When God Retires....

On 16th November 2013, an unforgettable event occurred in cricketing history. Just one day after his historic debut 24 years ago, the God of Cricket retired from all formats of competitive cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest players of the game of cricket bid adieu to Cricket. There are unbeaten records to his name. Some examples are:
1. Most number of runs in the history of cricket. (34,357 runs)
2. Maximum number of international centuries. (100 centuries)
3. Most number of matches played by any player. (664 matches)
There are many more. This blog is too small to accommodate all of them.

Sachin Tendulkar was a young lad, 16 years old when he made his debut for India. He started playing cricket at the age of 11, as a punishment from his brother Ajit Tendulkar. There, at the coaching club, he met Ramakant Achrekar or Achrekar Sir, Tendulkar’s first coach. From that moment, he fell in love with the game. He would go to Shivaji Park every day, first batting in three different nets, then batting for some time, then taking throw downs from his friends and then batting again in different nets before finally hitting the sack.
You might have read the word ‘batting’ in the above lines many times. This was Sachin Tendulkar’s life. Batting, batting and batting. Yuvraj Singh has written in his book, that first his life was cricket, cricket and cricket. Then, after cancer, his life was cricket, cricket and cancer. It was similar with Sachin, just there was no change in the three words.
The magic that started right from his debut innings when the little boy faced the fierce attack by Wasim Akrams, Imran Khans and Waqar Younises of the world; and continued till his last innings at the Wankhede. What happened in between is possibly the biggest history created by any individual on a cricket field. When the Little Master retired there were tears in everyone’s eyes. But the tears were of joy, not sadness. He had inspired a generation of players and people, inspiring them to play for India and giving them the belief that Indians can beat other countries in their own backyard, not only at home.
This is his retirement speech:

Now comes perhaps the biggest question in Indian cricket history: Who after Tendulkar? There are many talented young batsmen in the Indian squad, like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara in Test cricket. But none of them can fill the boots of Sachin Tendulkar. Many fans have said that Virat Kohli is the replacement for Tendulkar, but Virat Kohli is still struggling in Test cricket. Some say Cheteshwar Pujara, but he still has not been tested on foreign soil and not even in One-Day cricket. Some say Shikhar Dhawan, but he is still in the start of his career. And some say Rohit Sharma, but even he has just started his Test career. We will have to see how these batsmen fare in the upcoming South Africa tour.
Rest assured, I bid adieu again to Sachin Tendulkar for inspiring so many generations of people. As it is said, God can retire from the field, but he will never retire from our hearts. 

The Mumbai Indians’ massive win over the Delhi Daredevils

When the fans of Mumbai came to the Wankhede on 9th April 2013 for the match, they expected home boy Sachin Tendulkar and legend Ricky Ponting to blast up the innings against Delhi. But this is what they saw:

Ricky opened up the batting with Sachin Tendulkar after choosing to bat first. He came on strike. He defended the first five balls of the first over, and wanted to go over the fielder to relieve the pressure, but instead popped it into the hands of Mahela Jayawerdene. Ponting dismissed for a duck. In came man-in-form Dinesh Kartik.

Tendulkar ran a run, Dinesh on strike. He hit a shot, but Sachin was desperate for a run. Kartik said no, but too late. Mahela saw this confusion, and hit a direct throw to direct Tendulkar back to the pavilion. When the umpire went for the review, Sachin, being a good judge, already knew that he was out. More disappointment for the Mumbai fans. In came Rohit Sharma.

Dinesh Kartik and Rohit Sharma put on a solid partnership which had three stages: Delhi dominating, to both the teams having an equal share, to Mumbai dominating and Mumbai maintained that position till the end of the match. Back at the game, Dinesh was smashing the bowlers for sixes, fours, everything. He reached his fifty in no time. It was as if he was well on his way to a century, but he misjudged a Morne Morkel ball to hand his wicket in to Jeevan Mendis on 86. The danger man gone.

In came Pollard. He got out on 13. In came Ambati Rayudu. In the one over that he played, he scored 21 runs. The bowler was Ashish Nehra. Then Rohit Sharma reached a magnificent fifty. He remained not out on 74. The Mumbai Indians reached a mammoth score of 209. Delhi needed 210 runs to win.

On the first ball, Unmukt Chand would be very disappointed as he was at the receiving end of an unbelievable catch by Ricky Ponting which defiled all age and logic. He was 40, but that catch barely showed that he was 40. Then Delhi collapsed like a pack of cards to be bundled up for 165. Mumbai enjoyed a 44-run win over DD. Mumbai also reached first position in the IPL standings. Good for Mumbai! Go Mumbai Go!!!!!

The Famous ‘Third’ Win

India enjoyed the famous Third test win against Australia. But it was not easy as in the previous two Tests. Australia at least put up a fight in this test. This was greatly because it was not the same pitch as in the previous Tests. This pitch favored pacers and it was green, so it was a swinging pitch. Australia won the toss again and chose to bat first. Australia’s batting showed its true potential as the openers Ed Cowan and David Warner put on a solid partnership and both scored above 50 runs. It looked as if Australia were coming back into the game, before Jadeja, India’s top left arm spinner, got David Warner back into the pavilion by getting him out on a beauty which was caught by Dhoni behind the stumps. Then came Clarke, star for Australia in the previous two Tests. He looked to attack from the first ball, but played down the wrong line, getting out stumped by Jadeja on Clarke’s very first ball. Australia in some trouble, and Jadeja on a hat-trick.

Phil Hughes got out on 2. In came one more debutante and one more rescue act, Steven Smith. The old rusty, unbeatable batting of Australia shone through him. Brad Haddin made a useful contribution, adding 21 runs to the score. Moises Henriques and Peter Siddle got out on zero runs, while Smith was playing a solid game at the other end. In came another rescue act, in the form of Mitchell Starc. They strung a solid partnership till the end of the day, a day which was shared as India took many wickets, at the same time, and Australia put on good runs in the last two sessions of play. India seriously needed a wicket the next day.
India failed to get a wicket in the starting moments of play, but beat the two Australian batsmen on the crease many times. Then came the prized wicket by the prized bowler: Pragyan Ojha. He put a good ball before getting Steven Smith out stumped on a score of 92. Australia became really depressed now.  Ojha had given the necessary breakthrough at the needed time, and the Australians now knew that it was just a matter of time before the Indians ran through the remaining Australian batting order. In the meanwhile, Starc got to his maiden Test half-century under pressure, and kept the runs coming. But his end was near. After deceiving him for two deliveries, Ishant Sharma finally got him out caught by Dhoni when Starc was on 99. What a turn of events! After the final wicket, Australia were on a massive but achievable 408. India’ turn to bat now.
Dhoni gave Shikhar Dhawan a Test debut in place of the under-performing Sehwag. He did not fail to impress. He was always ahead of the number of runs than the number of balls faced. He was ably supported by Murali Vijay who was also playing good. They put on a solid partnership before Nathan Lyon got him out on a beauty on a score of 187. In came the last Test’s hero, Cheteshwar Pujara. He got out unfairly when a mistake by the umpire caused him his wicket. In came The Little Master. He put on flurry of boundaries before getting out on the last ball before lunch off a Steve Smith delivery. Then came Virat Kohli. Then Vijay got out lbw off a Mitchell Starc and got out after playing a magnificent knock of 153 runs. Then Kohli went on to register his half century while the other batsmen after him collapsed like a pack of cards. India got all out on 499 runs, a lead of 91 runs.

In Australia’s second innings, except Phil Hughes’ 69, nobody played a worthy knock, mainly because of India’s superior bowling. The Aussies got out on 223.

India wound up the innings, with Captain Dhoni hitting the winning runs, which were 3 continuous fours. India had gained a 3-0 unassailable lead in the series, which had never happened to Australia in the last 48 years. Debutant Shikhar Dhawan got the prestigious ‘Man of the Match’ trophy for his fastest hundred ever by any Test batsman, off 85 balls! This was sweet revenge for India, and a red alert for Australia in the upcoming Ashes.
Truly ENTERTAINING!! 

India’s second Test win against the Aussies

In my last blog I had written about India’s formidable win against the Aussies but this one takes the cake. India won this match comfortably by an innings and 135 runs. India was never in a state of intense trouble except for the partnership between Michael Clarke and Matthew Wade. Now let’s start.

Australia won the toss and brought in their openers Ed Cowan and David Warner to start. As for the changes, India maintained the winning team of the first Test with no changes, whereas Australia dropped pacer Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon to give a debut to Xavier Doherty and IPL’s million dollar baby Glenn Maxwell. As the spinners had dominated the last match, it was not so in this match.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar proved that he is a guaranteed swinger by picking up the first three wickets of David Warner, Ed Cowan and Shane Watson in quick succession. In came skipper Michael Clarke and Phil Hughes. Like in the first match, Phil looked clueless against the spinners and especially against Ashwin. The young offie once again proved that he is India’s top spinner and has the ability to take wickets anywhere, everywhere, anytime and every time. He dismissed Hughes. Then came wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade. Both of them put on a solid partnership to get the Aussies some control of the match. Both went on to register their half-centuries. Then Wade got out after he gave Sehwag an easy catch at slip at a beauty bowled by Ashwin. The other batsmen did not persist much whereas Michael Clarke played the captain’s innings again by missing narrowly on century as he was bowled on a beauty by Jadeja. The Aussies, surprisingly declared their innings on 237/9. India had to chase 237 runs to get a lead.

India’s openers Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay took guard. Sehwag got out early on 6 and came in the New Wall Cheteshwar Pujara. Vijay and Pujara started off slowly and built on steadily. Slowly they freed their arms and began to play the shots. It looked like a competition between Pujara and Vijay: Who will get to a century first? Finally it was Pujara who won the battle as he reached to his hundred much earlier than expected. There was no stopping him now. He wanted the next big milestone. Vijay had taken the defensive mode for his last 20 to10 runs before his hundred, so he was just rotating the strike. The boundaries kept coming in substantial measure for Vijay, but they were a regular in Pujara’s choice of shots. Pujara got out on a massive 204 while Vijay got out on a controlled 167. The pair put on a partnership of 370 runs, just 6 runs behind the highest partnership of 376 runs put on by Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. In that partnership, VVS was the dominator. In this Test, Pujara was the dominator. The rest of the Team barely had to do anything and they did mostly nothing to contribute to the score of 503/10 by India.

India hoped to finish the Test in Day 4 itself. And they really did. The Aussies were all out for 133 runs and India won the second Test match against Australia. Ashwin again took 5 wickets. He is turning out to be the best player in this Test Series. Cheteshwar Pujara won the prestigious Man of the Match award. India now lead the four Test-series by 2-0.

Source of Statistics: CricBuzz

India defeats the "Formidable" Aussies

India had a lot to celebrate as Dhoni and Co won the first Test match against Australia. This Series is the annually held Border- Gavaskar Trophy. It has a very rich history. One such historic moment is Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman’s magnificent partnership against Australia in their own backyard. But since this India’s first major Series without the magic of The Wall and Mr. Dependable, the media has given this series the tagline “Asli Test Baaki Hain” and they are indeed true. The new Team India has some very talented young batsmen like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane and bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma. They also have all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja. Though they do not have much experience, they have pure talent. Australia also has an inexperienced team, with Captain Michael Clarke being the only experienced Test batsman.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. Many were surprised by this decision as the Chepauk pitch had a lot of vicious spin and was a rank turner. Dhoni also surprised everyone by bringing the spinners to bowl with the new ball, not the pacers. But it worked like a charm. Ashwin ran straight through the Australian batting order, picking up 7 wickets before Micheal Clarke and Test debutant Moises Henriques put on a good partnership. Clarke scored a controlled 130 while Henriques scored a patient 68 before Henriques succumbed to Ashwin’s and the Chepauk’s dangerous spin. After that Michael Clarke misjudged a short ball by Ashwin and got out Lbw. India wrapped up Australia for 380.

India’s openers Virendra Sehwag and Murali Vijay failed to make an impact. After them Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara put on a brief partnership before Pujara got out on 44. In came the Little Master. Sachin and Kohli weaved their magic together to create a good partnership before Sachin missed out on a 101th hundred when he got out bowled by Nathan Lyon on 81. In came Captain Cool MS Dhoni. Kohli and he put on a solid partnership. In this partnership, Dhoni and kohli kept the runs coming at regular intervals. Kohli registered his 5th Test century and his 2nd against Australia. Then Kohli got out. Ravindra Jadeja did not much an impact. Nor did Ravichandran Ashwin or Harbhajan Singh. Then entered Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Dhoni kept the runs coming and Kumar ably supported him. They put on a 100-plus partnership. Ironically, Kumar scored around 15 runs while Dhoni did the rest. When Dhoni got out, he was on 224.
In Australia’s second innings, they barely managed to score 188 runs before Henriques and Lyon denied India an innings win. But both succumbed to the vicious spin of the Chepauk.

India needed just 50 runs to win. But again the openers failed. But the Little Master came in and smashed 2 sixes to hand India a comfortable win. Dhoni was adjudged ‘Man Of The Match’ because of his top-class innings and amazing captaincy.
Important Points the Match:
• A dangerously spinning track.
• Ashwin picks up 12 wickets.
• Tendulkar in splendid form, 81 in the 1st and sixes of first 2 balls in the second innings.
• Virat Kohli sizzles; scores 103 runs.
• Dhoni notches up high score and first double – hundred.
• One of the rare Indian matches where spinners have taken all the wickets.
• Michael Clarke’s century in vain as The Men In Blue defeat the “Formidable” Aussies.