Superstar’s Silence: Why Halla Bol is more relevant today

March 11, 2021 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

To say that a film was ahead of its times has become a cliché. But there is no better way to describe Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajay Devgn-starrer Halla Bol (2008). The film would have surely made more heads turn had it released in the current era.

Halla Bol traces the journey of Ashfaque Khan (Devgn). Hailing from a small town in India, he was named after the revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan. Ashfaque dreams of becoming a film star. He joins a theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur) as a first step towards fulfilling his dream.

Sidhu specializes in using the medium of theatre to expose social evils and raise issues that are plaguing the society. Ashfaque wholeheartedly takes part in all such plays that aim to make a difference in the society, staying true to his name.

Meanwhile, Ashfaque’s efforts to get a break in movies pay off and he soon acquires the status of a star. He changes his name from Ashfaque Khan to Sameer Khan. But along with his name, he also changes as a person. Unlike Ashfaque, Sameer plainly refuses to take part in a play organized by Sidhu once for a social cause because this could hamper his star status, much to the shock and disappointment of the latter.

Not just that, the simple and innocent Ashfaque now becomes a womanizer and cheats his childhood love and wife (Vidya Balan) on numerous occasions.

Sameer’s biggest turning point arrives when he witnesses a murder at a party. He doesn’t testify against the culprits out of fear. But when his conscience doesn’t allow him to be at peace, he decides to carry out his duty as a responsible citizen by naming the killers to the police.

However, he receives serious threats since the perpetrators belong to the camp of the powerful and corrupt politician Ganpatrao Gaekwad (Darshan Jariwala). Raising voice against him would mean an end not only for his career but also his life.

Hence, the man known for raising his voice when he was a nobody becomes silent to all wrongdoings after becoming a superstar.

I was quite impressed with Hall Bol when it had released more than a decade ago. But when I look at it today, it excites me even more. It seems the film was tailor-made for the era we are currently living in.

The idea of a superstar not willing to raise his voice against an offence provided an interesting conflict back then. But today, it seems like straight out of reality. A lot has changed since last 6-7 years. Big stars are now super scared to share their opinion on any serious issue, leave alone raising their voice against a wrongdoing, like they used to before.

In fact, some stars are not even willing to speak up on the enormous rising prices of petrol. Interestingly, the same people were happy to share jokes on the same issue when the previous government was in power and when the price of fuel was much lower than what it is today.

Funnily, one star even deleted his tweets from 2012 when he had shared jokes on rising petrol prices. So that people stop questioning him as to why he is silent now.

Hall Bola shows Sameer go through a change of heart later on. He fights the evil forces all by himself [with timely help from Sidhu] to bring justice to the deceased. Of course, it would be laughable to even think of expecting this in reality. Halla Bol, after all, was a mainstream Hindi movie, so it had to end this way.

The extent of the fear of the authorities in today’s times was seen the most last month when famous celebrities shared scripted tweets in favour of the government after Rihanna spoke up on the issue of farmers’ protest.

Funnily, among the famous names who tweeted included the main lead of Halla Bol.

P.S: Halla Bol is available on Amazon Prime Video, Shemaroo Me and Voot.

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Photos: Chandigarh’s Rock Garden is another bhool bhulaiya

March 6, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The name ‘Rock Garden’, a tourist sight in Chandigarh, Punjab, interested me but didn’t excite. I felt it would just be a collection of different types of rocks. And I felt I was right at the start.

As soon as we entered the Rock Garden after paying Rs 30 entry fee, we were greeted by a number of stone and rock structures of various sizes. No doubt, they were some interesting pieces of arts. But it wasn’t enough to give me a kick.

Soon, I, and few others in our group, felt this is it as far as the art at Rock Garden is concerned. But as we kept walking ahead, we were proved wrong and how!

Out of nowhere a tiny passage gave way to a waterfall, out of the blue, which was a pleasant surprise. The sudden cool waves and the sweet smell of the union of rocks and water was enough for us to keep venturing inside further.

We soon realized that this waterfall was just the beginning. There were few more with the biggest of them all, in the picture below, was the most impressive.

Other pretty sights like the bridge on a pond and the passageways between rocks made us feel glad for our decision of not abandoning the place at the start.

But there was another surprise waiting for us, and this time it wasn’t completely a pleasant one. The place suddenly became deserted while we kept venturing further inside through the narrow doors and openings.

It suddenly dawned upon us that the exit was nowhere in sight. We kept following the path with more openings and doors leading to new areas but it was just unending. I felt a rare feeling of being trapped after going through the same exercise of finding the exit for almost 30 minutes!

Also see: Photos: Shikara ride and Houseboats in Dal Lake, Srinagar

We then came across another little opening but this time it was the exit, finally! I felt what Rajkummar Rao’s character did when he finds his way out in Trapped (2016).

The Rock Garden is highly recommended, provided you are okay with experiencing a bhool-bhulaiya.

History of the Rock Garden in Chandigarh:

The Rock Garden was built secretly by a government official named Nek Chand Saini from 1957 onwards in his spare time. It is completely built from waste and discarded items that he kept collecting.

There is also a Dolls Museum inside the Rock Garden. There are around 200 dolls that were made by Saini from waste cloth and discarded items.

Also see: Dalhousie pictures: The place with picturesque hills heals you

The best & worst of times: Musings of an Arts graduate who had taken Commerce

February 20, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

It was the worst of times. This is what I feel when I look back at a period in the early years of the new millennium.

During my growing up years, there were norms in the society on what stream a student should opt for after passing 10th standard. The best students or scholars, as they are called, should go for Science. The worst should go for Arts and those who fall in the middle should latch onto Commerce.

As I had always been an average or an in-between student, I took Commerce; also because most of my friends were opting for it.

The problem was that I had absolutely no idea what comes under Commerce as part of studies. I hardly even knew the meaning of the word. Once college began, I realized I had absolutely no interest in subjects like Accounts, Economics, etc.

Worse, I found it way too difficult to grasp even the simplest of teachings. But I felt it was too late. I tried studying these subjects somehow. I opted for special tuition at the end of the year and just managed to pass the year [read: promoted].

The following year, 12th or HSC, wasn’t as difficult but it was certainly not interesting for sure. Again, because of the tuition, I crawled towards 51% in the boards. This isn’t a big score by any means but for me it was a major achievement. My family was happy as they hadn’t expected even this much.

Best and worst - 3 Idiots — R Madhavan in 3 Idiots

I thought that the nightmare was over and I would somehow clear the remaining three years and secure a B Com degree. But the actual nightmare had just begun in the first year after 12th, which is known as F.Y.B.Com.

It was just impossible for me to grasp any subject. The biggest villain being Maths. I used to regularly feel sad and helpless. I just dragged myself till the end of the year. But by that time, I had lost all mental energy to associate myself with Commerce any more. It was the worst period of my life.

Right before our final exams, I took a major decision of quitting Commerce and opting for Arts to complete my graduation. I was deeply interested in writing from my school days. By the time the final exams neared, I became more convinced about it.

Changing my stream in between after 13th meant that I would lose one year, but that was fine. I just had to divorce Commerce.

After some hesitation, my parents agreed; thank God for that. The scene in 3 Idiots (2009) where Farhan’s (R Madhavan) father allows his son to follow his passion towards photography had happened with me much before that.

Just like how we change a TV channel, my life changed after I took Arts. Subjects like Psychology, Sociology, History, English and Hindi made me feel at home. Now, I didn’t feel I was studying. It was fun.

After passing the third year and acquiring the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, I opted for a Post Graduate course in Journalism and Mass Communication as I had decided I would be a journalist or at least go into a profession that involves writing.

The PG course was more enjoyable since I got a chance of dabbling into things I love the most and knowing that this will help me in the future. It was also the only time in my student life when I was very good at studies. It was the best of times.

*This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda*

After 51 for 7, Pakistan fought back in this unofficial semi-final: Flashback

February 18, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Sharjah was known for producing some interesting and unpredictable cricket matches in the 1980s and 1990s. The Pakistan v/s Zimbabwe match in the league stage of the 1997 Singer-Akai Cup turned out to be one such saga with unexpected twists.

It was the last league match of the series and was more like a semi-final. Sri Lanka had reached the final and it was left to this match to decide whether Pakistan would join them or Zimbabwe.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. They had a very strong team and this made them the favorites. But the Zimbabwean team of the 1990s had the ability to scare anyone on their day.

This is exactly what the African nation did with the ball. Pakistan kept losing wickets right from the start. We soon realized that this isn’t just another bad start from which teams generally recover.

In less than 20 overs, Pakistan was reduced to 51 for 7! The trio of Eddo Brandes, Heath Streak and Everton Matambanadzo was all over Pakistan and it looked as if they would be bundled out before reaching 100, considering all their frontline batsmen were out.

I clearly remember being shocked and amused as a school boy watching the match on TV.

Pakistan keeper Moin Khan — Moin Khan [Photo source: Indian Express]

Although the big names had collapsed, Pakistan still had Moin Khan out there. The gutsy wicketkeeper-batsmen had bailed out his team from trouble on numerous occasions in the past. He did it again for his team, despite the disadvantage of having only the tail for company.

Their star off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq put his hand up and gave a solid support to Khan. The scorecard might indicate that he played a test innings by scoring 20 off 81 balls but in the context of the match, the innings was priceless.

Khan succeeded in rescuing his team with a brilliant 61 off 97 balls. The fact that he could hit just one four and one six was proof of how hard he had to work for his runs. The pair of Khan and Saqlain added 77 runs for the eight wicket and Pakistan had something to bowl to by finishing at 151 for 9.

But despite the fightback, the score was very low and there were no demons in the wicket. Zimbabweans still had the upper hand.

However, there were more unexpected events in store. Pakistan’s strong bowling attack lead by Waqar Younis kept striking regularly at the start. His team mate and leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed rose to the occasion and picked up 4 wickets. Apart from playing a gutsy innings, Saqlain picked up a couple of wickets too.

In the end, Zimbabwe was all out for a paltry 119 in 40.1 overs.

At the halfway stage, it looked like Zimbabwe would create another upset after their win against Sri Lanka earlier in the series. But that wasn’t to be courtesy one of the biggest fightbacks in ODI history.

In the end, the match became like a replay of the earlier league game between both the teams. Pakistan were all out for 187 and Zimbabwe were bundled out for 95 after being 39 for no loss at one stage.

This match also brought back memories of India being 17 for 5 against the same team in the 1983 World Cup match and then going onto win due to skipper Kapil Dev’s incredible innings of 175 not out.

Unfortunately, there is no video available of this encounter on YouTube.

SRK & Ashok SARAF’s pair in Yes Boss deserves more appreciation

February 13, 2021 by Keyur Seta 8 Comments

There have been some comic, non-romantic male pairs in Hindi cinema since the 1990s. Govinda-Kader Khan, Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor, Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal, etc, are the ones that come to our mind instantly. But a pair that I consider as impressive as these ones is that of Shah Rukh Khan and Ashok Saraf in Aziz Mirza’s Yes Boss (1997).

It’s an unusual pair for sure. Both the actors have different personalities, mannerisms, acting skills and temperaments. Plus, one was an emerging Bollywood star while the other had already acquired the status of a legend in Marathi cinema.

Sometimes, the more unusual the pair, the more are its chances of standing out, especially while doing comedy, and that is exactly what happened with SRK and Saraf in this movie.

Yes Boss saw Khan play Rahul, an ambitious youngster eager to be rich and own a dream office. To achieve his mission, he doesn’t mind bootlicking his boss Siddharth (Aditya Pancholi), which also involves hiding his extra-marital affairs. Siddharth falls for the beautiful Seema (Juhi Chawla), who starts modelling for his firm. He takes Rahul’s help to woo her as usual. However, Rahul also falls for her.

SRK-Ashok Saraf in Yes Boss — Ashok Saraf and Shah Rukh Khan

Saraf played Rahul’s colleague and close friend Johnny. The two share a close bond in the film and are seen hanging out and confiding in each other regularly.

Khan and Saraf were cast together in Rakesh Roshan’s Karan Arjun (1995) but their characters weren’t related to each other. They hardly interacted.

Yes Boss was the first time that the two actors played a pair of characters involved with each other. However, it didn’t look like that. Their chemistry and tuning appeared so natural that it seemed as if they have been playing each other’s co-stars since a long time.

As soon as they appear together on-screen, you are either laughing or smiling, all thanks to their chemistry, acting skills and antics. The scene where Rahul tries to shoo off Johnny so that he can share a private chat with Seema is one such amusing scene.

But what takes the cake is the moment when Khan and Saraf are seen bathing together in the same tub while singing ‘Muqabla Muqabla, O Laila.’ This is followed by their embarrassing moment in the corridor of the hotel because they are only wearing a towel as a cloth.

See the tub scene in this video

Now, who would have thought of such a tub scene with Khan and Saraf? (See in the video above). In today’s times, this would instantly make us question if they are homosexuals. But when I saw the film for the first time in my childhood, obviously I didn’t even think of such a thing. I am sure same is the case with others as well then.

The outcome of SRK and Saraf’s pair appears appealing even today. That’s why these days the more I think of the film, the more I wonder why nothing is spoken or written about this hilarious pairing in the numerous movie related articles and discussions on the internet and social media.

It’s still not too late.

Needless to say, I feel the SRK-Saraf pair should have been explored more in the last 20 years or so.

Maybe, it’s still not too late for this as well…

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JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained, who lost?

My 1st encounter with INTERNET through a cola drink 20 years ago

February 2, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Internet has become one of the basic needs today, especially for city-dwellers; whether professionals or students. It has penetrated so much into our lives that it often makes us wonder how life would be without its presence.

This makes me recall the time when I was introduced to the internet for the first time ever or when I took baby steps into this medium, which was called revolutionary back then. It makes me feel strange to even imagine the time when I was able to live without the internet!

During the start of the new millennium (in the year 2000) I was an addict of colas. It is this addiction that played a major role in me getting introduced to this medium.

Coca-Cola had come up with a scheme then of offering free internet surfing for 30 minutes with every glass of the soft drink. They provided a card that could be exchanged at any of the cyber cafes listed by them for half an hour of net surfing.

When the person at the counter gave me and my friends the card when we bought Coca-Cola for the first time after the scheme was launched, we were surprised. When he explained to us about the internet, I was confused. What is internet? What is a cyber café? I could hardly understand any of it but still decided to go ahead since it was for free and involved sitting in front of the computer.

The cyber café closest to my house was located in a crammed place near Dadar railway station. It appeared like a shady office space but the person running it was kind enough to explain to us what exactly internet is and what all can we do with it. But it took us some time to even get used to handling the ‘mouse,’ since we hadn’t learnt Windows in school.

We soon came to know about something called an e-mail address and that it’s a different way of sending a letter, since the word ‘digital’ hadn’t become common then. It didn’t take me long to keep ‘iamthebest’ as my first e-mail ID; based on one of my favourite songs from Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000). [Few months later, my next e-mail ID included the words ‘raj_aryan’ when Mohabbatein (2000) became my next favourite film.]

By the way, kids from today’s era won’t know that we used to connect to the net through a device called modem. And it used to make strange sounds before connecting.

The sounds emanating from the modem in olden days before connecting to the net

Funnily, we opened an e-mail ID but we had nobody to whom we can send e-mails. So, we started sending mails to each other.

In one of my next visits to the café, someone else was sitting on the computer I always used. The owner asked me to take the next PC. But I opposed saying I have always accessed my mails from this PC, so how can I check them from another machine? That’s how I came to know that e-mails can be accessed from any computer in the world and that’s why it’s called the World Wide Web (www).

In today’s times, it’s obvious that if we send an e-mail to someone, it gets saved in the address book automatically. But what wasn’t the case then. We actually wrote down e-mail IDs of people in a diary! We didn’t know we can copy-paste the e-mail ID of a person from his or her previous mail.

It felt like a sense of achievement to surf news from the computer. The two most common websites I used to visit were Cricinfo.com and IndiaFM.com [which later became BollywoodHungama.com].

I felt more triumphant when I could open and load pictures of film stars or cricketers. The speed to open one picture back then was the same to download a 20 or 30 MB videos today.

The now defunct Yahoo chat rooms through Yahoo messenger

Internet soon became our latest sensation and we started visiting cyber cafes on every weekend; this time by paying. We started visiting a different and more sophisticated café at Gokhale Road (North), Dadar where you could also order food.

Slowly, we were introduced to the idea of chat rooms [In MSN, followed by Yahoo]. And this made us familiar with the concept of making friends online, even in far distant countries. It took us just few weeks to become pros at using the internet.

There was a sense of pride to have become ‘experts’ in this new medium much before our other friends in the building, relatives and a large majority of the Indian population.

But my pride was demolished either in the same year or the next when I noticed that one famous paan wala at Breach Candy with the name of the shop as ‘Muchhad Panwala’ was having his own official website since 1998!

And here we were feeling on top of the world by just having an e-mail ID!

P.S – Just last month, the paan wala was arrested in a drug-related case, but that’s a different story.

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India’s emphatic win achieved another LARGER good

January 19, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

It is said that cricket is like life. And life can be strange. Very strange, at times. And funny too. What better example than the stories of the two 19s? On 19 December 2020, exactly a month ago, Indian fans felt their lowest when their team was bundled out for just 36 in the first test at Adelaide against Australia.

This was India’s lowest score ever in the history of the game. One would, naturally, write a team off from here on and expect them to lose 4-0. I too felt in case India even draws one of the remaining three matches, it will be like an achievement.

But exactly a month later today, on 19 January 2021, we are celebrating India’s 2-1 series victory after the emphatic win in the fourth test at the Gabba, Brisbane.

Like life, cricket is indeed funny.

It would have been a remarkable victory for India even if they had played their full-strength side in the next three matches. But instead in the last two matches they had to go with an India A or a second string team and still triumphed against the mighty Aussies on their home turf and that too after the disastrous 36 all out.

For example, Mohammed Siraj made his debut in the 2nd test of the series and he was the leading pacer in the fourth one!

Winning with such an inexperienced side makes this one of India’s best test series victories ever if not the best. It has been said that this is an even greater achievement than the 2001 home series against Australia; famous for VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid’s heroics.

Team India taking a flag march at the Gabba — Photo source: Sachin Tendulkar’s Facebook page

But apart from clinching an almost impossible victory, this win has achieved another greater good for the game of cricket.

Many of us would have heard countless number of people say that test matches are boring. It’s a five-day game with no over restrictions and players play slow. Hence, people, especially the younger generation, prefer limited overs cricket, especially T20s; more so after the arrival of the IPL (Indian Premier League).

Limited overs cricket is considered more interesting since the match can swing any ways. There are nail-biting moments with the many close finishes. Throughout the match something or the other keeps happening in the middle to keep the entertainment factor alive.

But this test series has proven that the aforementioned factors can also occur in test cricket. This can be seen from the number of times our heartbeats were increased during the course of the series. In limited overs cricket, fours and sixes are cheered. But the third and fourth test showed that even dot balls can produce excitement.

You would lose counts of the number of dot balls that were cheered in the third test when Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari were batting to save the match for India.

People, who generally avoid test cricket, must have also understood that it takes a lot more skill for both batsmen and bowlers to excel in this format.

It is called ‘test cricket’ for a reason. It is a test of your skills.

This series has endorsed the five-day version of the game not just in India and Australia but also world over like never before. Let’s hope enough people noticed this around the world.

Cricket administrators have been thinking since the last few years about reducing test matches to four-day games. I guess such ideas will be put on the backburner now.

Also read:

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India’s injury woes bring back horrific memories of 1976 West Indies tour

January 13, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Team India is on a high right now after they managed to pull off a heroic draw in the third test match against Australia in Sydney earlier this week. The ‘no result’ is considered as victory by cricket experts and Indian cricket fans around the world.

Under normal circumstances, this should encourage India to go into the fourth test, which starts on 15 January, with mammoth confidence. However, these are not normal circumstances that the team is facing currently.

More than a handful of Indian players are facing serious injuries. These include – Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Jaspreet Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav. These six players are ruled out of the match and there are other players too who are not fit.

It is not often that you see so many players from a squad ruled out of a match because of injuries. This situation brings back some horrific memories of India’s tour to the West Indies in 1976, although under different circumstances.

I had heard Syed Kirmani, who played that match, recall the incident in an old TV quiz show about cricket on the now defunct channel Home TV in the late 1990s.

India vs West Indies — Photo source: Crictracker.com

It was the last test of the four match series. With both the teams winning one match each, it looked like there was an exciting contest in store. More so because in the last match, India chased down the record-breaking total of 406 by losing just 4 wickets. But the last match was anything but exciting for the Indian team.

India batted first and declared their innings at 306 for 6. Practically they were 9 down with Brijesh Patel, Anshuman Gaekwad and Gundappa Vishwanath injured. It is said that India’s captain Bishen Singh Bedi declared despite having 1 wicket in hand because he didn’t want him and another tailender Bhagwat Chandrasekhar to get injured facing the Windies quickies.

In reply, West Indies were all out at 391 with a good lead.

But there was a larger nightmare in store for India. In the second innings, the team had to declare their innings at 97 for 5!

India was forced to declare simply because five of their 11 players were injured and not fit to play! Along with the three players in the first innings, Bedi and Chandrasekhar also got injured in the course of the match and couldn’t bat.

As per the Indian players , these many injuries weren’t a mere misfortune but were deliberate tactics of the West Indies’ bowlers to injure the batsmen with nasty bouncers and, even, beamers. Sunil Gavaskar has gone on record to slam the opposition bowlers and even the crowd for cheering whenever an Indian player got hurt and asking for more!

On top of that, there were no helmets in that era!

Declaration at such a low total meant that India only had a 12-run lead in the second innings. Hence, the WI were left with a target of only 13 runs, which they achieved without losing a wicket.

But that’s not all as far as the sorry condition of Indian players is concerned. India’s substitute player Surinder Amarnath was rushed to the hospital during the match for an appendix operation.

Out of the 17-men squad, six were not fit to play. This meant that everyone from the squad was required to field during some stage of the game.

India equals 40-year-old record after Sydney draw

January 11, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Less than a month ago, the Indian cricket team was down in the dumps like never before after they shockingly got all out on 36 in the first test against Australia in the Border-Gawaskar Trophy. It was their lowest total ever in the history!

On that fateful day on 19 December 2020, who would have thought that this same team would win the second test match and draw the third one heroically? The turnaround that this Indian side has gone through in the last two matches has been legendary.

They have shown this is unlike any Indian team of the past and a force to reckon with even without their best batsman and captain Virat Kohli and with injured players like Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

The third test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which ended today, is a draw on paper but it’s as good as winning the match for the tourists. It can be a nightmare to bat on the fifth day pitch while chasing a mammoth total of over 400 runs against a formidable bowling attack.

When India were three down after they lost Ajinkya Rahane earlier in the day, it seemed they would succumb soon. But Rishabh Pant had other plans. He tried doing the impossible by going for the chase and almost succeeded.

Later on, we got to see a different ball game altogether when Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin did everything possible to snatch away victory from Australia.

The two of them, along with Cheteshwar Pujara and Pant earlier, displayed a masterclass on showing grit, determination, character and never-say-die attitude. Not to mention, Vihari was injured while Jadeja, despite a severe injury, was all ready to bat if needed.

While saving the test match, the Indian team brought the good old days of test cricket alive. It is very rare these days for test matches to go on till full five days. There are even fewer instances of teams fighting for a draw. India not only did that but achieved it against all odds.

India batted for as many as 131 overs. This is the fourth highest number of overs they have batted in their test history to draw a match. They have equaled its 1979 record of batting for these many overs to save a match against Pakistan in Delhi. [See the table below]

India record — Source: Screenshot from Sony LIV

The fact that India last such long overs to save a match more than 40 years ago speaks volumes of this team’s achievement today. As pointed before, India did it without Kohli and with few players injured.

Before the test series, India had won the T20 series and didn’t do bad in the one-day series, thereby showing their adaptability in all formats of the game even in difficult overseas conditions.

He played 1 test but has ZERO tests to his name

January 3, 2021 by Keyur Seta 9 Comments

Being a cricket crazy country, India is filled with youngsters wanting to play for the national team. It is a dream that comes true for a very minute percentage of people, considering our huge population. Connor Williams from Baroda was once among those tiny percentages whose dream of playing test cricket for India came true.

However, he has 0 tests against his name despite playing one test match for India.

The backstory to Williams’ debut lies in the controversy in the second test at Port Elizabeth during India’s 2001-02 tour to South Africa. Four Indian players – Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Shiv Sunder Das and Deep Dasgupta – were booked by match referee Mike Denness for ‘excessive appealing.’ They faced a ban for one test match.

Captain Sourav Ganguly was banned for one test match and two one-day internationals for allegedly not being able to control the behavior of his team members. More shockingly, Sachin Tendulkar was banned for one test match for alleged ball tampering.

This not only infuriated the cricket fans back home but also the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). Under the leadership of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI demanded that Denness shouldn’t continue as the match referee in the next test at Centurion.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) sided with the BCCI and ensured Denness doesn’t even get to enter the stadium. What was worse for the controversial referee was that he couldn’t explain his stand at a press conference.

It was during this press conference that former Indian cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri came up with his famous remark – “If Mike Denness cannot answer questions, why is he here? We know what he looks like.” [Read all about the controversy HERE]

It was in the 3rd test match of the series that Connor Williams made his test debut as an opener. He got the chance because Sehwag had to be dropped after facing one match ban. The debutant scored only 5 in the first innings but showed his class in the second with a gutsy 42, which contained some handsome boundaries.

Rare footage of Connor Williams batting in his only test

However, in the entire controversy, the ICC (International Cricket Council), sided with Denness and deemed the third test at Centurion as unofficial. The three test series got shortened to only two tests. South Africa won the series as they had won the first one and the second one, where the controversy erupted, turned into a draw.

Unfortunately, Williams could never play another test for India. He was selected in the next test series against England at home in 2002, but wasn’t selected in the playing eleven.

Also read: One of Wasim Akram’s biggest achievements is forgotten

Williams is a part of strange turn of events where he played a test match for India and scored runs. But the match doesn’t exist in any record books [India lost that match by an innings and 73 runs] and hence, his international career stands at nil.

He could have become India’s 240^th test player. But it was Sanjay Bangar who grabbed that number in the series against England where he made his debut.

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He was selected for 1983 WC, but had to wait till ‘99 to play for India

After just 1 run in first 6 innings, Marvan Atapattu made a historic comeback