The Common Man Speaks

When India played this match in 57 DEGREES heat!

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One thing that is common during all IPL (Indian Premiere League) seasons is that the it is played in extreme heat, especially in the latter half which takes place in April and May. But much before the IPL began, there was a time when India used to host international matches in the heat of April and May.

One such match that was played in India in the May of 1998 is unforgettable, more for the weather than the cricket played. As unbelievable as it may sound, the day the match was played, the ground temperature was as astonishingly high as 57 degrees Celsius!

The mid and late 90s were known for the various triangular series (this is majorly missed today). In the summer of 1998, India hosted an unusual tri series featuring the hosts, Bangladesh and Kenya. The interest level for the series, called Coca-Cola Triangular Series, was higher than one would expect.

Also as expected, India was the first team to easily reach the final. Their last league match was against Kenya in Gwalior on May 28. This was the match which recorded a temperature of 57 degrees Celsius. I still remember former cricketer turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar showing the temperature to the viewers before the match in a device. I was stunned to see 57 degrees on it. The commentators even discussed how difficult it would be for the players to play in such conditions. This might well be the hottest condition in which a cricket match has been played.

Photo source: CrickeTendulkar Facebook page

The match, which was expected to be another one-sided Indian win, turned out to be a surprise. In other words, the temperature wasn’t the only thing that made news that day. Kenya opted to bat first and scored a fighting total of 265 for 5 in their 50 overs. Captain Maurice Odumbe top scored with 83 while Ravi Shah and Hitesh Modi provided solid contributions with 70 and 51 respectively.

I and a few friends were actually happy to see Kenya score such a total. We thought we would get to see a good display of Indian batting. The rest of the Indian matches in the tournament were easy victories for the home side and hence, weren’t exciting.

However, we were in for a rude surprise as India’s strong batting line up started collapsing. Sachin Tendulkar, who was having a dream run in 1998, was the first one to be dismissed. India started losing wickets at regular intervals and were all out for just 196 with not a single batter reaching even 40. The defeat could have been much bigger as at one stage India were 155 for 8. But there was some resilience from Anil Kumble (20) and Venkatesh Prasad (19). See the scorecard of the match HERE.

(Article continued after video)

With the win, Kenya succeeded in reaching the finals. What the defeat did was that it generated some interest in the final match that was played in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on May 31. India opted to bowl first in the match and one could easily see the spring in their stride to avenge the defeat in Gwalior.

This time, Kenya were all out for just 196; the same score that India scored in the previous match. India’s openers Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly too seemed all charged up. They were literally toying with Kenya’s bowling. Their partnership ended at 77. Jadeja was promoted and he scored an unbeaten 50. But Tendulkar was the scene-stealer with an unbeaten 100 off 103 balls. India won by 9 wickets with as many as 15 overs to spare. See the scorecard of the match HERE.

(Article continued after video)

Few years later in 2001, I had gone to watch the practice match between Board President’s XI and the touring England side at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. I got talking to an English supporter and during the course of the conversation, I mentioned about this tri series. He wasn’t aware of this series and was shocked that India played a tri series with two ‘minnows’. I remember him saying, “India, Bangladesh and Kenya? This is not a tri series.”

However, I feel such tournaments with major countries help associate nations gain more exposure. Today, Ireland and Afghanistan are playing a lot of bilateral series with stronger teams. But a triangular series like the aforementioned one would help them even more.

Also read: When Australia DELIBERATELY batted slow in this WC match

Sachin-Kambli’s unknown match-winning partnership: 50 Years of Wankhede

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The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai completes 50 years this year. It is an extremely revered site for cricket lovers from the city. In fact, it can also be called a place of worship for them for the numerous memories they have had here over the years. As the stadium completes 5 decades, I am reminded of the very first time I entered this place to watch a match way back in 1998.

It was a Ranji One-Day West Zone League match between Mumbai and Gujarat. It was my brother’s eighth birthday, so apart from both of us, our parents also joined us. Our major reason for going for this match was to see the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli bat together.

Apart from them, the Mumbai team also comprised of some other well-known names like Amol Muzumdar, Pravin Ambre, Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, Jatin Paranjpe, Ramesh Pawar, etc. It was a star-studded Mumbai line up back then.

Although this was my first visit to the Wankhede, it was the second time I set foot inside a cricket stadium. The first time was in the same year at the Brabourne Stadium for a match between Mumbai and Australia. Myself, my father and brother got to see Sachin score his first double hundred in first-class cricket in the match where eventually Mumbai beat Australia (read more about that match HERE). I was expecting a similar experience at the Wankhede.

Photo for representational purpose only. Source: Deccan Chronicle

There was nothing known as ‘October heat’ that would continue till November back then. Hence, it was a pleasant Sunday November 22 morning on the day of the match. The excitement inside me knew no bounds. As we entered the stadium, it took me a while to believe that I was indeed inside the Wankhede for the first time. For some time, I was just looking around the stadium.

I was hoping to see Mumbai’s star batsmen chase the target and that’s what happened. Mumbai won the toss and sent Gujarat into bat. Kuruvilla and Mhambrey ensured that the opposition never got going. They were eventually reduced to 181 for 9 in their 50 overs. This was some sort of recovery after they were 15 for 3 at one stage. There were some fun moments when Kuruvilla stood near the boundary where we were sitting and there was some funny banter from the crowd.

The excitement in the stadium knew no bounds when Mumbai’s captain Sachin Tendulkar came into bat with Rajesh Sutar. Mumbai lost Sutar early at the score of 11. But the fall of wicket was met with cheers of joy as that gave us a chance of watching Sachin and Kambli bat together. Me, and a lot of others, were in the stadium for precisely this reason. Their on-pitch pair instantly reminds us of their historic 664 run partnership during an inter-school Harris Shield tournament in 1988.

The beloved duo from Mumbai didn’t disappoint as they started going after the Gujarat bowling and we got to see an array of attacking shots from both. To see the two in action play a wide range of shots on my very first outing at the Wankhede was something I can’t explain in words. A sixer Kambli hit near the stand where we were seated is still fresh in my memory and the moment of the match for me.

Both Tendulkar and Kambli reached half centuries in quick time. The former eventually got out but not after scoring a delightful 51 of just 36 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Kambli continued the onslaught and he ended up with 90 not out of just 61 balls. His innings contained 10 fours and 3 sixes! Mumbai went onto chase the target in just 25.5 overs with just 3 wickets down.

I couldn’t have asked for a better first visit to the Wankhede.

This was also probably the last match-winning partnership in a limited overs match between Tendulkar and Kambli. If not that, it is surely a lesser-known one. The match wasn’t recorded as first-class matches hardly got live coverage in those days. Hence, there is not much about the match on the internet, except scorecards like THIS one.

That makes it all the more special.

Also Read: When team Mumbai almost AGAIN defeated Australia

When Australia DELIBERATELY batted slow in this WC match

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The 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup had a number of unforgettable moments, right from South Africa’s heartbreaking exit to India scoring a mammoth 373 against Sri Lanka to the one-sided final between Australia and Pakistan. But there was another significant on-field antic that has been forgotten over the years. This was in the league match between Australia and West Indies played at the Old Trafford, Manchester.

West Indies were put into bat by Australia. Their innings started on a disastrous note and continued the same till the end of their innings. They kept losing wickets and were 20/3 at one stage when Brian Lara departed for just 9. The Windies never recovered and were bowled out for a paltry 110. The dangerous Glenn McGrath was at his best as he had figures of 5 for 14 in 8.4 overs.

Wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, who opened the innings, was the only West Indian to show any fight as he remained not out on 49. He became the first opener in World Cup history to carry his bat throughout the innings. Interestingly, the second highest contributor in the West Indian innings were the 22 extras.

In reply, Australia reached the target of 111 with just 4 wickets down. This sounds like a normal one-sided match but it wasn’t as simpler as it looked.

In the 1999 World Cup, the next stage after the league matches was the Super Six. The rules were such that if a team enters that stage and along with it the team they beat also makes it to that stage, the former will get extra points. In other words, if Team A beats Team B and they both enter the Super Six, Team A will automatically get extra points for having beaten Team B earlier. Similarly, Australia, which had to reach the target in 47.2 overs to qualify, had lost to New Zealand, so they didn’t want them to qualify. They wanted WI to qualify for the aforementioned reasons.

Once it was confirmed that Australia was going to win the match easily within the stipulated overs, this equation started playing in the batters Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan’s minds. Hence, they started batting as slowly as possible, so that the West Indies gets a better net run rate and would, hopefully, enter the Super Six. This would mean that Australia will get more points automatically in that stage.

The crowd at the Old Trafford, obviously, got bored and started raising slogans to see Waugh and Bevan batting at a snail’s pace. All of us, who were watching it on TV got bored too. I remember Phil Simmons bowling his gentle medium pace and the two batters blocking him as if they were facing a dangerous fast bowler in a test match. Australia eventually took as many as 40.4 overs to reach the target of just 111. Bevan remained not out on 20 off 69 balls and Waugh took 73 balls for his 19 not out! (See the whole scorecard HERE)

The Aussies faced flak from the media after that match. Matthew Engel of The Guardian wrote, “Some have thought the complexities of the qualification system unfathomable. Yesterday the Australians fathomed them, and the result was a dreadful and shameful game of cricket.”

But Australian tactics didn’t work as West Indies still didn’t qualify for the Super Six and New Zealand did. This didn’t affect Australia though. They went onto win the 1999 World Cup easily and everything about their match against the West Indies was forgotten.

The Australian batting brings back memories of the 1994 Wills World Series ODI between India and (again) West Indies in Kanpur when Manoj Prabhakar and Nayan Mongia didn’t even try chasing 63 in 54 balls. They kept blocking and eventually India lost! Of course, there is no similarity in the end result and what the two Indian batters did was more unfathomable than Waugh and Bevan’s actions. Prabhakar and Mongia were ultimately banned from playing any further matches in the series.

Also read: He was selected for ‘83 World Cup, but could play in ‘99

Sachin read my bowling but Dravid & Lara didn’t, reveals Muralidaran at 800 trailer launch

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The trailer launch of Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muralidaran’s biopic titled 800 saw the presence of the man himself alongside the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. Directed by MS Sripathy, the movie sees Madhur Mittal essay the role of Muralidaran.

The conversation among the three cricketing greats took the audience back to their heydays in the 1990s. During the course of the conversation, Muralidaran revealed that Tendulkar always used to read his bowling but some other greats of the game couldn’t.

Sachin Tendulkar and Muthiah Muralidaran

Said Muralidaran, “Some players read (my bowling). I know he (Tendulkar) read me very well, like not many people can do. Lara had success but he never read me also. I don’t know what mechanism it is but he (Tendulkar) read me. I know Rahul Dravid is one of the greatest players (but) he never read me. Sachin always (read); Sehwag, Gambhir and other players (read me). Even in my team, some people read (me) and some people couldn’t. Legends like him (Tendulkar) watch from the seam of the ball from the hand itself, some people don’t.”

Tendulkar shared how deep his friendship is with Muralidaran, which immediately prompted him to attend the trailer launch of 800. “I remember meeting him for the first time in 1993,” said Tendulkar. “We continue to be good friends. Co-incidentally I was in Sri Lanka this last month for UNICEF work. I messaged Muralidaran, ‘I am in your beautiful city. Where are you?’ He said, ‘I am in India. What are you doing in Sri Lanka?’ (laughs) That’s how I am here. He spoke to me for the first time about his biopic and said, ‘Would you be able to come for the event?’ I said, ‘Anytime for you.’”

Tendulkar added, “Yeh itna humble hai, itna simple hai (he is so humble and simple), inspite of achieving so much in life that it’s impossible to refuse him.”

Produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures, 800 also focuses on the history of Sri Lanka in terms of the trouble and tensions the country went through.

Also read: Sachin’s 1st first-class 200 vs Australia in 1998: Forgotten moments

My sudden meet with Sachin Tendulkar, thanks to team Australia: Birthday Special

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The dream of every cricket fan not just in India but also outside is to meet the great Sachin Tendulkar at least once. More so if you have grown up parallel to his career in the 90s, like I have. My first and only meet (so far) with Tendulkar happened on September 30, 2004 but it was completely unplanned.

The Australian team had arrived in India for their test and ODI tour in 2004. They were supposed to play a practice game against Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium aka The Cricket Club of India (CCI) from October 2 onwards. Hence, they had their practice session on September 30 at the same place. My friend Ashish Desai’s uncle Mr Sanjay Samant happens to be the member of the CCI. It was through him that we were supposed to get a chance to meet the Australian team during their practice.

Both of us reached CCI much before time, such was our excitement to see the likes of Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Jason Gillespie, Michael Clarke, etc, in person. There was still an hour before Ashish’s uncle would reach the venue. So what do we do till then?

Ashish suggested that we try and see if we can enter without any ID card. As per his plan, we should walk with such confidence that nobody should doubt that we are not the members of the CCI. We did that while walking with a lot of attitude (50 rupya kaat overacting ka) and went past the security personnel. The plan worked. Nobody stopped us and within a minute we were standing right near the Australian team! At that time, it looked like an achievement. Today it feels like security lapse.

Sachin Tendulkar
Photo source: Scroll.in

Anyways, we were left awestruck while looking at these iconic Australian cricket stars practicing, exercising and cracking jokes at a distance of just a foot. Our next step was to see if we can get an autograph of any of the cricketers. Mobile phones with camera weren’t a regular thing 19 years ago.

We saw Michael Kasprowicz happily signing autographs. I approached him but just before my turn, he said he needs to go and will be back later. I was left disappointed. I focussed again on the batting of the Australian team in the nets.

Just when I was wondering which Australian cricketer should I approach next, a car zoomed in to the CCI and out came Sachin Tendulkar! Here he was, unannounced and we were shocked, in a good way. Our legs automatically ran towards him. Despite the crowd charging towards him, Sachin was calm. Surprisingly, the crowd behaviour wasn’t as wild as I had expected it to be when he arrived.

Much to our joy, Sachin happily and patiently gave autographs to each one of us. Some of those youngsters started having some light conversation with Sachin and he shyly answered to a few of them. He had opened the dickey of his car to keep back his cricket kit. While he was about to shut the same, he, along with Ashish, asked all of us to get back to ensure we don’t get hurt. I was surprised that his voice didn’t sound like how those mimicry artists make it sound. While this was happening, we completely forgot about the Australian team.

When I had left home in the morning, I had no idea what the day had in store for us. But Sachin wasn’t the only one who made my day. After Sachin left and the euphoria was over, an Australian gentleman came towards me and said, “You wanted my autograph, right?” It was Michael Kasprowicz keeping his word.

India lost the test series but the fourth match in Mumbai, which happened around a month later, turned out to be a memorable affair. Read more about that match HERE.

Additional reading:

Only time Tendulkar was NOT selected in team India, neither injured nor rested

When 2 instances of bowler picking 4 wickets in 4 balls happened in a single English season

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Hattricks don’t happen often on a cricket field. But taking 4 wickets in 4 balls is even rare. Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga is the only bowler ever to pick up 4 in 4 not once but twice. There aren’t too many instances of bowlers achieving this feat. Interestingly, out of all the instances of 4 wickets in 4 balls, two took place in the same county season in England in 1996.

The first one happened at the start of the season on April 26. The great South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock was making his debut in the Benson & Hedges ODI series for Warwickshire at Edgbaston against Leicestershire. He picked up his first wicket in the form of Vince Wells in his second over when the latter miscued a pull shot.

But the real fun was yet to happen. In Pollock’s fourth over, Greg Macmillan was out caught behind off a peach of a delivery. The South African then got the opposition captain James Whitaker bowled off the very next ball; the latter had no clue about that one. Phil Robinson, the next man, was caught at forward short leg, like those test dismissals. The next batter, Darren Maddy, was caught in slips.

The commentators and the spectators were amazed. The same was the case with me as I was watching the match at my aunt’s place. Another reason why I can’t forget this match is that this was my first county match. Funnily, I didn’t know it’s called a county match and in which part of the world it was being played. I was watching just because it was cricket!

Shaun Pollock

Leicestershire somehow recovered by finishing at 182 for 9 but Warwickshire won the match comfortably by 7 wickets (see the scorecard HERE).

The second instance, that happened in the same season, is even more legendary. India were on the tour to England in the same 1996 season. After the second test, they had a practice match against Hampshire on July 1. Before the start of the match, Kevan James wouldn’t have known that this was going to be the biggest day of his life and one of the most memorable days in the history of the game.

It appeared like one of those easy warm up games for the tourists when their openers Ajay Jadeja and Vikram Rathour were cruising at 192 for no loss. But the left-arm medium fast bowler Kevan had other plans. He first got Jadeja bowled. Soon enough in his later over, he got Rathor stumped. The great Sachin Tendulkar was trapped the very next ball as he was caught at short leg. The buddying talent Rahul Dravid was out LBW the next ball, which gave Kevan his hattrick.

There was more to come. Sanjay Manjrekar, the next batter, chased a wide delivery the very next ball and was caught in the slips by Paul Terry. Neither Kevan nor others could believe what they witnessed.

Kevan would have already felt that his day couldn’t have got better than this. But he was in for more greatness. When Hampshire went into bat, the left-hander came in at number 4 and went onto score a hundred. This remains the only instance in the history of cricket of a player taking 4 wickets in 4 balls and also scoring a 100 in the same match!

The match ended in a draw (see the scorecard HERE) but the crowd that had come in witnessed something extraordinary that hasn’t happened even 27 years later. And they are the only ones to have witnessed this as the match wasn’t telecast and, hence, there is no video available.

Kevan James’ herculean effort didn’t get him a place in the England side though. He was 35 when this match took place, so age was clearly not on his side.

Also read: He played 1 test but has ZERO tests to his name

When it was Kambli v/s Kaluwitharana in this FINAL at Shivaji Park

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Mumbai is one of the prominent cities to have produced a number of Indian team cricketers over the decades. And if one has to name the place in the city where maximum number of Indian stars were groomed, it has to be Shivaji Park. The great Vijay Manjrekar, father of cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, was one of the heroes of this place.

For this reason, a single wicket and double wicket tournament used to be held at Shivaji Park Gymkhana at one point of time. Called ‘Veedol Vijay Manjrekar Single and Double Wicket Tournament’, it was prominent in the 90s and it used to take place somewhere around April or May each year.

A single wicket match is played between two individual cricketers instead of two teams. There are only 3 or 4 overs per innings. The same person would bat as well as bowl, while a number of junior cricketers would field in both the innings of the match. The interesting part was that if the person who is batting gets out, 2 or 4 runs would be deducted from his score. In the end, whichever player scores the highest in the innings would be the winner.

Similarly, a double wicket match saw the participation of two sets of players instead of one. The rest of the rules are the same. In the two-day tournament, the first day would see the single-wicket tournament while the next day would be dedicated to double-wicket. Interestingly, we got to see a much shorter version of the game than T20 when T20 was not even a thing.

Temporary stands used to be created around the playing area in Shivaji Park where spectators could watch the matches for free. The local cable TV also used to telecast all matches on the channel where they usually played movies. Personally, witnessing this series in 1996 or 1997 meant a lot to me because it was the first time I was watching live cricket.

Vinod Kambli and Romesh Kaluwitharana

Some prominent names from Indian cricket used to play this series each year, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli, Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil, Narendra Hirwani, Ajit Agarkar, Pravin Amre, Robin Singh, Robin Uthappa, Amol Muzamdar, Ramesh Powar, Paras Mhambrey, etc; most of the cricketers were from Mumbai, understandably.

One such tournament in 1997 saw the participation of the Sri Lankan star Romesh Kaluwitharana (in the single wicket form). I have fond memories of this particular tournament, although it was a struggle to catch a glimpse of the pitch because of the height factor. As it turned out, Kaluwitharana and Kambli reached the final.

Kambli batted first and scored a decent amount of runs. The entire crowd supported him, which was obvious. We also got to see a rare sight of Kaluwitharana bowling slow medium pacers; something we never saw in international cricket since he always played as a wicket-keeper. When Kaluwitharana batted, it was also a rare sight to see Kambli bowl right-arm spin.

The pitch on Shivaji Park where the matches were played

The match between the two went right down to the wire. In the ending moments during Kaluwitharana’s chase, he mistimed a big shot and the ball went high up in the air. Co-incidentally, Kambli himself was under the ball. He got under it and did everything right, just to drop it in the end. There was a massive disappointment among the crowd. This ensured that Kaluwitharana won the final.

In the following year in the double wicket tournament, Robin Singh participated with a player from Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy team. This time, Kenyan cricketers Thomas Odoyo and someone else from their team (might be Kennedy Otieno) also participated as a pair. The final match saw Robin and his partner versus the two Kenyan cricketers.

The Kenyan players batted first and put up a good score. This match too was a nail-biter. In the end, Robin and his partner needed four runs of the last ball with the former on strike. Robin hit that one for 6, much to the jubilation of all of us.

After doing a Google search, one can find Facebook updates of the 2011 edition of the tournament held in 2011 (see HERE). Dilip Vengsarkar, Gulshan Grover and Tanushree Dutta were the guests. Apart from this, there is only one Mumbai Live article about this tournament held in 2017, which was won by Parag Pingle (read HERE).

The tournament doesn’t happen anymore. Strangely, apart from these two updates, there is not even a single text article on any of the editions of this tournament, not even the ones featuring Kambli, Kaluwitharana and Robin. If someone does have more info about the same, please feel free to comment below.

Also read: Why Kaluwitharana’s stint in 1996 World Cup is overrated

Why Ganguly had to open the bowling in this test match?

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Sourav Ganguly is one of the celebrated names of Indian cricket. Apart from being a fine batter, he, as a captain, also taught the team to win test matches abroad. But along with that, he was also a handy medium pace bowler. He has had quite a few moments of glory with the ball but the one being talked about here is quite underrated.

It happened in the second test match between India and Australia in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in March 1998.

There is a story behind why Ganguly was asked to open the bowling in that match. In the first test, before this match, India went in with two fast bowlers – Javagal Srinath and debutant Harvinder Singh – and three spinners in the form of Anil Kumble, Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan. They won the match comprehensively by 179 runs.

This might come as a surprise for people from today’s era but back then India going in with three specialist spinners in home matches was quite normal. The pitches back then used to assist spinners even more. So, for the second test, there was no way India was going to remove any of the three spinners.

Photo source: Patrika.com

The team was keen on including VVS Laxman as an additional batter. Hence, the only person that could have been removed from the 11 was Harvinder Singh. He didn’t bowl badly in the first test, which was his debut, and he did get the important wicket of the Australian captain Mark Taylor caught behind.

At that time, the Australian commentator Ian Chappel said quite confidently that picking up the only wicket of the Assuie skipper is enough for Singh to be selected in the second test, as not much was expected from the seamers in these conditions. But the Indian team management proved him wrong in the second test.

Ganguly being given the new ball along with Srinath was more like a formality. They were just waiting for the ball to get old, so that the spinners could come into action. But Ganguly had other plans.

He started troubling Taylor right from his first over. In fact, it seemed as if he got him caught behind, only for the umpire to call it a no-ball. However, Dada soon got the left hander caught behind again, much to his jubilation as well as his home crowd in Kolkata.

India was on top as the Aussie were 29 for 4 with Srinath picking the other 3 wickets. In the video shared below, Chappel is heard saying when number 6 batter Ricky Ponting comes in to bat early, “Ricky Ponting wouldn’t have been expecting to come in before lunch. Here he is in before drinks.”

But that’s not all as far as Ganguly’s heroics with the ball were concerned. Believe or not, but he, with his medium pace, deceived Michael Kasprowicz with a bouncer in his next spell and Azharuddin took a flying catch at wide gully. He then got the last wicket of Gavin Robertson, finishing with fine figures of 3 for 28.

Australia got all out for just 233 and India declared their first innings at a humongous 633 for 5 with Azhar top-scoring with 163 not out. Ganguly scored 65 but, funnily, this was the lowest score of all the batters who got out in the innings. India won the match by an innings and 219 runs. The team lost the third test in Bangalore but it had already won the series before that.

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

Babar Azam did what MS Dhoni didn’t in 2007

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The match between India and Pakistan in the ongoing ICC World T20 will go down as one of the most memorable ever. Of course, Indian fans are jubilant and the ones on the other side of the border aren’t. But if looked from a neutral point of view, such games eventually help in making a sport even popular.

This game brings back memories of the 2007 World Cup final between both the nations. Despite it being 15 years, the match still remains a tense and high-octane clash between both the teams. It eventually saw India win by 5 runs after they scored 157 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs, electing to bat first.

Apart from the fact that it was a match that went all the way down to the wire, the 2007 match also had a similar situation during its ending moments.

Babar Azam
Babar Azam and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Sources: Twitter and Indiatvnews.com)

Pakistan struggled mostly while chasing India’s modest target. But Misbah-ul-Haq turned the match around singlehandedly by changing gears in a couple of overs before the last one. Similarly, India too struggled today during their chase but Virat Kohli had other plans. He brought India back in the game in a similar way. His 2 sixes off against the crafty Haris Rauf announced India’s fightback.

In the 2007 final, Pakistan needed 12 off the last over. After a lot of deliberation, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to hand over the ball to the inexperienced Joginder Sharma, over the experienced Harbhajhan Singh, who also had one over left. The obvious reason was that the latter was smashed around by Haq in his previous over.

The move initially looked like a mistake as Sharma bowled a wide and, worse, was hit for a 6. But, as we all know, Haq played that infamous scoop shot and was caught at short fine leg by S Sreesanth.

In this match, Mohammad Nawaz had given 20 runs in his previous over after letting the opposition hit 3 sixes off that one. But Pakistani captain Babar Azam still decided to go with him. He had the option of giving him the 19th or the 18th over but he decided to give him the last one. The move, obviously, didn’t work, with the extras proving it to be worse.

Also read: Meet the 49-year-old test debutant

This is not to say that if Rauf or some other fast bowler had bowled the last over, India had no chance of winning. It’s just an interesting similarity in both the matches between the same nations with different batting order as well as the result.  

Dear Sony LIV, Dean was run-out, NOT ‘Mankaded’

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The third ODI between India and England at the historic Lords stadium turned out to be an exciting and nail-biting affair. By winning the match by 16 runs, India wrapped up the series 3-0.

It was also an emotional match as it was also the farewell for India’s great pace bowler Jhulan Goswami. She provided a fine performance in her last match by picking up 2 for 30 off her 10 overs with 3 maidens.

But unfortunately, instead of the close encounter and Goswami’s retirement, the cricketing world has been discussing and debating the last wicket of the match in which Charlie Dean was run out at the bowler’s end by Deepti Sharma for backing up too far.

This has been a legitimate mode of dismissal but it was considered unsporting earlier because of its nature. It was referred to as ‘Mankading’ as India’s Vinoo Mankad effected two such run-outs in two different games during India’s 1947-48 tour to Australia.

Deepti Sharma Mankading run out
Screenshot from Sony LIV’s broadcast

Ravichandran Ashwin got embroiled in a controversy when he run-out Jos Buttler in the same way during the 2020 season of the IPL (Indian Premiere League). Similarly, Deepti Sharma has become the talk of the town for the same reason.

However, the rules were recently updated wherein it was decided that such run-outs won’t be considered against the spirit of the game. More importantly, the new rules also stated that such dismissals should be counted as run-outs instead of referring to them as ‘Mankading.’

But despite such official declarations, commentators Nasser Hussain and Lydia Greenway started the unfair game rhetoric when the final wicket fell. Greenway reacted as if something illegal was done. While Hussain kept saying that this is within the rules of the game, he messed it up by referring to the dismissal as ‘controversial’ later on.

If it is well within the rules and also not against the spirit of the game, as per the latest update, how is it controversial, Mr Hussain?

Also read: When Geoffrey Boycott had to chew his hat because of Ajay Ratra

But what really took the cake (not in a good way) was Sony Sports’s streaming platform Sony LIV highlighting that the batter was ‘Mankaded’ while showing that video. [See the image above].

How is the platform unaware about the latest guidelines stating that such run-outs are nothing but run-outs? Do the people responsible for the text on the platform are so naïve about the important developments in the game?

Harsha Bhogle discussing why such dismissals shouldn’t be referred to as ‘Mankading’ after the Ashwin incident in 2020