The Common Man Speaks

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

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

When India won U-15 World Cup Final against Pak at Lords; ruckus followed

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India’s Under-19 team winning the 2022 World Cup has rejoiced cricket fans across the nation. With the fifth world title under their belt, they have ruled this tournament. But this victory, under the captaincy of Yash Dhull, has brought back memories of India’s Under-15 World Cup victory many years ago in 1996. Yes, there was an U-15 tournament in that year and it was never tried again.

India won the cup by defeating arch rivals Pakistan at the historic Lords cricket stadium. Both the teams were unbeaten before the final.

It was the year I started watching and keenly following cricket. Hence, I didn’t know much about the game. I wasn’t knowing that countries also participate at the junior levels in World Cups.

I had no idea that such a tournament was being played that year. I just switched on the TV and realized that some cricket match is being played in England. The commentators were referring to it as the ‘World Cup’, which confused me since the World Cup had already taken place that year in February and March in Asia.

I later realized that this is an Under-15 team and that a tournament like Under-15 World Cup even exists. After I came to know that India and Pakistan have reached the finals, I, obviously, followed the match in all excitement. After all, this was the first time I was watching a big final at Lords.

I saw a teenaged sardar guy bowling his heart out in the match as India opted to bowl first. I came to know his name is Reetinder Singh Sodhi. I was impressed with his determination and fiery attitude at such a young age. He played a major role in restricting Pakistan to 222 for 7 with figures of 3 for 34 in his allotted overs.

India Under-15 World Cup Final
Photo courtesy: CricketCountry.com and Lords official Facebook page

The Under-15 provided an old world charm in terms of the number of overs. The matches comprised of 55 overs. ODIs were reduced to 50 overs a side in 1985, except for the matches played in England. It was in 1995 that England also adopted the 50 overs’ version. So it was a surprise to see the U-15 World Cup having 55 overs a side in 1996.

In reply, India were in trouble early on as they lost 2 wickets with just 19 on the board. But it was Sodhi again to the rescue; this time with the bat as he scored 82 not out. He was ably supported by the wicketkeeper-batsmen Pradeep Chawla who scored 34. Bhavan Chander also scored a useful 27.

But India were reduced at one stage for 178 for 6. Sodhi, however, guided the team to victory along with the number 8 batsman Vivek Mahajan, who played a crucial innings of 19 not out. India won by 4 wickets with 14 balls to spare. I somewhat remember the well-timed powerful shots by Sodhi.

This was the first time I saw India win a world title; so what if it was U-15? To see an Indian captain lift the cup on the Lords balcony, just like some of the greats of the games in the past including Kapil Dev in 1983, filled me with pride.

Surprisingly, there’s just one proper scorecard available of the match on Cricinfo [see HERE]. Strangely, it doesn’t list the number of balls played by each batsmen and the number of boundaries they hit! Not surprisingly, there’s no video footage of the match available on YouTube either.   

Under-15 team
India’s Under-15 team [Photo courtesy: CricketCountry.com]

But a report of the match by Christopher Martin-Jenkins with the same portal states that the fans of both the countries created ruckus and violence, which also injured few of them. There was an unprecedented crowd of over 8000 people, which the organizers weren’t expecting. Read more about it HERE. To hear from the team of the 1996 Uder-15 World Cup, click HERE.

Apart from Sodhi, the other player that went onto play for India’s senior side was Mohammad Kaif. Interestingly, he became the hero at the same venue six years later in the famous Natwest Series Final against England, along with Yuvraj Singh.

For Pakistan, there were seven players that represented the senior’s national side later – Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Yasir Arafat, Taufeeq Umar, Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal and Bazid Khan.

But this isn’t the only World Cup Final achievement for Sodhi. Four years later, he went onto win the Under-19 World Cup for India against Sri Lanka and was awarded the Man of the Match again for his unbeaten 39 and giving away only 26 runs off his 10 overs. This time, Kaif was the captain while the team also had Yuvraj Singh, who was adjudged the Man of the Series.

Interestingly, Raj Bawa, who picked up 5 wickets against England in the U-19 final yesterday and was adjudged the Man of the Match, is Sodhi’s uncle’s [chacha] son. Congratulating him, Sodhi tweeted, “It’s a great feeling when your Chacha’s Son do what you did 22 years back..So Man of the Match of two World Cup Finals in one family.” [sic]

I guess Sodhi didn’t count his own Man of the Match award in the 1996 Under-15 World Cup final. Hence, there are not two but three World Cup Final Man of the Match awards in the Sodhi family.

Also read:

He was selected for ’83 World Cup but could play only in ’99

Zimbabwe’s iconic feat in 83 World Cup is forgotten

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When we think of Zimbabwe with regards to the 1983 World Cup, the only match that comes to our minds is the one where they reduced India for 17 for 5 and still lost the match, thanks to Kapil Dev’s incredible 175 not out.

But there is more to Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup than their dramatic defeat against India. What they achieved in the tournament is rare and, unfortunately for them, hardly spoken or written about.

Zimbabwe won the ICC Trophy in 1982 in England after defeating Bermuda in the finals and hence qualified for the 1983 World Cup that was played in the same country.

Zimbabwe’s first match was against a strong and established team like Australia at Trent Bridge on 9 June 1983. As they were to play their first ever international series, there were no hopes from them. It would have been good for them even if they gave a decent fight to the opposing team.

But they did much more than that.

Batting first, Zimbabwean openers Ali Shah and Grant Paterson gave them a good start but both were dismissed with the score being on 55. Captain Duncan Fletcher had his task cut out as one of the prominent batsman David Houghton was out for a golden duck at the score being 86 for 4.

But Fletcher played a true captain’s innings with an unbeaten 69 off just 84 balls and helped Zimbabwe reach 239 for 6 off their 60 overs.

Zimbabwe 1983 World Cup
Duncan Fletcher at the post-match presentation [Photo source: ICC Twitter page]

Chasing 240 in 60 overs against minnows looked like an easy task. But Fletcher wasn’t done yet. He excelled with the ball as well and ensured that Zimbabwe won the match! Yes, the African country in their first ever match and that too against a test-playing team like Australia managed to win by 13 runs. This went down as the first ever upset in World Cup history.

In fact, this remains the only instance where an associate nation won its first ever ODI match against a test-playing nation.

Fletcher had figures of 4 for 42 from 11 overs. This coupled with his heroic innings with the bat rightfully earned him the man of the match award.

Strangely, Australia didn’t get all out. They lost by not being able to score 240 despite having 60 overs at their disposal. They lost their 7th wicket at the score of 176. Rodney Marsh and Rodney Hogg then scored 50 off 42 balls and 19 off 22 balls respectively and had a 50 run unbeaten stand. But that wasn’t enough as the damage was already done by the top order by scoring slow.

I am sure Zimbabweans would have been over-the-moon with the result. But unfortunately, there isn’t a single video available of this match anywhere on the internet.

Zimbabwe, however, couldn’t repeat this feat in the remaining five matches of the series, although they did put India in a state of panic in their infamous defeat. But the team slowly progressed from here on. In the 90s and early 2000s, they defeated India on few occasions, including the close encounter in the 1999 World Cup, and got them tensed in few other. They also got the test status in 1992.

Unfortunately, political turmoil gripped the African nation at the start of the new millennium. During their 2003 World Cup campaign, Grant Flower and Henry Olonga protested against their government by wearing black bands on their arms and that was the end of their career as well as Zimbabwe’s miniature dominance. Their national team has been trying to climb the ladder since years.

These days, they are playing as an associate nation and hoping for a comeback and, maybe, a few more upsets.

Also read:

90s Flashback: Ajay JADEJA averaged 354 in this tri-series

He played 1 test but has ZERO tests to his name

‘90s Flashback: Ajay JADEJA averaged 354 in this tri-series

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1998 had Sachin Tendulkar written all over it. The legendary Indian batsman literally had a dream run that year. His most memorable outing came in the Sharjah cup played between India, Australia and New Zealand. But Ajay Jadeja also had the time of his life in 1998.

Just before going to Sharjah, India hosted a triangular series with Australia and Zimbabwe. This ODI [one-day international] tournament happened just after the India beat Australia in the test series by 2-1.

It was a series where Jadeja averaged a mammoth 354.

He showed his class in the first match itself at Kochi when India was in trouble at 80 for 3 against Australia. He got going right from the start and scored 105 not out off 109 balls with 12 fours. India scored an impressive 309 for 5 and won the match by 41 runs. This was the famous match where Tendulkar picked up 5 wickets for just 32 runs.

Ajay Jadeja
Photo source: SportzCraazy.com (For representational purpose only)

In India’s next match against Zimbabwe at Baroda, Jadeja again came into bat when his side was in a spot of bother at 95 for 3. He had a good partnership with Sourav Ganguly (82) and later with Hrishikesh Kanitkar (35) and remained unbeaten at 79 off 77 balls. Zimbabwe gave a scare, which they did so often to India in the ‘90s, but fell short by 13 runs.

Jadeja didn’t get much chance to bat during India’s match against Australia at Kanpur. Tendulkar was in a hurry to chase down a modest target of 223 by scoring 100 off just 89 balls with 5 fours and as many as 7 sixes, which was rare for that era. But Jadeja did face 31 balls and remained unbeaten on 6.

In the next match at Cuttack, Zimbabwe once again gave a scare to India and it was Jadeja again to the rescue. He walked in when India were reduced to 26 for 3 with Ganguly, Tendulkar and VVS Laxman gone.

Surprisingly, India didn’t lose any further wicket in the innings as Jadeja and Mohammad Azaharuddin had an unbeaten record 4th wicket partnership of 275. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 116 and Azhar on 153. The team won by 32 runs.

Highlights of the 1st match of the series

India then met Australia in the final at Delhi. Batting first, they could only muster a score of 227 all out. But Jadeja remained the top-scorer with 48 off just 49 balls with 5 fours. After being unbeaten in the whole series, India lost the final by 4 wickets after a good fight with the ball.

Interestingly, Jadeja got out for the only time in the series in the final when he was caught and bowled by Michael Kasprowicz. I remember Ian Chappell pointing out that if he hadn’t got out in the final, he would have had no average in the series, which would have been a rarest of the rare case.

Jadeja scored a brilliant 354 runs in the series. He was hitting the ball effortlessly as if playing in the nets. Out of his six ODI 100s, two came in this tournament itself. As he got out just once, his average stood at a towering 354. He was rightly adjudged the Man of the Series. (See the scorecard of each match of the series HERE)

On a less serious note, the series was played in the scorching heat of April. During almost every innings, Jadeja and Azharuddin batted with a handkerchief around their necks. It was later found that they used to wet the hanky, refrigerate it and later tie it around their necks to beat the heat.

I was impressed with the hack and tried it a few times as a kid. It’s not a bad time to repeat it all over again after 23 years. This October heat is getting unbearable!

Also read:

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

He played 1 test but has ZERO tests to his name

When South Africa won 2 WORLD titles in less than 2 months

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Before the start of any world tournament, be it the 50 over World Cup, T20 World Cup or ICC Champions trophy, discussions start making rounds on social media on whether South Africa will win its ‘first ever’ world title this time. The same is the case with the arrival of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021.

There is nothing wrong in having this discussion, except to believe that South Africa has never won a world title. The Proteas have won not one but two world titles already. And a lot of us seem to have forgotten that. It is widely believed that the team has never even reached the final of any world tournament, which is so wrong.

The first ICC Champions Trophy started off in 1998 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was also called the ‘Mini World Cup’ or ‘ICC Knock Out’ back then. It followed the format of eight teams participating in quarterfinal stage at the start. The four winners would play the semi-final and the last two the finals.

South Africa
Photos courtesy: Cricketcountry.com and Olympics.com

South Africa met the West Indies in the final, which was touted to be an exciting contest and this is exactly what it turned out to be. West Indian opener Philo Wallace, who was a star back then, scored 103 off just 102 balls. It looked like they would easily cross the 300 mark but Jacques Kallis’s 5 for 30 ensured that they got all out for just 245 in the last over.

In reply, South African openers Daryll Cullinan and Mike Rindel started well and put on 54 runs. But they kept losing wickets and were reduced to 137 for 5 at one stage. But their late captain Hansie Cronje was going strong. He scored 61 off 77 balls under pressure and had two useful partnerships with Dale Benkenstein (27 off 40) and Derek Crooks (24* off 21) to see his side home by four wickets.

Highlights of the 1998 ICC Knockout Final

This was the first time South Africa lifted a world title. But this achievement is still somewhat remembered by the cricketing world but the other one isn’t.

Cricket was introduced for the first time in the 1998 Commonwealth Games (CWG). It saw the participation of 16 countries, which is much more than what we see in any World Cup. It had West Indian islands Jamaica, Antigua-Barbuda and Barbados participate separately. It also saw the participating of non-regular teams like Canada and Northern Ireland.

Of all the test-playing countries, only South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe fielded their strongest teams. During the same time, India also had to participate in the Sahara Cup, the bilateral series against Pakistan that used to take place Toronto, Canada. Hence, they split their main team into two and sent two teams each for the Commonwealth Games and Sahara Cup. Pakistan sent a second string team.

Shaun Pollock’s spell in the final against Australia in the CWG 1998. There is no video of the highlights of the game. This one was posted just two months back

The two best teams of the CWG, South Africa and Australia, reached the finals. The Aussies batted first and were bundled out for just 183. Shaun Pollock was the star as he picked up 4 for 19. While chasing, Andrew Hudson (36 off 39), Rindel (67 off 106) and Kallis (44 off 96) helped South Africa win the final in a comprehensive way by four wickets. They were without the services of Cronje in this series.

CWC matches didn’t have the stamp of the ICC (International Cricket Council). But it was still a world tournament nevertheless and the matches were played in all seriousness.

Interestingly, South Africa won two world titles not just in the same year but also in a span of less than a month and a half (CWC final: September 19, ICC KO final: November 1).

Those were the days when South Africa was the best team in the world, at least in ODIs. At the end of the previous year (1997), they had also won the quadrangular tournament in Pakistan. Once again, they won the final while chasing.

Also read:

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

He played 1 test but has ZERO tests to his name

This number 11 ‘tail-ender’ created a batting record that is forgotten

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In all these years of test cricket, there have been some enormous number of batting records set by some terrific players. But since they are batting records, it is a given that we would associate batsmen with them.

But here’s one terrific batting record achieved not by any top or even a lower-order batsman. In fact, this piece of record belongs to a player who batted right at number 11.

In the first test of the 2013 Ashes series in Nottingham, England, the left-arm spinner Ashton Agar made his test debut for Australia. But this is the story of his antics with the bat instead of the ball. Something the cricketing world seems to have forgotten over the last eight years.

England won the toss and elected to bat and were bundled out for just 215. Agar couldn’t take a single wicket, although he bowled only seven overs. In reply, Australia was struggling at one stage with 53 for 4 before Steve Smith (53) rescued the ship. But wickets kept tumbling once Smith got out and the Aussies were reduced to 117 for 9.

The late Philip Hughes was batting well at the other hand but he was quickly losing partners. After the 9th wicket fell, in came the debutant Agar who was just 19. It seemed as if it’s just a formality to take the last wicket. But the cricketing world was about to witness a phenomenal record.

As soon as Agar played the first few balls, I realized he is no way a typical number 11 tail-ender. Be it playing a defensive shot or going after the bowling, this guy seemed like a complete batsman. As his innings progressed, it seemed more and more that he is an accomplished batsman.

Ashton Agar

He literally took on the English bowlers and started scoring more than his partner Hughes, a more accomplished batsman. Commentators Ian Botham and Michael Holding repeatedly kept saying that Agar is no way a tail-ender and questioned the logic of sending him at number 11.

Agar reached his 50 in no time. At number 11 and that too on debut. Once he reached this milestone, there was no stopping him. He kept on playing shots fearlessly, more so in the mid-on area. And there came a time when he reached 90 all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, Australia, which was almost 100 runs behind when the 9th wicket fell, had actually got the first innings lead; something nobody would have expected.

No number 11 player in the long history of test cricket had scored a century and the people gathered in the stadium were in to witness history if that happened. Agar would have had his heart in his mouth when, on 93, he edged the ball off Graeme Swann and it went wide of the first slip.

Agar was inching closer to his century when he reached 98. He was facing Stuart Broad. Going by the flair with which he had batted all along, it seemed he will get those 2 runs easily. He played the pull shot off a short ball.

The Australian team in the pavilion got excited, like many in the stadium and those glued to the TV, only for Swann to take a diving catch at deep mid-wicket. Agar was gone for 98!

I remember giving a loud disappointing reaction to it. Going by my emotions, my family members thought an Indian player missed his century.

The 19-year-old Agar had a smile as he started walking back to the pavilion amidst a heroic reception. A 100 on debut and that too at number 11 would have been a dream moment but it wasn’t to be.

But despite that, Agar broke the record for the highest score for a batsman batting at number 11. The previous record was held by Tino Best, who scored 95 also against England in 2012 at Birmingham. Agar’s 100 would have been more special since it was his test debut.

Somehow, Agar’s innings or his record isn’t discussed or recalled in cricket discussions, although it took place just eight years ago.

There is also no official video on the highlights of Agar’s innings. There’s an unofficial one with not-so-good quality.

Also read:

1998: When 2 Indian teams were selected for 2 different series

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

When Jayasuriya-Afridi opened batting together for a noble cause

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Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi were two of the most destructive batsmen in the mid to late 1990s era. Both were at the peak of their form at the same time.

Jayasuriya broke the record for fastest 100 in ODIs [one-day internationals] in 48 balls against Pakistan in 1996 in Singapore. Afridi, on the other hand, broke that record against the Sri Lanka in the same year when he scored 100 off just 37 balls in Nairobi.

I remember having discussions in school at that time on what would happen if Jayasuriya and Afridi were in the same team and they opened the batting together. I would regularly note down my World XI team and would include both the players in it.

The dream of watching Jayasuriya and Afridi in the same team came true all of a sudden when a match between India and Rest of the World [ROW] was planned.

Jayasuriya and Afridi
Photo for representational purpose

The match was organized on 30 December 1997 by Sathya Sai Baba at his model village in Puttaparthi. A stadium was specially created for this match in a short time. It’s perhaps the only cricket stadium that has big statues of various Gods like Hanuman, Shankar, Jesus and Buddha on the boundaries.

Puttaparthi
The boundary at one end of the stadium with God’s idols (Photo courtesy: Radiosai.org)

The purpose behind the match was to promote unity among the various nations of the world through spirituality. The stadium offered a perfect setting to achieve the goal. More so with school students taking out a rally with the flags of every country in the world.

Photo source: Radiosai.org

The dignitaries who attended the match included the then Indian Prime Minister IK Gujral, former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and EAS Prasanna, former Pakistani cricketers Zaheer Abbas and Hanif Mohammad and former West Indian players Clive Lloyd and Alvin Kallicharran. Syed Kirmani, another former Indian cricketer, was the commentator.

The dignitaries seated (Photo source: Radiosai.org)

India was captained by Sachin Tendulkar and World XI by Arjuna Ranatunga. The latter consisted mostly of Sri Lankan and Pakistani players. The Indians came up with a full strength side despite it being an unofficial match. Apart from Tendulkar, they had the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Ajay Jadeja, Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi etc.

India won the toss and opted to bat in the 45-over contest and made a big score of 289 for 4. Tendulkar was the star of the innings as he scored 88 not out, followed by Jadeja (77) and Dravid (62). I have a slight memory of few aggressive shots by Tendulkar and Dravid.

Then came the moment I was waiting for as Jayasuriya and Afridi came out to open. They started off decently but their opening partnership didn’t yield much as Afridi was dismissed soon. But Jayasuriya scored a quick 45, followed by Arjuna Ranatunga’s 67.

However, no other batsman showed any form as the World XI was bowled out for just 165 in just 26.2 overs. Prasad, Joshi and Sairaj Bahutule had bowling figures of 4-37, 3-24 and 3-16 respectively. India comfortably won by a heavy margin of 124 runs.

For complete details of the match, click HERE.

After defeating Jayasuriya and company
Indian team with the Unity Cup (Photo source: Radiosai.org)

Unfortunately, no video footage of this match is available anywhere on the internet. In fact, even a proper scorecard of the match isn’t available anywhere except a part of it here HERE.

Hopefully, someone might remember this match and try to find out any video after going through the article. The match was telecast by Doordarshan. They surely would have it in the archives.

Although it wasn’t a close contest by any means, at least the view of the beautiful stadium should be worth revisiting this match.

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

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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.

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