Memories across 22 yards

Category: Players

Players

  • Shiv at St. Johns, Antigua – Frank Worrell Trophy 2003

    Shiv at St. Johns, Antigua – Frank Worrell Trophy 2003

    Image courtesy © Hamish Blair/Getty Images

     

    Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies needs no introduction. Such was his talent and capability. But unfortunately whenever Chanderpaul represented West Indies, his team had more defeats than victories. And when the Windies won, especially on account of his contribution, they did so emphatically. The first thing that drew me in towards Chanderpaul was of course, his Indian origin. And the second thing was my passion about landscape among other things, as Shiv was from Guyana, which is in South America when a lion’s share of the places in West Indies are from North America. Later, I observed that Clive Lloyd, one of the most successful test captains of all time, spinner Lance Gibbs and flamboyant allrounder Carl Hooper too were from Guyana.

    I had watched this particular test match and the series. But I could not remember the runs contributed by Shiv when West Indies defeated Aussies by 3 wickets. I very well remembered the first ball six by Brian Lara off Brett Lee during the first innings of West Indies batting and the infamous fight between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Glenn McGrath. Rightly Chanderpaul was adjudged as the man of the match for his century. I would rate this knock of him as his greatest though he had handed West Indies last ball victories against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively in ODIs.

    Despite his immense talent, the role and responsibility Chanderpaul had taken for the West Indies went unnoticed due to Lara’s presence. This was very similar to Rahul Dravid’s role when Sachin Tendulkar was in his prime form for India, and Mahela Jayawardene’s when Kumar Sangakkara overshadowed him, for Sri Lanka. Due to my passion for cricket, with relatively great difficulty I found out why Chanderpaul used to have stickers under his eyes, that was very similar to a tattoo. The stickers he used were the patches to see the cricket ball clearly while protecting the vision from the glare of sun.

    What I still do not understand is his change in the batting stance, which was unorthodox from the earlier side-on, though he once said in an interview that it was to avoid falling over. I could not technically understand how he brought the bat down on time, to connect with the ball while hitting with his unorthodox stance. The same was the case of Lara when he connected the ball after having a very high backlift and advance movement, along with the occasional jump. Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf also had a high backlift before connecting the ball. Adam Gilchrist too could connect the ball as he wanted, after having a very high batting grip. I do not understand how these legends could deliver successfully in a rather phenomenal way.

    Like some players who could not retire after allowing them to play a few more matches as they wanted and deserved, Chanderpaul too had to call it a day, aged 41. But according to me he still had 2 more years left. Surprisingly he did not feature in the ODIs, too during the later part of his career. The West Indies always had a great start whenever Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle opened in the ODIs. According to me, after the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry and Ashes Test series between Australia and England, the Frank Worrell Trophy between Australia and West Indies is the most thrilling series. The highest successful fourth innings chase made by West Indies against Australia is still unbroken even after close to 22 years of intense competitive test cricket all-around and that makes this knock of Shiv much more special and memorable. Another missing moment for me from the Frank Worrell Trophy is the excellent commentary by late Tony Cozier and David Hookes.

    1. Series – Australia tour of West Indies, The Frank Worrell Trophy, 4  Match Test Series, 4th test
    2. Year – 2003
    3. Venue – Antigua Recreation Ground, St John’s, Antigua
    4. Date – 9-13 May, 2003
    5. Result – West Indies won
    6. Margin – 3 wickets
    7. Player of the match – Shivnarine Chanderpaul
    8. Series won by – Australia
    9. Margin – 3-1
    10. Player of the series – Ricky Ponting

    Written on 9th February, 2025

     

     

  • Virat Kohli at Hobart – Commonwealth Bank Series 2012

    Virat Kohli at Hobart – Commonwealth Bank Series 2012

    Image Courtesy @ Getty Images

     

    I really wanted to write about a memorable knock of Virat Kohli. And various knocks had passed through my mind. But due to some reason or other I could not write as I was busy with some other stuffs like music, travelling, cars, trains etc. Finally when I selected this very beautiful knock of Kohli, things again got dragged as my other personal priorities continued. And finally I got a remembrance picture through my smart phone’s glance feature about Kohli’s this knock. The glance feature also showed New Zealand’s 1 run victory over England after being asked to follow on. And on both the occasions, the date was 28th February. After being so keen on dates, I still could not remember the date of this knock and I felt it would have been nice if I could write about this on the date of remembrance itself.

    I was too impressed with Kohli’s batting. The place was Australia, India were chasing over 300 and the most important thing that I noticed was the way he handled Lasith Malinga who was in his prime form. Unfortunately Malinga became the most expensive bowler in ODIs at that time in terms of runs per over conceded by a bowler who did not complete the allotted full quota of 10 overs, when he  gave away 96 runs in his 7.4 overs at 12.52 runs per over. A very young Kohli was flamboyant as ever when he dominated all the Lankan bowlers. The late Tony Greig’s commentary along with his peers on a dusky Hobart was as amazing as ever. Yet again in one of the rare cases, we could see a team winning after 2 batsmen of the opponent hit a hundred, this time India being victorious, after Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan scored centuries for Sri Lanka.

    I remember Adam Gilchrist testing VVS Laxman’s bat when Laxman hit Shane Warne for a six in an ODI at Bangalore, when Australia toured India in 2001. Also a West Indian cricketer was impressed with Yuvraj Singh’s bat when he hit 6 consecutive sixes of Stuart Broad in an over in Durban during the 2007 T20 World Cup. If I were at the presentation ceremony to ask questions to Kohli when he was adjudicated as the player of the match, I would have definitely requested him to show me the bat he used for this knock.

    Also I was thinking how could Kohli hit Malinga’s swinging yorkers with a sling action, to leg side, and also to other parts of the ground for boundaries as he wanted. I had read that Malinga learnt bowling yorkers after he had watched the videos of Pakistani legendary fast bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. It would have been interesting if Kohli had to face Wasim Akram’s and Waqar Younis’ yorkers and so as Malcolm Marshall’s and Joel Garner’s during their prime form. I also thought what would have been Malinga’s thoughts, and preparation for the next matches of the series after having a disappointed day for which he cannot be blamed for.

    I am also keen on seeing Kohli rotating his bat while batting which he is not doing these days much.

    1. Series – Commonwealth Bank Series
    2. Year – 2012
    3. Venue – Bellerive Oval, Hobart
    4. Date – 28th February, 2012
    5. Result – India won
    6. Margin –  7 wickets
    7. Player of the match – Virat Kohli
    8. Series won by – Australia
    9. Player of the series – Tillakaratne Dilshan

    Written on 29th February, 2024

  • Albie Morkel at MCG, 2009, South Africa tour of Australia

    Albie Morkel at MCG, 2009, South Africa tour of Australia

     

    Image courtesy © Getty Images

     

    This match is one of my favourite chases by a visiting team in Australia, and also against Australia. I could see an emerging Albie Morkel who was touted as the next Lance Klusener of South Africa. South Africa had a nail-biting victory. And the commentary of Bill Lawry and Mark Nicholas, with Michael Slater was nothing short of exemplary. Australia was not a weak side either. I never thought South Africa could chase the total successfully when Albie arrived at number 8, but he did it with the help of  a composed Johan Botha who was the skipper.

    Actually I was not that much aware or focussed on the ODI matches when South Africa toured Australia during 2008, though I knew the test matches and watched them diligently in between my professional course examinations. Not surprisingly a friend of mine called me when South Africa was cruising to victory at Perth when they needed 414 at the fourth innings. I replied to him – “hey mate I am watching the match already”.

    I was too sad as Albie could not represent South Africa for a longer run despite his talent. Maybe the proteas could not use his talent good enough to bring more desired results. Or they did not have a think tank who could wisely bring out the best out of him time and again like the captaincy of  MS Dhoni, Shane Warne at IPL, and Hansie Cronje during the heydays of South Africa in the nineties. I still expected a come back for Albie after his disappearance from the international side for a few years. But very strangely that did not happen. Morever, he was not featured in the IPLs too, after his successful performance in the earlier years in IPL.

    I still remember the prodigious hitting power of Albie in IPL matches, along with his tight bowling. Albie was very much on the cards as the next Klusener when he smashed Virat Kohli for 28 runs in a 2012 IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, but like we had witnessed umpteen times in cricket, he could not represent proteas, for a longer and deserving period. He was such a clean, crisp hitter of the cricket ball who could clear even the longer parts of the ground along with his ability as a good bowler either opening the match or coming later. I really wanted and wished his presence in the South African team for at least a dozen of years. But that did not happen. The same was the case when Azhar Mahmood could not represent Pakistan for the time period he deserved, despite being immensely talented.

    If I get a chance to visit Australia, visiting Melbourne Cricket Ground will definitely be there in my wishlist along with some of the scenic train journeys and good food. And I want to sit at the gallery and cherish the memories from great matches like this, and many more. But the first thing I want to recollect from the spectator’s side is the famous six conceded by Rodney Hogg to Viv Richards during West Indies’ tour of Australia in 1979/80 when Richards ferociously deposited a dangerous bouncer from Hogg over the rope, which Michael Holding had described very well in the documentary Fire in Babylon, after Richards being hit by a bouncer, as “and the very next ball he hit it straight out of the ground.”

    1. Series – South Africa tour of Australia
    2. Year – 2008/09
    3. Venue – Melbourne Cricket Ground
    4. Date – 16th January, 2009
    5. Result – South Africa won
    6. Margin –  3 wickets
    7. Player of the match – Albie Morkel
    8. Series won by – South Africa
    9. Player of the series – Albie Morkel

    Written on 26th March, 2023

  • Dale Steyn, 2014 ICC T20 World Cup

    Dale Steyn, 2014 ICC T20 World Cup

     Image courtesy © Getty Images

     

    I am sure most people agree that bowling in T20 matches is a challenge. So definitely bowling against a very strong batting line-up in a batting friendly sub-continent track during death overs is a really difficult task.

    Out of the so many remarkable performances by Dale Steyn, I admire this bowling the most. Because it was against a strong batting line-up of New Zealand in Chittagong and the target was not difficult in a batting friendly track. I still could not figure how Steyn pulled out a victory from the jaws of defeat, especially when he was never used to bowling more on Asian tracks. It is still an arguable topic when it comes to performance of faster bowlers in unfamiliar conditions. Very few could deliver on unfriendly bowling tracks. Certainly Glenn McGrath, Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram and Allan Donald could deliver on any track.

    I remember Allan Donald was rightly adjudged as man of the series for his 17 wickets from 7 matches in the 1996 Titan Cup, because he was phenomenal on Indian tracks which he was not accustomed to. Another similar situation is Malcolm Marshall’s thunderous performance in 1983 when West Indies toured India where he picked up 33 wickets from 6 test matches. I do not know what makes these legends deliver on places that they are not familiar with. Certainly it is not luck, and it is not accidental either. Of Course these players practice a lot relentlessly, then they were immensely gifted too.

    I remember Courtney Walsh giving bowling tips to pupils and he says about gripping the ball cross seamed. And that should be a surprise package to extract more bounce. But surprising batsmen with too many deliveries in an over is an art. When Shaun Pollock retired during 2008, I really felt sad as he still could have played at least till the next World Cup. And the same situation happened in 2013 when Jacques Kallis called it a day. I thought Kallis could have played till 2015 World Cup. Steyn was another player that I wanted to represent South Africa for a little more years. But sadly he retired at a relatively early age when he was still unfinished. I will have to stay their decisions were a little prematured when they still could have gone a long way and offered so much, representing their country proudly.

    Steyn’s run-up, bowling action, pace, bounce and charging were too good on any ground. Also he was one of the few faster bowlers who had used the bowling wrist too effectively.

    It would have been an interesting question if Steyn had to bowl to Viv Richards and Adam Gilchrist during their peak time. I will not say the bowler or the batsman in question respectively will dominate the other every single time, but it will be even across battles as rightly pointed out by Mark Nicholas so many times when he had answered the great battles between Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall in English County cricket, when Nicholas had the privilege to proudly witness so many matches as a player, captain and spectator.

     

    1. Series – ICC T20 World Cup, Bangladesh
    2. Year – 2014
    3. Venue – Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
    4. Date – 24th  March, 2014
    5. Result – South Africa won
    6. Margin –  2 runs
    7. Player of the match – JP Duminy
    8. Series won by – Sri Lanka
    9. Player of the series – Virat Kohli

     

    Written on 15th April, 2022

     

     

     

     

  • Bevo

    Bevo

    Image Courtesy © Getty Images

     

    Batting average is something cricket viewers have been pondering whenever they watch or talk about cricket. An average in excess of fifty is considered really good in test cricket and for one day internationals anything in excess of forty is good.  But an average which is very high make it exceptional. Like sixty plus in tests and fifty plus in ODIs.

    At a time when few batsmen had forty plus average in ODIs and very few had averages that touched mid forties only Michael Bevan of Australia had an ODI average of fifty plus consistently. When we consider the time Bevan represented Australia, it makes really outstanding. I always admired Bevan’s average like his technique, composure, fitness, running between the wickets and finisher’s role.  Due to the easier ODI rules now, we see more batsmen having fifty plus average.

    We friends used to talk a lot about Bevan’s batting average during our school days. And the remembrances go on and on as always. Bevan’s 185 not out against Asian XI when he represented World XI in 2000, his last ball four against Roger Harper to take Australia to victory in the Benson & Hedges World Series at Sydney in 1996, his slow left arm bowling, his knocks against England and New Zealand respectively in the 2003 World Cup, he used Puma bats like Adam Gilchrist etc. But what particularly struck me is his role in India on three different occasions that changed the complexion of a series.

    When India, Australia and Zimbabwe played Pepsi Triangular Series in 1998, India had comfortably entered the final after winning all their four league matches. In the final India lost to Australia at Delhi by four wickets with eight balls remaining, thanks to Bevan’s 75 not out and 2 catches. His 87 not out against India at Margao in 2001 during the decider of the last match of the five match bilateral series after both teams had registered two victories each was another four wicket victory for Australia with twelve balls remaining. The third one is at Eden Gardens in 2003 during the final of the TVS Cup Tri Series that also featured New Zealand. On a tricky Eden track yet again Bevan delivered and he was not out on 40 when Australia batted first. India could not chase the relatively smaller target of 236 and was all out for 198 and Bevan gifted a victory to the Aussies in the final, this time by 37 runs. I was truly shocked and mesmerized to see all the above said performances of Michael Bevan in entirely different atmosphere for a player who came from Down Under. On three different occasions he took his team to victory in the finals against India from the sight of defeat.

    Surprisingly Bevan could not represent Australia in the longer format of the game successfully.

     

     

    Written on July 26, 2020.

  • When Hashim Amla bid adieu

    When Hashim Amla bid adieu

    Image Courtesy © Getty Images

    If there are cricketers without being power hitters that I had watched and being amazed, then the first person on that list will be Hashim Amla. Amla made batting look very simple with his elegant stroke play. His deft touches and placement were exclusive. Eventhough I remember most matches played by visiting teams in India, I did not notice that Amla made his test debut against India when the Proteas toured India during 2004. The first time I really noticed him was when he broke a few ODI batting records of none other than Sir Vivian Richards.  During the better part of Amla’s ODI career he had a strike rate of ninety and an average of fifty five plus which was exceptional.

    Amla made his ODI debut late compared to his tests, but the impact he had as an opener in ODIs was huge for his team whether it was chasing or batting first. Amla took very few innings to score most of his ODI centuries and that too without showing too much arrogance in shot making. Most of the ODI hundreds scored by Amla were the quickest in terms of innings and a few of them were broken only by Virat Kohli. He was also highly successful in tests and T20s.

    Earlier the likes of Mark Waugh, Rahul Dravid, Damien Martin, Aravinda de Silva etc were so elegant to watch without being power hitters and technically correct but in an era when the bat dominated ball, Amla took on bowlers and was highly productive in shot making without being a power hitter. His wrist work and timing were too good against any bowling attack.

    It was really tough for any player to be an ODI opener of the Proteas team since they always had very good players who opened the batting and delivered most of the times. I think Amla started opening in ODIs for the Proteas during the latter part of Herschelle Gibbs’ career and it was a very tough job for any player in that position, but he did it wonderfully. But like many great Proteas players, Amla too retired without being a part of a team that could not win any major and ICC tournament titles. I still believe he had so much to offer to the South African team though his form had faded recently.

    Written on August 20, 2019.