grreat games of cricket

From Loyal Noughts to Royal Knights overnight…

Yesterday’s NOBODY becomes today’s SOMEBODY and EVERYBODY wants to be this SOMEBODY for ANYBODY to see.

The most recent NOBODY converting his religion to SOMEBODY that EVERYBODY knows, was Ian Bradshaw… a total stranger to many, now a household name…

For ODI cricket this conversion factor from an unknown to a Known-to-all is not new! This has been happening right over these fine years..

Cricketfundas would like to relive for the benefit of the readers, the stories of these guys on their super day out. When cricket reached its finest moments, the heights of its glory:

The Viv Richards Story: World Cups 1975, 1979 and thereafter

Purely in the side for his fielding… that was something really amazing in those days, talking about a quarter of a century ago. Sir Vivian Isaac Alexander Richards… that is a name associated with batting, and plundering runs at will. But when he first came into a WI side known better for the quick mean bowlers spitting fire, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts… he wasn’t such a great batsman.. He did not impress anyone really. People wondered why at all pick this ragamuffin with a beard! But fate has other ideas for people.. His fielding was outstanding in the World Cup of 1975 and 1979.. TWO Run OUTS was all it took for him to arrive in international cricket. Later on, he let his batting do all the talking… and his bat sure has the gift of the gab.. His sheer arrogance, no mercy for the bowlers.. All hallmark of this commanding Chevalier.

The story of that last ball sixer: Javed Miandad

Well, one ball to go, six runs for a win; that leaves almost all of us stumped with questions of our abilities to heave that one ball over the fielders caps and hands.. And safely outside the boundary ropes.. Hearts will thump at that moment, race the 100 meters dash looking for answers about what stroke to play, how to play that, and create all sorts of doubts about oneself.. Not one Guy: Mr. Cool Headed Guy who answers very arrogantly to the name of Javed Miandad. And way back in the 1986 Australasia Cup when Pakistan needed a Four off one single delivery, he pummeled that bowler Chetan Sharma, (who incidentally features in this series) for all the nightmares in a packed Sharjah Stadium… that stroke defied all odds of a win with a sixer.. That was the rarest occasions, that in the hour of need that a player had done it. That launched him into the world of ODI Cricket.. Opening a new chapter of playing the slog overs, not caring for the name on the bowler’s shirt, not caring for what reputation they hold until hurling that one final ball! His exploits in the World Cups are only too well known.. In a league game against England in the 1987 World Cup is only part of folklore.. When he openly challenged the Umpire’s decision. And finally, he had the tenacity to imitate a jumping Kiran More in the 1992 Indo Pakis clash in the World Cup. He is the picture of fearlessness in the extreme right frame!

The Great Indian Hat Trick

Well, folks, we have heard of the Great Rope Trick, done by the fakirs of India. Whether that is a reality, I do not know, but there was one Indian Hat trick way back in the glorious 1987 Reliance World Cup. This did not involve a Hat nor did a fakir do it. A bearded Chetan Sharma created magic against three batsmen who decided: they came, they saw, and they were conquered by three magic balls hurled by Chetan Sharma. In the space of three balls, such a miniscule time period of say, 5 minutes, he had grabbed and gripped the minds of many of us, right from toddlers to the elderly grandpas and grandmas… all raising their voices like the glee of a hungry goat which just found the finest blade of grass to munch! Indian Cricket came alive.. A new star is here with a small talisman that reads “first Hat trick by an Indian” on one side, and “first World Cup hat trick” on the flip side. Chetan did an Indian Vini, vici and vidi??? (Julius Caesar said that phrase after capturing Gaul, and it means, “I came, I saw, and I conquered”!)

A new ball bowler: Aqib Javed

Pakistan has the uncanny knack of launching their super fast bowlers even in big matches. An India Pakistan match is the ideal situation for a new hero to launch himself. That is the passion, the glory, and one’s finest moment to bask in the sunlight, the limelight.
Aqib Javed was no player one will think of at any point of time as a legend, a show stopper… but that one dayer at Sharjah turned the spotlight.. The lights, camera and Go-get-‘em kind of approach.. With as many as seven wickets for a mere 37 runs, this 19-year-old guy from the gallis of Pakistan struck it rich. Well, that’s not quite the whole picture: that had a hat trick of the Big THREE of Indian Cricket… 3 cricketers who are pure Legends: Ravi Shastri, Mohamed Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar. (All three lbw, which is also a first of its kind for hat tricks!) From a total nobody, he became a FrontPage newspaper item. That is why this game gets all the glory. That is why this game is so queer, so unique.. So unpredictable.. An underdog has its day and say time and again!

Jonty Rhodes, the Flying Machine

Just talking about this great fielder leaves me awestruck… He is the games greatest fielder ever. And with his heroics first up in the World Cup game versus Pakistan 1992 world cup, he announced his name to all the newspapers all across the world. His photos were best sellers and still are… just purely played for his amazing, gravity defying, acrobatic fielding.. One would love to travel the entire world to see his catches, or just his stops at backward point…. Later he settled in as a middle order batsman. But that first time as SuperMan was truly spectacular… as he threw himself onto the stumps to race a not-so-fat Inzamam (1992). Truly memorable moment in anyone’s life to see that one scene any number of times!


Boundaries in the dark – 1: Hrishikesh Kanitkar

Well mates, time for a bedtime story… well not really, but that was so dark on that day in January 1998, the little ones could have been tucked away in bed..
Well it was India versus Pakistan for a summit clash at the Bangladesh 25th Independence year celebrations.. A tri Series involving these archrivals and hosts Bangladesh. Pakistan had put up a steadfast 312, and India needed to chase that for a world record and the title. The start was brisk (an understatement, as Sachin tore open every bowler for a 40 off 25 balls!) the score steadied and due to slow over rate by Pakis (boasting of many medium pacers!) the match continued into the shadows of the evening. As the light faded more and more, it finally dawned on everyone that floodlights were not available. On a football stadium converted into a cricket stadium, lights were just a few bulbs, looking like streetlights! The match continued though, and it was very exciting. In the end, finally, it was time for a boundary for a win… and Kanitkar, a total newcomer had to face the wily off spin of Saqlain Mushtaq.

And when that white little orb spun from the hand of Saqlain Mushtaq into the dark shadows, a bat swung hard and met the ball in the meat. The sweetest sound for any batsman, and it sounded melodies for the Indian team! The world record for the highest by a team (at that time) chasing successfully!


Boundaries in the dark – 2: Ian Bradshaw

In the same vein, Ian Bradshaw… a Loyal Nobody far less known for any prowess to wield the bat. He would rather wield a shield to protect himself from the meteors in the dark flung at him at astronomical speeds! But he flung himself to face the fire; the bat became a sword; the criss-cross and the cling-clangs! Finally a Knight to face the fire of the Dragons! Cometh forward, thy Hero… and saveth the team! And that he did, like the man on the flying trapeze, he came through the ring of fire… out as a Hero, unconquered! To show that the fire in his belly is more than the fire outside…

In all that darkness, the fire in him was the light to guide him to hit that one final Square Drive… that saved WI Cricket from crumbling like a stuffed crust pizza!


We wish to see more of these great moments… and Cricketfundas will be the first to present these to you… the great fans of cricket.