu plis

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:04 PM

connection is the connection.
non-cricketing

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:21 PM

Rohan Kanhai

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:21 PM

idhai sonnA kaNdupudichuruveenga

Salim Malik: Ijaz Ahmed

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:21 PM

or Dilip Sardesai?

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:22 PM

Rohan Kanhai No... btw what was the connex for this guess ?

See the giveawat clue above

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:26 PM

wild guesses PR
One more - Chetan Chauhan
(getting desparate)

crajkumar_be

1st July 2009, 07:27 PM

naanum Chetan Chauhan nu nenachen but rendu perum serndhu aadnangale.. yaaru adhukkappuram opening?

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:29 PM

wild guesses PR
One more - Chetan Chauhan
(getting desparate)

No.. the connex is non-cricketing as I said earlier

Ok here is the answer

kallazhagar: sundarEswarar

ippo sollunga

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:32 PM

idhukkappuramamum sollalaina...
GR Viswanath

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:34 PM

Actually, Rohan Kanhai - the wild guess was that Kenenth named his son Curtly :-)
(konjam oru generation back poyi yosichirukkaNum)

mgb

1st July 2009, 07:34 PM

wild guesses PR
One more - Chetan Chauhan
(getting desparate)

No.. the connex is non-cricketing as I said earlier

Ok here is the answer

kallazhagar: sundarEswarar

ippo sollunga
other than cricket'na.. gavaskar was once sheriff of bombay.. vera yaaravadhu cricketers apdi irundhu irukkaangalaa ?

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:38 PM

Actually, Rohan Kanhai - the wild guess was that Kenenth named his son Curtly :-)
(konjam oru generation back poyi yosichirukkaNum) :-)

Actually we once cracked a connect in school
Rohan Kanhai-Vishwanath and ML Jaisimha

Junior's full name apparently is Rohan Jaivishv Gavaskar

mgb

1st July 2009, 07:38 PM

idhukkappuramamum sollalaina...
GR Viswanathok.. benjamin and ambrose are sagalais is it :P

Plum

1st July 2009, 07:41 PM

Jaivishv :lol:
(manushan ivLO senti-ya?)

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:41 PM

idhukkappuramamum sollalaina...
GR Viswanathok.. benjamin and ambrose are sagalais is it :P
sagalai-yA ennanga kuzhappureenga

machAn

Ken benjamin's sister is Mrs.Ambrose

naan Bret Hart, British Bulldog clue kudukkalaamnu ninaichchEn. :P

littlemaster1982

1st July 2009, 07:43 PM

Ken benjamin's sister is Mr.Ambrose

:lol2:

mgb

1st July 2009, 07:45 PM

idhukkappuramamum sollalaina...
GR Viswanathok.. benjamin and ambrose are sagalais is it :P
sagalai-yA ennanga kuzhappureenga

machAn

sorry.. machchaan-mappillai :P

P_R

1st July 2009, 07:47 PM

Ken benjamin's sister is Mr.Ambrose

:lol2:
s vittuttayyA
naan vudaleengaLE

vramesh

2nd July 2009, 06:23 AM

Shastri is a different case. Started as a bowler batting at #10. Within 2 years was pushed to open against a rampaging Imran in Pakistan and scored 128 in a Test. Followed it a few months later with a 100 in WI v WI, still only 21.

lower Middle order suited him best as he could played a natural aggressive game. So he dropped down from 84-87 and had a good time. Very mature head.

1990 onwards, the musical chairs resumed for opening spot and he came back to open in Eng with big 100s, then in Australia for a double. He outlasted most others in Aus. Definitely with Srikkanth at the other end, he had to hold one end up. Which M/O batsman enjoys coming in at 20-2?

in short, shouldered opening responsibilities when it counted. However could not adapt to ODIs in Aus when the Tests were having him bat in a different vein.

Kalyasi

2nd July 2009, 09:23 AM

Sanguine Sridhar

2nd July 2009, 11:28 AM

Ilana Gavaskar/ Gundappa Viswanath! :roll:

P_R

2nd July 2009, 11:34 AM

Neenga Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart kooda kuduthu irukalaame....
Mani Iyer: nEkku adhu theriyAdhu

vramesh

7th August 2009, 12:28 AM

When they were returning to the pavilion, you could see Banerjee calmly walking back and Srinath berating him as though it was Banerjee's fault
1. Banerjee was the one who was hitting big, so he had to be on strike even if there was a run in that shot it had to be ignored since that would bring Srinath on strike
2. There was no run for that shot!
3. Our daddhi still ran and got run out - for what, I ask?
4. And then made a big show of berating Banerjee

Plum,
that was a good observation. I saw this game HL yesterday :) Srinath was halfway thru when SB played the shot. No way they could complete that run.

Sanguine Sridhar

24th August 2009, 03:58 PM

WASIM AKRAM

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Bio-data :

Full name Wasim Akram

Born June 3, 1966, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 43 years 82 days

Major teams Pakistan, Hampshire, Lahore, Lancashire, Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Pakistan International Airlines

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Left-arm fast

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Record:

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/43547.html

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P_R

24th August 2009, 04:28 PM

The earliest memory I have of been impressed by a bowler is the 92 WC final.

The one that got Alan Lamb is arguably the best ball I have ever seen by a fast bowler in an ODI. Where did he find the gap, how did he draw Lamb - a force to reckon with back then - forward and how he manage to hold to the line is just breathtaking.

Murali Srinivas

24th August 2009, 11:36 PM

One of the greatest ever from across the border and considering that he was a chronic diabetic, his achievements are awesome. Certain vignettes that immediately flash across

The bowling at the death end in the final of the Australasia cup in April 1986, which literally sent many a stump cart wheeling.

His bowling in the Bangalore test of 1987 in that minefield of the pitch when he claimed those two crucial wickets of Srikanth and Mohinder on the third day.

His big hitting in the 5th ODI of the same series at Gwalior(?)

His 257* and 313 runs partnership with Saqlain at Sheikpura, though against Zimbabawe

Due to some reason or other his not so impressive matches against us in 92, 99 and 2003 WC matches and his mysterious last minute withdrawl in 1996 WC match at Bangalore.

Regards

littlemaster1982

24th August 2009, 11:49 PM

My favorite bowler. Superb runup too 8-)

crajkumar_be

25th August 2009, 03:13 PM

My favorite bowler too.

My earliest memories of him are in Sharjah. Specifics ellam marandhu pochu over the years. 92 WC dhaan marakkave mudiyadhu. Lamb and Chris Lewis :notworthy: His action is certainly legit but if you try to mimic it, you will end up chucking :lol: And veetukulla cricket aadumbodhu if you do his action you are most likely to get a yorker!

P_R

25th August 2009, 03:26 PM

And veetukulla cricket aadumbodhu if you do his action you are most likely to get a yorker! :lol:

But how to generate pace without a jump !!
Naan ellAm (hard tennis ball) stump uyaruththukku kudhichu pOttA vengadesaprasad speed-ku pOgum.

During his double century innings, an inside edge (IIRC off Grant Flower) hit the ground betwen his feet and stumps and was on its way to hit the stumps. Wasim saw it late and kicked the ball above the stumps :lol: I wish they took a photo of this.

In the Asian test championship ('98) he broke through Rahul Dravid's defence. He got him out lbw the previous ball but the umprire turned it down. The next one was a fantastic ball Dravid couldn't answer.

crajkumar_be

25th August 2009, 03:47 PM

P_R

25th August 2009, 04:13 PM

Arun ice-cream ball.. :lol:

Sanguine Sridhar

25th August 2009, 04:27 PM

[tscii:5dd4a77069]
Naan ellAm (hard tennis ball) stump uyaruththukku kudhichu pOttA vengadesaprasad speed-ku pOgum.

:lol:

Veetukulla chucking using rubbe rball/tennis ball/Joy/Arun ice-cream ball.. adhula you can mimic some actions without having a runup/jump.. andha madhiri Wasim Akram madhiri potta kalukke kuri vechu yethalaam!

You have brought back some memories in my life.

Arun Ice Cream Ball – Enakku oru thambi [cousin] irukiraan [Now he is working for Google] . Naanum avanum romba close. When I was young [5th Std-nu nenaikiren] we used to play cricket using this ice cream ball. Avan bowling mattum thaan poduvaan. Naan out-aanaalum batting kekka maataan.
I used to shatter his bowling; he thinks that I am a great hitter.

Rubber ball – Chetan Sharma was my favorite bowler when I was very young. Reason: I thought he was the greatest and fastest bowler in the world. In my home I would be running here and there [run-up :lol2:] , shouting “Chetan Sharma is bowling…..”. [Commentary] and with a great speed I released the ball one day, it went straight hit the front doorknob, elevated, broke a peacock doll which was placed above the TV and finally landed on my grandfather who was sleeping in the bed. His “silly”mooku got broken.Anaikku enga appa tin kattitaaru, annayoda Chetan Sharma ellam marandhu pochu!!

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P_R

25th August 2009, 07:43 PM

chinna payyanukku gaaji kudukkaama yEmaathittu post vEra :lol2:

littlemaster1982

25th August 2009, 07:54 PM

Arun ice-cream ball.. :lol:

:yes:

crajkumar_be

25th August 2009, 08:16 PM

Arun Ice Cream Ball – Enakku oru thambi [cousin] irukiraan [Now he is working for Google] . Naanum avanum romba close. When I was young [5th Std-nu nenaikiren] we used to play cricket using this ice cream ball. Avan bowling mattum thaan poduvaan. Naan out-aanaalum batting kekka maataan.
I used to shatter his bowling; he thinks that I am a great hitter.

Ippaid oru thyagiya! :shock:

Rubber ball – Chetan Sharma was my favorite bowler when I was very young. Reason: I thought he was the greatest and fastest bowler in the world. In my home I would be running here and there [run-up :lol2:] , shouting “Chetan Sharma is bowling…..”. [Commentary] and with a great speed I released the ball one day, it went straight hit the front doorknob, elevated, broke a peacock doll which was placed above the TV and finally landed on my grandfather who was sleeping in the bed. His “silly”mooku got broken.Anaikku enga appa tin kattitaaru, annayoda Chetan Sharma ellam marandhu pochu!!

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:rotfl2:

Plum

25th August 2009, 09:23 PM

But how to generate pace without a jump !!
Naan ellAm (hard tennis ball) stump uyaruththukku kudhichu pOttA vengadesaprasad speed-ku pOgum.

Veetukulla chucking using rubbe rball/tennis ball/Joy/Arun ice-cream ball.. adhula you can mimic some actions without having a runup/jump.. andha madhiri Wasim Akram madhiri potta kalukke kuri vechu yethalaam!

naanlaam perungaya dabbi moodi vechE veettukkulla cricket - yeah, yeah, periya mechanicalaakkum :-)

HonestRaj

25th August 2009, 09:30 PM

chinna payyanukku gaaji kudukkaama yEmaathittu post vEra :lol2:

idhai evan kandu pidichan... thamiz naadu muzhuvadhum paravi irukku :lol:

HonestRaj

25th August 2009, 09:32 PM

ajithfederer

25th August 2009, 09:32 PM

Best bowling memories - The ball to dravid in sennai test match.

Thanks to youtube, the one to croft in which he conducts a symphony with the cricket ball albeit given not out for a plum of a lbw.

Bowling thalaivar of a slow ball in that match in pakistan 04(??)

More later.

Plum

25th August 2009, 09:33 PM

Honestu, nInga mekkanikal illa, periya thillalangadi!

ajithfederer

25th August 2009, 09:34 PM

And i should also add this one he almost got thalaivar out in that epic innings of 98 in south africa. Razzaq vaazgha :P.

VinodKumar's

25th August 2009, 11:10 PM

chinna payyanukku gaaji kudukkaama yEmaathittu post vEra :lol2:

idhai evan kandu pidichan... thamiz naadu muzhuvadhum paravi irukku :lol:

chennai baasai .. enakku chennai la irunthu enga ooruku vantha pasanga thaan intha vaarthai ah kathu kuduthanunga ....

Kalyasi

27th August 2009, 01:48 PM

In the Asian test championship ('98) he broke through Rahul Dravid's defence. He got him out lbw the previous ball but the umprire turned it down. The next one was a fantastic ball Dravid couldn't answer.

I guess you are mentioning the 1999 Chennai test Second innings in which Sachin scored 136.... Athulla thaan ithu nadakum....The umpire who denied Dravid's LBW was Steve Dunn..... Athe paradesi thaan Ganguly ku 1 pitch catch a out kuduthuduvaan....

The ball that dismissed Dravid in the second innings to me was the ball of the century.... The LBW appeal was an inswinger to Dravid which would pitch in line straighten and hit him in line which was absolutely plumb.... The next delivery would also pitch in line and Dravid would try to play it within the line with a straight bat but the ball will beat him swinging the other way clipping the outside part of the off stump.... Chance e illa..... Akram was also my favorite bowler....

Asian Test Championship la Dravid was dismissed by Shoiab Akthar and the very next ball he bowled Sachin with a Yorker...... Second innings layum Dravid was dismissed by Akthar if I remember right....and Sachin was runout in a controversial manner.... Steve bucknor thaan ithula villian....