The way ahead for Indian cricket after sachin.

 The date 16 November 2013 will be remembered as  a red letter day in the history of Indian cricket.  Arguably Indian’s greatest ever sportsman leave alone cricketer a certain Sachin RameshTtendulkar  played his last day of cricket for team india, thus ending a glittering and an astonishing career spanning  a colossal 24 years. A fairy tale ending was not  in store  nevertheless he showed glimpses of vintage Sachin by playing the back foot punch, the on drive and his trademark straight drive back past the bowler in his fluent innings of 74 runs. His legendary farewell speech gave glimpses of what a truly humble, and a down to earth man he really is. He did not forget anybody who had helped and supported him in his stupendous journey.

So finally the incredible journey has finished ,, a journey which took a  boy wonder who faced the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis at the age of 16 to the greatest batsman of the modern era over a staggering period of 24 years. When Tendulkar started his career in 1989, india was not a  team to be reckoned with and now when he is passing on the baton to the youngers, the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara, India has become one of the top teams of world cricket. The team under Dhoni  has been winning  more often than not in all forms of the game since the past year or so.. The team has found a new age confidence with these players actually believing that they can win a match from any situation. For 24 long years Tendulkar has been an integral part of a dressing room and all the youngsters have actually learnt and benefitted just from watching the great man prepare for matches day in and day out.

Now Indian cricket must move forward  as that is the only way forward in the lives of professional sportsmen. While we can rekindle the amazing memories which the maestro has given us, a question lingers in  my mind. What  should  Indian cricket and India at large  learnt from Sachin Tendulkar.  I think there are  several aspects which Indian cricket can and must learn from the great man. The first thing which strikes all of us who have seen Tendulkar even from distant quarters as fans is his persona which has been fiercely competitive on the field and at the same time his off the field persona has been  an even greater source of inspiration for the youth of this sport. Here is a man who played 4-5 matches throughout the day at the age of 13 -14 and combined with his extraordinary ability and talent it was the sheer hard work and determination to succeed at any level which has made him the cricketer which he is today. As far as the longevity of the career is concerned, there are many who felt he should have quit the game after winning the world cup in 2011, but very few people observed the statements which he made  a year after, when he said that if he had quit after 2011, everybody would have just talked about his retirement and he would have become the single focus of the nation at a point when India had won the world cup after a gap of 28 years and being the ultimate team man, he did not want anybody to take the credit away from his fellow teammates who had equally worked hard to win the coveted trophy. This incident to me typifies the man and what he thinks about his team.

 For over 2  decades Tendulkar has been part of the Indian dressing room and  just his presence has been a huge comforting factor for the entire team. There have been instances when in spite of his poor form, he has still proven to be an asset  for the team and has guided the team along the rough times. .Even the appointment of  Dhoni as Indian skipper was triggered off by Tendulkar who had suggested his name for the captaincy. The Indian youngsters will do well to learn how to maximise the precocious talent  into  consistent performances over a long period of a career. Not only has he succeeded in fulfilling the immense expectations of the fans alike, but also has remained a very grounded individual off the field . players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma must  take cue from his off field demeanour. It is indeed very surprising to find out that, over this 24 year career Sachin has managed to remain away from any major controversy which in itself speaks volumes about his nature and conduct.

 India will not miss Tendulkar the batsman in ODI’s  as they will in the longer formats of the game. The current one day team is in magnificent form winning almost every major tournaments  home and away .It is in the test matches where his services as one of the best no 4 batsman which will be hugely missed. The current Indian test team has a very young look with Kohli, Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Rahane all establishing themselves . the challenge for these young batsmen will be to score match winning knocks outside the Indian subcontinent. These batsmen will be tested in South Africa next month and they have to embark on tough overseas tours like new Zealand and England next year. Tendulkar all these years has been a colossus scoring prolifically   against all attacks home and away at remarkable consistency. Indian cricket will do itself a big favour if it has a major role for Tendulkar  if he remains associated with the game in some form like  in mentoring of the youngsters. I personally would want Tendulkar to take a clear stand on contentious issues involving Indian cricket because this is one area which i feel he has been found wanting over the course of his career as his words will carry a lot of credibility and weight in Indian cricket. Indian cricket may not produce another Tendulkar ever but if it creates a culture where a player has the ability to be committed and focussed as Tendulkar while doing justice to his talent, then Indian cricket will have moved a notch forward.

Greatest test knocks by Indian batsmen part 2

                       

While in my last article  i had rekindled memories  of some of the greatest test innings played by Indian batsmen, just selecting top 5 knocks , i thought does not do justice to the long list of heroic deeds performed by Indian batsmen at the test level. So i would like to put focus on another 5 of finest  knocks played by some of the greatest Indian batsmen.

6) Rahul Dravid’s 148 at Headingley against England in 2002. -  This was the 3^rd test of the series where England led India by 1-0 winning the lords test comfortably and India managing to draw   the high scoring test at Nottingham.  The teams headed to Headingley which is known for its bowler friendly conditions and a lively pitch awaited the Indian team. India won the toss and skipper Ganguly opted to bat first on a pitch which had a fair amount of grass cover and his decision raised a few eyebrows considering the question marks on the ability of the Indian batsmen to cope in bowler friendly conditions overseas. India lost sehwag early in the 7^th over and out came Dravid , certainly the perfect batsmen  when it came to negotiating  tough  conditions out in the middle. Dravid and Sanjay Bangur forged a terrific partnership where both of them played very patiently which was the need of the hour  respecting the conditions quite skilfully. The feature of Dravid.s knock was his ability to play very late  and there were some hostile spells from the likes of Flintoff and company. England had the bowling arsenal which was suited to the swinging conditions, with the likes of Caddick, Alex Tudor and Mathew haggard  but Dravid conquered all conditions and emerged out victorious in this trial by fire.  Dravid  scored a magnificent 148  runs and century partnerships  along with Bangur and Tendulkar certainly paved the way for a mammoth first innings total.  After Dravid was dismissed , Tendulkar and Ganguly joined in the party and added 249 runs of a mere 60 overs flaying the English attack all over.  This was the only instance  in test cricket where the holy trinity of the  Indian batting line up namely Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly all scored test tons in the same innings. India scored a massive 628 /8  and won the test match quite comfortably  by an innings and 46 runs despite a stoic resistance from English batsmen. After following on. Even though 3 Indian batsmen scored a century in the  first innings, it was the innings of Dravid which paved way for a huge Indian score and laid the foundation for Tendulkar and Ganguly to lay their hands on the English bowling. The fact that Dravid  scored this  knock in tough  batting conditions  overseas which contributed to a very remarkable  win at Headingley is what makes this knock all the more wonderful.

7 )  Sachin Tendulkar.s 136 against Pakistan  at Chennai 1999. – The arch rivals India and Pakistan  were playing  a test series on Indian soil after a long gap of 12 years. Chennai.s M A Chidambaram stadium was the venue for the first  of the 2 test match series. It was a typical Chennai track favouring spinners with the ball turning viciously and rearing off the pitch. Pakistan batted first but lost wickets at regular intervals . Anil Kumble took 6 wickets and  only Yousuf Youhana and  Moin khan  scored half centuries as Pakistan folded up for a mere 238 runs.  Even India did not bat  well and barring Dravid and Ganguly who scored gritty half centuries India could manage 254 runs leading Pakistan on first innings by 16 runs. Saqlain Mushtaq  took a magnificent 5 wicket haul. The Pakistani second innings was dominated by Shahid Afridi.s whirlwind century a brilliant 141 runs and  Venkatesh Prasad helped restrict Pakistan by taking 6 wickets. Pakistan led by 270 runs and set India a difficult target of 271 runs which considering the pitch conditions and the quality bowling line up of Pakistan was never going to be  an easy target. India lost early wickets as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis rocked India early.  India was reeling at 82 / 5 when Sachin Tendulkar and Nayan Mongia forged together a useful century stand which brought India back in to the game. Tendulkar not only had to fight the tough pitch conditions and the awesome bowling line up but his back pain had flared up in the midst of his heroic innings. The pain and agony through which Tendulkar was going through was very  painstaking to see. Every time he stretched  forward  or rocked back, he was experiencing tremendous pain. Finally Mongia lost his patience and left Tendulkar a mountain to climb considering the Indian tail was as brittle as sand. Battling excruciating  back pain Tendulkar scored one of the finest knocks at Chepauk and finally in trying to score quick runs mistimed a shot off Saqlain Mushtaq  and holed out at long off and Saqlain cleaned up the tail leading Pakistan  to a historic win by 12 runs. For sheer courage and determination this is easily one of the most heroic knocks played by an Indian batsman.

 8 ) Sunil Gavaskar’s 221 against England at oval 1979 -  The fourth test of the 1979 series against England saw the Indians play at the historic Kennington oval ground.  England batted first and never really looked like  getting a huge first innings total . eventually with  half centuries from Graham Gooch and Peter Willey, eventually England managed to post a respectable 305 runs . India lost quick wickets and was never in the hunt of surpassing the English total in the 1^st innings. Barring Vishwanath, none of the batsmen could settle against English pacers and India folded for 202 runs a sizeable lead of 103 runs for the home team. In the 2^nd innings, on the back of Geoff boycott’s wonderful 125 runs, England managed to score 334 runs leaving india to score a mammoth 438 runs in the last innings. Despite the oval track being flat, it was a daunting target and unless somebody played an absolute blinder, it was a near impossible task. India started very well and the opening pair of Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan put on 213 runs for the opening wicket.  Chetan Chauhan was unlucky to miss a well deserved hundred and was dismissed for 80 runs. Gavaskar meanwhile carried on and put on a century partnership with Vengsarkar. India was well on its way  at 366/1  and needed just 72 runs with 9 wickets in hand. Gavaskar was in sublime touch and his concentration was unflappable. Gavaskar always relished such challenges and scored a masterful double hundred when the team was in need of a big score. After Vengsarkar was dismissed, however panic set in the Indian ranks and Kapil Dev and  Yashpal Sharma were promoted in the batting order to score quick runs as the asking  run rate was increasing. India lost quick wickets and after Gavaskar fell for a heroic 221 runs, India could not chase down the target and fell agonisingly short by just 9 runs. India ended with 429 /8  and the match was drawn. Gavaskar had given india  more than a sniff chasing such a massive target.

9)  V V S Laxman’s 96 against south Africa at Durban in 2010 -  India had lost the 1^st test at centurion on the tour of south Africa in dec 2010.  A fast and bouncy pitch awaited India at the Kingsmead ground in Durban. Batting first, India lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually folded up for a mere 205 runs. Dale Steyn was the  tormentor in chief taking 6 for 50. The wicket was very lively and Steyn indeed exploited the conditions to the fullest. South Africa’s reply was even worse and all the Indian bowlers chipped in with wickets skitling the home team for a poultry 131 runs. In India’s 2^nd innings, wickets again fell regularly and with the exception of Laxman, who was looking rock solid at one end there was hardly anybody who played responsibly, some of the batsmen throwing away their wickets. Amidst all the conundrum Laxman was in sublime touch scoring freely off quick bowlers . eventually he was unfortunate to miss a great century and was dismissed off Steyn for a masterly 96 runs. India was dismissed for 228 leaving south Africa with 303 runs to win in the last innings. The Indian pacers, likes of Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth bowled well in tandem and eventually led India to victory by 87 runs dismissing the Proteas for 215 runs. The fact that Durban always had been a losing ground for india makes this innings of Laxman all the more worthy.

 10)  Dilip Vengsarkar’s 103 against England at lords in 1979  -  This series against England in the summer of 1979 witnessed another classic knock from one of the finest Indian batsman Dilip Vengsarkar.  In the first innings itself India was rocked early by  a certain Ian Bothom and never really recovered from the spell and was all out for 96 runs, with Bothom picking up a well deserved 5 wicket haul. England replied with a healthy 419 and led India by a huge margin of 323 runs.  India had a good start in the 2^nd innings and after Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan had added 79 runs, Chauhan was dismissed and 20 runs later Gavaskar left with score at 99.  Dilip Vengsarkar and G R Vishwanath were at the crease and even during the 4th day, the wicket was doing a fair amount for the pace bowlers. Vengsarkar had always enjoyed   playing at Lords and he along with Vishwanath showed a lot of mettle to take India out of the jaws of defeat. The duo added 210 runs for the 3^rd wicket and by the time he and Vishwanath left, Vengsarkar had guided India to safety and the match was eventually drawn. The circumstances under which Vengsarkar played is what makes this innings one of the best.