The SONS of England

- Karthik Narayan

The game of cricket originated in England, or so it was told… but nobody would have believed the Home of Cricket was ever from England, simply with the good-for-nothing performances of England in the World Cup at home in 1999 and shortly thereafter.

But then, everything has changed, the advent of the Gooches, Gowers are all over. There shall be a return of the Botham war dance over a few hat-tricks, the feasting of runs shall yet again begin… and continue to flow till the next cycle starts… or so, did Nostrodamus predict all that?? Does History repeat itself?? Does the tide turn its flow in cycles?? Is that is what is called the turn of the tide??

The history of the Hat-trick in ODIs
The hat-trick is something unique in cricket, simply because it is rare, and it happens to be a bowler’s delight. Consistency over a period of 3 consecutive deliveries simply means that it is not anything short of a miracle. Sustenance over 3 consecutive balls calls for great bowling and it simply belongs only to the people who can turn their arm over and capture the minds of everyone. There is no version of the Hat-trick for batsman!

Over the periods, ever since One day Cricket came into existence, this newfangled art of the bowlers has increased ever so much…. With all the talk about Cricket turning to be a batsman’s game, this has gained ever so much importance like never before!

Ever since the first ever hat-trick by Jalal-ud-Din of Pakistan against the Aussies in 1982-83, there have been 19 such instances of ODI Hat-tricks.

List of hat-tricks
Jalal-ud-Din (Pakistan) v Australia, 1982-83

Bruce Reid (Australia) v New Zealand, 1985-86

Chetan Sharma (India) v New Zealand, 1987-88 ¥

Wasim Akram (Pakistan) v West Indies, 1989-90

Wasim Akram (Pakistan) v Australia, 1989-90

Kapil Dev (India) v Sri Lanka, 1990-91

Aqib Javed (Pakistan) v India, 1991-92

Danny Morrison (New Zealand) v India, 1993-94

Waqar Younis (Pakistan) v New Zealand, 1994-95

Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe, 1996-97

Eddo Brandes (Zimbabwe) v England, 1996-97

Anthony Stuart (Australia) v Pakistan, 1996-97

Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe, 1999 ¥

Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) v Zimbabwe, 2001

Mohammad Sami (Pakistan) v West Indies, 2002

Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) v Bangladesh, 2003 ¥

Brett Lee (Australia) v Kenya, 2003 ¥

James Anderson (England) v Pakistan, 2003

Steve Harmison (England) v India, 2004

¥ = at World Cup

England, as one can say, has not seen much of this GREAT ART of BOWLING 3 magic balls one after another! History would point out that there have never been any sort of England magic in this game so called to have been the home.

When one hears that England has never achieved the Bowler’s Spectacle in this Shortened Game in its 22 year old history of this brand of cricket, it does not really bring any huge frown in the face.. Its well known that they have not really been able to produce it at all.

Test Match hat-tricks by England bowlers

W Bates v Australia (Melbourne) 1882-83

J Briggs v Australia (Sydney) 1891-92

G A Lohmann v S Africa (Port Elizabeth) 1895-96

J T Hearne v Australia (Headingley) 1899

M J C Allom v N Zealand (Christchurch) 1929-30

T W J Goddard v S Africa (Johannesburg) 1938-39

P J Loader v West Indies (Headingley) 1957

D G Cork v West Indies (Old Trafford) 1995

D Gough v Australia (Sydney) 1998-99

Matthew Hoggard v West Indies (Barbados) 2003-04

James AnderSON, a new rookie fast bowler, stamped the arrival of
England in this Holy Book of Magic. One fine match, in 2003, England vs Pakistan at Home, the record was W-W-W at last! With the wicket of Abdul Razzaq, this string of W’s in the scoresheet started.. Caught at midoff by Marcus Trescothick. Speedster Shoaib Akhtar walked in very quickly only to walk back, caught behind by the ‘keeper; the Historical batsman in England History was Mohammad Sami, clean bowled off a good Yorker. Finally, Magic recreated, for England something to cheer about at last.

Yet another English “SON” relived that Special Joy that only a bowler can give… Steve HarmiSON! His Hat-Trick came in the recent Natwest Series against India in September 2004.

The wickets which made all the difference to that scorecard were: Mohammed Kaif, Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra! It was quite unique to see a caught and bowled wicket to complete a hat-trick. I personally haven’t sent much of that!

The SeaSONS have changed! The English Team is once again on the path of glory… and it is high time that the “Fathers of Cricket” learn to appreciate the achievements of the SONs… and create more SONs purely for the benefit of the Magician’s Book.

The rise and fall of an empire

A special feature by Karthik Narayan

A brief history of time tells us that an empire is built and nurtured over a period of time – time that ticks from left to right. Let me take you 30 or more years down in time on the cricket field, sans the Telly rights scandals and the television itself! Timelines will show that this was the rise of an empire of “vampires” set out to suck out the energy levels of the opposition and make them subjugated to their will.

And there were giants, yes, giants in their own rights and with the physique of a toughie, they would walk in and off the cricket field with the nonchalance of a purist enjoyer and yet with the professional kill-‘em attitude. Yes – those Black Magic exponents of the Curse of the Caribbean's!

Right from the days of yore, when Christopher Columbus found “America”, the Caribbeans have always been a power packed unit, it seems. Right from the W’s who ruled the game of batsmanship for many years to the Wes Halls, the Andy Roberts and why not? They came in huge numbers and in an unlimited supply. A never-ending supply of matchwinners is the dream series of any sport.

An all conquering spree began when cricket started in this little island country, and immediately they set out to scorch the world with their wits and carefree attitude always marching towards victory with the ease of a Hawaiian holiday tourist. Everywhere they went, the opposition sat up and saluted them, and naturally that was the reason why they were once dubbed the INVINCIBLES.

When they stamped their arrival in the 1975 world cup, everybody became more aware of the class and the command that this team could generate for themselves with hardcore cricket at its best. On song, they carried with them the world cup, already having become the undisputed world champs now with that solid display of unbreakable string of success. Those only champions could have shown!

And then again, they continued their free willy spree of each and every test playing nation, and when ODI cricket was born with that killer attitude that the winner takes all – along came the second world cup and the West Indians were ready with their skills and raw potent force to impose their impressive wins – unbeaten runs, until after that one starry day-light robbery by Kapil’s Devils in 1983.

If it was Wes Hall and Roberts, Clive Lloyd before, the Vivian Richards, Gus Logie, Patterson, Walsh and Ambroses took over thereafter. And what will the middle eighties the West Indies were mighty! Mighty strong and witty off the field too…

The last of the Mohicans were Ambrose, Walsh and Carl Hooper. Those were the last of the pack, that pack had to get packed off eventually owing to age factors and the young brigade came to fore. Sadly, the young brigade has been rather tame compared to their giant forefathers. They lack that spirit and the fire that the earlier generation had possessed. Not only has the size of the “Giants” have come down, they have also become a lot less known for their on-field exploits.

Lara seems the only batsmen to be called world class and maybe the odd Sarwan and the little Gayle forces now and then provide some solace. Sadly Chandrapaul is not a great performer outside his country – his mass appeal has been in the country. Sadly, the numbers have shrunk down to a handful of consistent performers who spell doom in the hearts of many and bring joy to all of us following this great game.

In the bowling department, nobody really seems to impress; the image of fast bowlers from this very string of islands which reported great fast bowlers have been cut down to size where they cannot name one tall mean fast bowler who is capable of ripping any batting attack to pieces. Now the Caribbean's have made a mess of their own empire and slowly the ages have corrupted the entire empire to small bits and pieces players.

Maybe then the time has come to look ahead and plan the resources. Where have all the fast bowlers who have terrorized the batsmen gone? There hasn’t been a batsman capable of playing spin bowling other than Lara, Sarwan and Chanderpaul. There hasn’t been a reported case of an able spinner in the West Indies squad in ages – not since Carl Hooper bowled his fastish off breaks, and now Gayle follows his footsteps.

Time has come for lifting the Curse of the Caribbean's from upon themselves – time for the authorities and the sports bodies to lift the evil that surrounds themselves and look beyond the next one year and onwards the world cup 2007. I wonder if at all Lara will be around, the way the row over the money distributions and the endorsements goes.

All this has symbolized a Mighty Empire to crumble simply just like that – a force that has been storming the oceans of cricket has subsided into a calm. But is it the calm before a storm? Let us hope so!

Stephen Fleming: The Messiah of New Zealand Cricket

- Karthik Narayan

New Zealand cricket has always been a bowl of surprises for the universal audience, springing up one every now and then, and Stephen Fleming was the surprise unleashed one fine morning in the summer of 1993-94.

When Stephen missed his century on debut against the Indians at Hamilton in 1993-94, he had every reason to feel bad about it. Not simply because it would have been great to get a century on Debut, but the fact is, his First ton in tests took him four long years to arrive. Finally the question was answered, as Fleming had conquered a personal quest that had eluded him for so many years.

A score of 129 against England at Auckland was a huge sigh of relief for Fleming. If Test hundreds at the end of the career are the judge of a good batsman, then Fleming will not figure in that prominent list. However, one has to consider that he has the potential to much more than what he has shown so far. Few other centuries have come, including a mega show of 274* in the first test against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2003, which was a tremendous effort, keeping in mind that much has been written about Sri Lankan spin tracks, and the New Zealand players not being good players of spin.

Fleming is New Zealand’s most capped player in tests with 85 tests, surpassing Martin Crowe recently when New Zealand toured Bangladesh on Oct 26, 2004. This 31 year old also has become the highest run aggregator for New Zealand when he crossed Martin Crowe on that very day, that ever-mercurial captain of the 1990s. Fleming is in the traditional mould, with the hands upright, the knees bent, and the follow through of a batsman in the traditional mould. He would not be an exciting batsman in the mould of a Richards, or Gilchrist, he is more a “method player”, more technically equipped rather than score runs at a Free Willy rate.

Potentially good enough for a lot more runs, he has been guilty of frittering away the good starts to his innings. His scores average around 38 runs every innings, which does not quite reflect the true story. He is capable of much more than that! Only recently he has made those fine tuning to his batting and made sure he converts his starts into much more than a mere fifty. He has the finest of on drives, a stroke one can associate with Fleming purely for the richness with which he executes that shot.

Amongst contemporary Cricket captains, one of the finest and vastly experienced skippers would be this Kiwi that has flown all around the world with his talented team. He has led New Zealand in 63 tests till date, which puts him as the most capped captain amongst present day teams!

Fleming has always been a captain with a keen mind to learn, improvising his unique field placements, the ability to make thing happen for New Zealand. He rings in those changes every now and then, and he has built his ideologies on Martin Crowe, a super innovator of the 1990s, when New Zealand cricket was just taking wing.

This Christchurch born left-hander’s cricketing brain ticks all 24 X 7, and he always rings in those changes in the bowling at the right time and he is an expert in marshalling his resources. Even though New Zealand does not boast of the super heroes of cricket, there are the useful characters of cricket such as Astle, Harris, Cairns and Vettori and Fleming has made maximum use of these bits and pieces players. Fleming has always led from the front, with his astute captaincy and his orthodox batting when the chips are down making him a very intelligent captain.

His One Day International record is also pretty good, considering his low key in the batting line up at Number Five – he has 6 centuries and a handful of fifties (37) in 225 ODIs at an average of 32.30. He has the unique distinction of leading New Zealand for the most number of Tests and ODIs, something which one cannot associate with contemporary captains.

One incident that stands out in Fleming’s captaincy and astute thinking was when New Zealand met Australia in an ODI on Jan 29, 2002 at MCG. Fleming noticed that there were 3 fielders outside the 30 yards ring during the first fifteen overs during the match, when Fleming himself was batting; and he pointed it out to the umpires, and soon that was rectified. That Fleming was reprimanded 40% of his match fee later was totally unfair on him, but it took that special thinking and keenness of mind at that time and that proves why he has been New Zealand’s best captain till date!

The New Zealand selectors have always held their faith on Fleming. Though at one stage, Fleming’s ODI batting was appalling, and pretty ordinary, they placed enough faith and retained him as skipper and he has paid rich dividends. He has been in charge of a team not known for super stars, yet under the guise of underdogs can choke even the top teams with big names with their great high flying cricket. Who would forget their World Cup exploits in the 1996 and 1999 editions, when New Zealand gave every team the leather chase!

If there’s a Hall of Fame for the great players of New Zealand cricket, this man would surely figure into the thick of things, as he has been the finest messiah for New Zealand cricket over these 10 years of cricket for New Zealand.

I wish this King Kiwi all the best ahead of a bright future, where we are sure to see more of this man’s skills with the bat and as he dons that Black thinking cap as Skipper.

Surprise, surprise! It's an Indian Fast Bowler!

- Karthik Narayan

Whenever I used to visit Crickefundas.com as a guest visitor, I always used to check out that future stars column, because it gives you an insight on the stars of tomorrow. And I always saw that very rarely, there would be something on Indian bowlers for the future. In fact, this may be one of the few write-ups about an upcoming Indian bowler, that too a fast bowler!

India has always been a team, which hasn't won accolades for its bowling prowess. One would never see a fast bowler from India last longer than a juicy mango on the tree. Kapil Dev, Srinath are two names that did make a difference. Even then, Indian bowling line up was always a tea time joke for any opposition team. For all those people who have been saying this : GET SOME SALT AND PEPPER, TIME TO EAT ALL YOUR WORDS. So prepare to season it all!

One name has started the Milky Way for a team that never looked like bowling out the opposition twice: IRFAN KHAN PATHAN. This youngster looks a budding, hard working cricketer; a kid with the mind of a professional! A man with instincts that tell him to become a go-getter in life.

Paths of Glory

The path to becoming the Spearhead of the Indian Test and ODI team has been quite an interesting tale, and it really inspires every one of us. This lanky cheerful "Guddu" was born in a family of very little means. Irfan and his 2 brothers were brought up in a disciplined and conservative background. Our young hero became interested in the so-called "RICH Man's Game" cricket. And due to his constant nagging, his father asked his brother in law, Ahmed Mian, to coach this bright little kid. At 12, he went into season-ball cricket under the coaching of Mehndi Shiekh. When he first bowled, he could not even get his ball to reach the other end! He was so fragile, brought up on his mother's Biryani (which he still considers the best food in the world!).

After rigorous practice and extreme perspiring hard work, Irfan started rolling his gifted left arm over finally. This sparkling left arm seamer soon found his mentor and new coach under Dattajirao Gaekwad.


The sweet smell of Sweat…

Hard work is the very middle name of this committed cricketer. And that paid him rich dividends. All the sweat in the nets earned him a place in the Baroda Ranji Team. Then afterwards there was no stopping him. In his teens itself, he had became Baroda's opening and prime bowler by 2001, with Zaheer Khan called for National Duty. At the young age of 19, this teenager went on to take his 100th First Class wicket.

Soon Irfan was streamlined into the coveted MRF Pace Foundation. There under the keen watchful eyes of the legend Dennis Lillee, he was made into a complete bowler, with all the necessary guiles honed into him. At the Asian Under-19s Tournament last year (2003) he astonished Bangladesh with 9 for 16 (including a hat-trick).

Launch pad into Test cricket

That literally launched him into the world of International Cricket. So this bright hardworking seamer was drafted into the Indian Squad to tour Australia in December 2003. Having come up against the minnows of world cricket, and being put up first up against the Awesome Aussies, the undisputed world champions was a Trial by Fire for this debutant. He did not fear the great names in the Aussie camp and gave his best shot at first attempt in the Adelaide test, (2nd of the series) which for the right reasons, is a historic test in Indian Cricketing history! Dravid making India win Down Under after so many years…

India then underwent a sea of change, it had a new ball bowler who could rip through the opposition top order with early break throughs, and come back later to bowl at the DEATH…


Not just another Pathan in the Galli…

Then came along the HISTORIC FRIENDSHIP SERIES between arch rivals India and Pakistan, where India went to Pakistan for a full fledged series, something not done since the time when Srikkanth took a team to Pakistan in 1989 (Sachin made his debut that series!). India proved that it did not have a "Pathan in every Galli", but the only Pathan from their country could pack a punch! With Irfan picking up 2 wickets at least in every opening burst, India made sure they struck the Pakistani batting line-up at regular intervals in every match.. and eventually rode the wave on this speedster's superb skills to claim both test and ODI series, something unheard of in Indian Cricket!

Pathan ended up with a handful of wickets in that series, easily the leading wicket taker of the series. Small wonder that he was voted find of the year for India!


The next Wasim Bhai???

Is this young lad is ready to step into the shoes of the greatest left armers of all time…?? Well, It is too early to judge yet, however, it all boils down to Irfan's temperament. If he sticks to his hard work and does the basics every game he plays in… and just work a little on his batting, well, we are witnessing a new Wasim Akram Chaudhary in the making… isn't that incredible? Its upto the Indian team management to protect and preserve this little Gem of the Indian Peninsula!

For one, he certainly is no muck with the bat… he can surely bat himself according to the situation, as was seen during the swashbuckling knocks in Pakistan, and a patience personified knock in the Asia Cup Final. He has a wise head on young shoulders.

Sourav Ganguly - To be or not to be

A Special Feature by Karthik Narayan

Cricket in India has been such a grand success in the recent past due to the tremendous support for the game from every corner of the country. It is the spectators who have come in uncountable numbers and the viewers back home with their television sets and on the websites that have nurtured this game into a big industry even! And right now, one question mounts on almost everybody’s lips, “should Saurav Ganguly stay in the team?”

Ganguly and Captaincy - well matched, Ganguly and Batting – mismatched; is it the right word for it? While India has been commanding respect and crusading every corner of the globe in the last 3 years, Ganguly has been happily sitting over the wins and the laurels and quietly his batting has entered the landfills of reality.

Being captain of India is never an easy task – as many former captains would swear by, but that merely does not mean the captain can get away with some poor cricket. Ganguly has indeed forgotten that he is a prime batsman in this Indian team. He is so very absorbed with his captaincy and leadership skills that he has forgotten that he came from the batting schools to break into the Indian team.

Ganguly disappeared after that 1991-92 tour when India went Down Under. The Indian Manager during that tour is said to have quoted that our Prince of Kolkata refused to carry drinks for the players in the field. We don't know the real truth anyways with Ganguly strongly denying any such incidents. But great performances in the Indian domestic front found him soon amongst the top brass of Indian cricket. When India toured England in 1996, Navjot Sidhu’s walkout was the right break that Ganguly was hoping for. Ganguly grabbed that opportunity with both hands – a century on debut at Lord’s and one couldn’t have hoped for a better debut.

His ODI debut in 1991-92 was the very series when he opened his mouth faster than his run count. And he wasn’t selected until South Africa toured in 1996 along with the Australians for the Titan Cup. One should admit that Ganguly knew his strengths and worked a lot on improvising upon them, while he also started practicing his leg-side play; but these things don’t come after a player wants to play at the highest level and then goes back to the nets. Least to say, it is like an office-goer who has been given a job go back to school to learn the alphabets!

If that wasn’t so laid back and taken for granted for an Indian cricketer, this is the last straw being captain and not concentrating on his batting at all. True, captaincy means extra pressure, but one should never restrict his thinking to bowling changes and strategy for field settings – after all the game is greater than the individual, but the game is made up of these very individuals. Cricket is a team game, each one has their own role to play – the captain of all has to take the burden of both his specialization and the additional role of captaincy.

It was a shame to see Ganguly get out in dismal fashions to the spinners, who he loves to hit out of the ground. And his playing against the short-pitched ball has been appalling to say the least! Shocking to see such an elegant player of our times struggle to get past the double figure mark in both tests and ODIs in the recent past! There has never been a doubt about his captaincy skills- he is the best ever test captain for India with a high success percentage and the maximum wins by an Indian captain. He took over as Indian captain in the year 2000 and since then his captaincy record has been fantastic.

True, Sachin wasn’t the greatest of captains for India – but he never let the team down with his batting. Even though so much was talked about his batting record being poor as captain, it wasn’t as bad as it shows in Ganguly’s case. Even Ganguly’s record prima facie does not look bad – but if u consider where he has gotten his runs from, it is not amusing to know that he hasn’t got a decent knock in years! Runs against Bangladesh, the kids of cricket coupled with the odd half-century once a blue moon and some meaningless runs against other minnows speak little. His average in the last 10 tests is much lesser than his career average, and his last five test innings read like a local telephone number!

Things are to be viewed in a different perspective – he has to lead the team and gain his respect by putting in 100% and the team’s interests ahead of his personal interests. Even when India has been performing well, Ganguly’s presence is much more essential and he needs to reassert himself in the world of cricket as a player. He has to admit that his role as a team player has not been really considered whenever he has come out to bat; he hasn’t really worked on staying long out there.

It is high time Ganguly prioritizes his current needs and works at his batting – not unless he intends to step down from his captaincy. So that he may work his way back into the team. Only when that happens will Indian cricket really have true professionalism.

Shoaib Akhtar: The Fast and the Furious

- Karthik Narayan

When one sees this warhorse gallop down the track, one wonders if he ever thought about the 100 meters dash before taking up cricket. There are various languages in this world, but for Shoaib Akhtar, in the game of cricket, there is only one language: SPEED. He talks that language with the fury of a King who does not want to be Second Best! Bowling fast is simply his Menu for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and that’s what he intends to do. Time is a factor that is for the connoisseurs.

His bowling can be compared to Bombardment in Physics. The term means directing a stream of high speed particles at an object. Akhtar does precisely that, he hurls the ball at great speeds making the distance of 22 yards a touch too short for the batsman to recover. By the time the batsman tries to focus on the ball, he is walking back to the pavilion, head hung in the air.

He made his Test debut in the second test of the season of 1997-98 at his Home Ground against the WI. (This, incidentally, has earned him a name of Rawalpindi Express). If Imran founded Wasim Akram as the Great Bowler that he is, one can be fair to say that it was Wasim Akram who continued the tradition of nurturing this Pace Man!

This Rawalpindi Express’ strength is his ability to bowl Great Spells of Hostile Bowling at regular intervals. It is Cannonade, totally spitting fire continuously over a quick spell of hot Meteor Showers at the batsman.

When he toured India in 1998-99, the Kolkata test proved to be a surprise for the entire World, as India and the world saw a new Star with an attitude and allure. In the space of two great balls, he turned the Test match on its head He made Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid look like Cannon-Fodder when he uprooted the stumps from right under their feet. He made the whole wide world look with their mouths left open gaping at the pace generated by this passionate youngster! He went on to take 8 wickets in that Infamous Test where Sachin walked all around the ground in the second Innings, and finally Pakistan won comprehensively.

The “ultimate bowling spell” in the history of Akhtar-Cricket is the six wickets in one innings at Lahore in 2002 against the Kiwis. He proved in that match he is a match winner capable of wining matches in a mere matter of few overs. He bowled just 8.2 overs with 4 of them maiden overs, giving just 11 runs and SIX big wickets, all of them great deliveries. Five out of the six wickets had the stumps disturbed, so that gives us an indication of his accuracy and ability to hit the stumps from a height of 6 Feet Plus at a Fiery Pace. Shattering and Knocking over the Stumps is the pleasant sight for any fast bowler.

Adam Gilchrist is one of the most destructive batsmen in cricket, and Akhtar’s pace has been put away by him at the 1999 World Cup final, where the Aussies found nothing great about his bowling. But Akhtar had his revenge, as he made them eat their words and shots. In the 1st test against Aussies at Colombo in 2003, he bowled out another great spell of 8 overs with a five wicket haul, but then more than that five wicket-haul, one ball he bowled to Adam Gilchrist summed up what he can do with a round red cherry! Stumps were rocked at their base by a super ball, making us all wonder why a spinner’s delivery is dubbed as the Ball of the Century. That ball deserves more accolades as it screamed through the defenses of that great Aussie keeper, leaving him shipwrecked and his stumps knocked back looking for replacements.

Brett Lee is the main Contender to de-throne Akhtar from the claim of World’s fastest bowler. A Comparison of these Two Men in the fast lane might be interesting.

Akhtar seems to have a better strike rate in test matches (45 balls compared to Lee’s 53) and averages do vary…Akhtar gives less than 25 runs per wicket compared to Lee’s 32.. So Lee toils harder than Akhtar for wickets. Akhtar has taken more 5-wicket hauls compared to Brett Lee.

But then, it’s a bit early to compare. Akhtar has been left alone in the Pakistani Team, so he has become the spearhead of the team. Only in the recent year, Sami and a few other newcomers have done well. Otherwise, most of the time, Shoaib has done the Single Man Bowling job in the Pakistani Pace Regiment after the “capital” W’s (Wasim and Waqar) left the game. Saqlain Mushtaq did not last long, and Azhar Mahmood and a few others came and went.

His action is totally open chested. He has a small crouch as he starts his pretty long run up, and has the “Hidden Dragon” in his hand, ready to unleash the most deadly weapon with all the vile of a Black Magic exponent. The furious pace, the reverse swing, the high flying hair, the yell before he delivers his firing balls are all part and parcel of this fine bowler’s typical day in the field. He has had his bad day with the ICC, with his action being questioned; finally he has overcome that trauma and now added an extra spring in his step into becoming the fastest bowler in the world. That shows his pure grit and determination.

His ODI performances are pretty good looking if one goes by normal standards. He has taken 185 wickets in 117 games with a best bowling performance of 6/16. His strike rate is phenomenal, less than 30 balls for a wicket, which means for every 10 overs that he bowls in a match, he gets 2 wickets on an average, which is phenomenal!

The problem with this bowler is that he cannot be used over a long spell, and moreover he gets exasperated if he does not pick up wickets. He tries harder to hit the stumps, and manages to spread the ball all over the park. The World Cup 2003 India encounter with Sehwag and Sachin is the perfect example. These two master blasters had the sheer guts in their stomach to irritate this bowler by simply using his pace and dispatching him to the fence consistently.

Akhtar has invaded all our hearts with his heartwarming and Stumps burning performances. I wish him all success in the future to continue his fast and furious stints with the ball.

Nathan John Astle – the crackling cricketer from Canterbury

A special feature by Karthik Narayan


Cricket has seen many a gum chewing, number crunching, teeth gnashing and bowler bashing batsmen, but sadly not many from New Zealand, the land where the sun smiles first in this world. But hold it – a new star had set foot with heart gladdening match winning and crowd stunning batting. A clean as a whistle hitter – a hatter named Nathan John Astle!


New Zealand cricket has always been shining on the glory of the little players, not superstars in the big stage, but cricketers who know their limitations and play to their strengths. These are the simple, hard working guys who do their job without much to think. That’s the real secret of New Zealand’s success in cricket.


Life started spinning for Nathan Astle in International cricket, a decade ago, when he made his ODI debut against the West Indies in 1994-95 at Auckland. His test debut came a season later against Zimbabwe in the home series at Hamilton.

When the ferris wheel spun across and stopped at the sign Jackpot, the Kiwis knew they had indeed struck upon Nathan Astle as their opening batsman for many seasons to come. And everytime one came across this cricketer of exceptional cricketing abilities, really, the festal festoons were drawn in the land of the Kiwis.

At one stage, a stopgap was found in the New Zealand camp with the seniors on the verge of retirement, and things needed to be shuffled into order. In came Nathan Astle, and voila! The perfect foil was found and it was time for bringing in the festivities of life!

He was going to become much more than an average cricketer in the field; his stars had much more in store for him – from scratching around, the runs came sprouting and soon Nathan Astle was in the top order. His immediate success was seen in the 1996 world cup when the concept of the first 15 overs really started making a lot of difference with Sri Lanka and New Zealand capitalizing the most. Astle emulated Mark Greatbatch who had done a similar feat in the previous edition 1992 world cup. Astle had become a runaway success with good centuries, and steadfast runs at good pace and nippy strokes.


He was middling the ball only too well that New Zealand have put him at the top ever since he set foot there. Fitness was always going to be the crucial point for Astle and he has managed to stay in good shape except for the odd injury in the last couple of years.

This natural stroke maker has always a gum in his mouth and a something to say with his bat. And the bat does all the talking.



Astle has 6000 plus ODI runs with 14 centuries and 36 half centuries at an average of 35. while he has been mainly a ODI opener, he slumped down the order in the test matches. Currently, he plays in the middle order for New Zealand.

Among all his 3900 plus test runs laced with nine tons, one innings shall rank the best by far and wide!

“Magnificent” and “astounding” were two understated words as Nathan Astle strode and brushed aside all the great names of the game with a smashing, hell-broke-free innings against England at his hometown of Christchurch in 2001-02, barely a fortnight after Gilchrist had broken the world record for the fastest double ton. Nathan’s double ton and highest score of 222 came off a mere 168 balls and the double ton came off a mere 153 balls. He pounded the English attack to pieces and put them in more than a spot of bother. While he was there, an impossible Herculean task seemed so much so near! That innings was by far the best ever amongst the TOP DRAW!

That innings was so good for the nature of strokes – fast bowler, slow bowler no matter! He slammed 11 sixers and 28 boundaries effortlessly and the runs came at a blinding pace. Caddick bore the brunt of his brutal attack as his last 3 overs went for 45 runs! Hoggard was no better – 62 in 21 balls! Runs were amassed in a flurry – from 100 off 114 balls, the next 39 balls produced the next century!


A sheer delight even in the test arena, this maverick cricketer can also bowl is dibbly dobblies now and then with the straight approach of stump to stump and he has broken through many a partnership at the right times for New Zealand.


His sister has also played for New Zealand women cricket, and that makes them an unique pair of brother sister playing international cricket for their country. Sadly, Astle has always been seen in his contemporary carefree approach to the game that he hasn’t really been though of as Kiwi Skipper at even any point of his career thus far.

Ever since the good old days of yore in New Zealand, there has been a sea of change in Kiwi cricket, as the newcomers shined along and together brought about something unheard of thus far – a Star to shine down and for the kids to buy stickers of and play trump cards. The ultimate trump card of the kiwi game is verily Nathan Astle. We all look forward to him to stamp his seal on his rightful throne as the Black Caps’ Heir Apparent and Supreme Commanding Batter for the seasons to follow!

Kevin Pieterson – The Ship-Shaper of the English Rampage

A Special Feature on Kevin Pieterson by Karthik Narayan

Wide on the horizon, as anxious eyes and ears watched and listened, the footsteps of a blue-uniform clad cricketer treading on the paths taken by many a youth, a new cricketer bearing the name of Kevin Pieterson on his back walked into the stadium, his bat in his hands like a bludgeon.

This young man carried with him contemporariness of an exemplar, a superstar-ish feature of a plunderer in the mould of a great emperor in the cricket field. And yet, he was yet to be tested in the big stage – thus he had set foot on a world stage where the winner takes all and the loser disappears without a trace! Pieterson was born in Pietermaritzburg, the same place as the legendary Jonty Rhodes in 1980. Having played for Natal in his early days, the case of racism saw him moving to England along with his mother to find safer havens to practise his hard hitting. Now South Africa shall be sore enough to realize what they missed. Perhaps, for South Africa, after a sound thrashing in the test series, adding fuel to the fire might have been Pieterson slamming their bowlers to all corners of the park.

This cricketer knows everything out of the box. Every time he walks in to bat, he portrays the arrogance of a charming entertainer and the confidence of a man on the Trapeze! His batting shows no sign of anything in the cricketing manual and it’s purely out of the box!

From what we have been seeing of this batsman, there has been no sign of the textbook and deft strokes whatsoever; he is seen more as a pulverizer, the man who whacks the ball with the finest of ease. After a stark debut against Zimbabwe at Harare, he has come farther than just being a sweet timer with short swift cameos to a smashing HERO with the flow of a Tsunami. His authority through the leg side was only too evident as he faced his own “Kin”, the South Africans in the country in which he was born. He threatened to take the game away right from ball one, and his first century ironically came against them on 02.02.2005, which also ended up as a famous thrilling tie.

Following his first century in the second ODI, he has had much more to tell in the matches following. In the next match, he did miss out on a big score, but he wasn’t finished. A magnificent innings of 75 at a strike rate that runs into the high 90s proved that he wasn’t for all the money in the world a one match wonder!

And if that was GREAT, what word would one use to describe his next innings in the 5th ODI at East London? A violent and raging battle against time, (England had to win that match to level the series) and with no inhibitions to throw convention out of the window, he played out of his skin to claim the record of England’s fastest ODI century – a hundred (unbeaten) off a mere 69 balls. England did end up losing eventually but Pieterson pounded the protean bowlers to dust as their bowling figures were dented.

Seven Boundaries and Four Sixers clocked at the speed of light and beyond were etched in that innings, by far the best ever England ODI innings in the past year. And his high speed actions almost, well almost clinched a win for his team. That innings showed skill and maturity. With tremendous bat speeds and amazing display of toying with the bowlers, Pieterson has made things easier for England in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa. Now the Proteas tremble when this batsman walks in at Number Five.

With a mere handful of ODIs, Kevin Pieterson already commands respect amongst the bowlers who have bowled to him. Apart from being a batsman who wants to dictate terms, Pieterson rolls his arm around for some gentle off spinners.

The harsh reality of contemporary ODI cricket is that, you are either in or out! Simple as that! Kevin Peter Pieterson has just started on his career, and even though it has been spinning in a lot of fame and the Odd clichés of “traitor”, time is the potent factor, which shall tell the story of this young Pom. A small reading of cricketing history tells us the game is greater than the individual and Pieterson shall very well be smart to settle down before he runs out of ammunition. But while he lasts in his present “avatar”, mighty fireworks shall be seen on the cricketing field!

Jonty Rhodes - The Flying Machine

A Profile on Jonty Rhodes by Karthik Narayan

The name Jonty Rhodes is synonymous with backward point that position in the cricketing field that has few peers to compare. In fact, only after Jonty’s retirement only we start to think about the other brilliant fielders - Ricky Ponting, Herschelle Gibbs, Chris Harris, Yuvraj Singh and others throwing themselves at full stretch at the most coveted Point position.

Our Flying Machine was born as Jonathan Neil Rhodes on 26 July 1969 ( 26th July...wait a sec. that's also the day when I was born!), in the city of Pietermaritzburg in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, with 2 brothers who were also actively involved in cricket. He was a promising cricketer early in his life, yet cricket wasn't his only love. It was just his first love, he loved it more! He was an excellent soccer player and also received provincial colours for hockey and eventually won South African colours for hockey and cricket. He was selected to join the South African hockey team at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 he would have been the first South African to play in two different international events in different sports, in the same year.

Jonty Rhodes' debut in International Cricket was a glorious chapter in Cricketing History, as people witnessed the INFAMOUS run out. And it was a World Cup match against Pakistan in March 1992 played at Brisbane. There were question marks about his inclusion in the National Team in such an important series as the World Cup. Moreover this was South Africa’s first ever World Cup since their return to Cricket. And Jonty showed the whole world just what he had in his pouch: CLASS of the finest order! The dangerous Inzamam ul-Haq was at the crease for Pakistan when he discovered just how good Rhodes is in the field.That run out swooping onto a ball from his position at backward point, Rhodes raced Inzy, who had ventured down the pitch, to the crease, beating him, with his right arm holding the ball and extended like Superman, with a dive that knocked all the three stumps out of the ground. It is still part of cricketing folklore and the much talked about photograph in cricketing circles. Now that has made Jonty the very image of South African cricket.

There was an article in a South African newspaper that screamed to life with these words, "Water covers 67 per cent of the earth's surface - Jonty covers the rest." that about summed it all up! A real livewire in the field, setting high standards for fielding. Later on, Jonty was made a regular in the Test Side. He is the most capped ODI player South Africa has ever produced, a massive 245 ODIs.

He holds the World Record for most dismissals by a non-wicketkeeper in a One Day International, after taking five catches against the West Indies in the Hero Cup match in Bombay in 1993/94. He made his Test Debut in November 1992 on his home ground of Kingsmead against India and proceeded to play in 52 tests before retiring from the Test Arena in November 2000. Rhodes piled up over 2500 runs at a healthy average of 35.66, scoring three centuries and 17 fifties along the way. And each one of these three 100’s were truly world class: each one has a story to tell by itself; his first century came on a viciously turning track in Sri Lanka, and he saved the test with his teeth gritting knock. His second came at the Mecca of Cricket, Lord’s, against the English in June 1998 which helped SA coast to a win. In fact he opened in that innings for South Africa. And of course his third and sadly, the final century came in January 1999 against the West Indies, an unbeaten innings of 103, off just 95 balls, the fastest century by a South African in terms of balls faced.

In One Day Internationals, his career graph would not show much of hundreds. He was more of the 50s man, and each such fifty would be at a rapid pace, laced with both orthodox and unorthodox shots. This was mostly because of the fact that he would come in at No.5. And invariably he would come in the slog overs and slog it out for a quick pulse running score, eventually a team man to the core. Where other batsmen were running one, he would pick up twos. Where others were running two, he was running three, keeping the fielders under huge pressure.

Jonty wasn’t the most technically perfect batsman. In fact, senior players considered him as the poorest No.5 batsman in the game. His inclusion in the South African National Team was a surprise to many. His strength was his footwork; he was quick on his feet against the spinners. As a batsman, he began his international career with some shortcomings in his technique, but managed to work those out to become a top-class international player. He would be unorthodox, pull, hook and even the reverse sweep. In fact, he at the fag end of his career made this reverse sweep a dangerous weapon in his batting kitty, thus making bowlers think twice when bowling to him!

Arguably, he and Michael Bevan of Australia would be the fastest runners between the wickets. There isn’t any better fielder, one of the game's greats! A true legend on the cricket field, a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve. His strength was his fitness; he was at his peak of fitness at all times. There was rarely an occasion of him getting injured. He was agile in the field, and showed great character in his games. All this despite suffering from reflexive epilepsy - a condition that renders him unconscious if struck on the head. He was truly an inspirational figure for any cricketer, and he would keep constantly chatting and lauding on his fellow team members.

His final retirement was hastened by an inopportune finger-fracture early in the 2003 World Cup. It's very sad that he had to retire, but one would have expected a fairytale close to that great man's career. A true South African legend, a cricketer extraordinaire, no doubt; the whole world will miss him surely. He won the hearts of all fans all around the world. A salute, kudos from Cricketfundas.com to this gentleman cricketer who has smiled his way into all our hearts!

Jacques Kallis - A dream come true

- Karthik Narayan

Everyone has a dream. The Coach dreams that the team wins every game and tournament they play in, and he gets to stick around for a longer period of time. The Captain dreams of a fit team, with potential match winners and to become World Beaters! A Cricketer’s all time dream would naturally be good at everything in the game, contribute to all parts of the game. One such Dreamer was Jacques Henry Kallis.

Kallis made his test debut aganst the English in December 1995, and he did not make any sort of impact on the scoresheets… in fact, his first few test scores all sounded more like an overseas calling number, 1-7-6-39-0-2-2. At the end of those 6 innings, he averaged 9.50, an average one-sixth of his impressive near 54 average in tests.

Dreams do come true, so it did for our Dreamer… in the series against the undisputed World Champions Aussies at MCG, in 1997-98, he scored his first test 100, coming in at his favorite Number 3 slot. Since then, he has never looked back. He took every opposition to task in every match he played thereafter. As every SA cricketer is, Kallis is a fine batsman with a perfect technique, much like India’s Rahul Dravid.

Kallis is no shirker for hard work. In fact, one would find that the strength of all South African is the HARD WORK in their every aspect of cricket. Just look at his record in tests and ODIs, nearly an average of 54 in tests and a 45 plus in ODIs, and that too laced with the best of strokes, and scores of 12 tons in ODIs and 16 in tests… magnificent would be an understatement.

It’s worth every penny if you want to invest in watching his videos and matches. Nothing short of world class has this fine all rounder given all of us. In the beginning, Kallis was just a young player in the team with a good technique, and nothing more than that. He was suspect against the spin wizardry of Shane Warne, for that matter, he was not as good against the slow bowlers. He did all the backyard work with plenty of practice in the nets. Hours of rigorous work, all has contributed to his success at the highest level.

A tall, gentle “Giant”, with a killer attitude, that’s what is this guy all about.. He belts the cricket ball to every corner of the cricket field. Having started as a technique player who could not accelerate enough in the ODIs, he has adapted to the shorter version of the game. Now he comes across as a batsman who can play any role as a batsman, be it sheet anchor, or go all out and score quick. Add to that the role of a fine fielder! He fields in the outfield as good as any other South African, and a regular slip fielder in the tests.

The icing on the cake is his bowling. For any other team, okay, he can bat, and he fields anywhere for you. A real asset indeed for the team. But he is much more than that! He comes in as second change bowler, sometimes first change, and he has this uncanny knack of getting wickets with his predominantly “BANANA” out-swingers. He has then again, worked on bowling a deceptive slower delivery, and the fastish off cutter.

The English wouldn’t for their lives forget his bowling at Headingley, with his best bowling in tests of 6-54. He has over 150 wickets in both forms of the game. Well, that just makes him the Diamond of Kimberley, and don’t search any further, he fits the bill perfectly! Cricketers may come and go, but dreamers and dreams are there forever… every wink of sleep has a dream and then, there are day dreams.

Jacques Kallis is no mere dreamer, though, he is the dream of every captain! He has shown the PATH to every dream is Hard work, which he has made come true with his hard work… Its no small wonder to take the life of this leader of an all-new youth brigade as a striking example to dream, and dream big!

Well, Oxford Dictionary, here we come! (For those who came in late, Sachin Tendulkar’s name was put up on the OED recently)

Inzamam-ul-Haq - The Sultan from Multan

A Special Tribute to Inzamam-ul-Haq by Karthik Narayan

Right from the streets of Multan, a small sleepy town in Pakistan known for its horrendously hot weather, came trudging into the cricket ground a big boy, a chubby, cheeky boy carrying the bat like a bludgeon, he strode the aisles way back in 1991-92.

Now that boy has become the BIG MAN of Cricket. And its time to compose the odes, the praises for this chocolate faced burly Sultan; for he has treaded the grounds of Cricket unlike no other! Ten Thousand Runs in ODIs! My god, that’s a tad too many, right? Who would have thought he was creeping up to the mark? While all eyes are on the bog shots like Sachin and Lara, Inzamam is a player who likes to play the Sleeping Giant.

Ten thousand runs, and imagine if he had run them in singles. Well, that would have been the diet prescription for this burly big man, but Inzamam happens to be a free scoring stroke maker. So sadly that prescription did not help at all, in reducing his belly size!

And mind you, Inzy is only the second ever batsman to cross the massive mark after Sachin Tendulkar. It has taken 322 matches for Inzamam-ul-Haq. The road to this landmark has not been easy! His test ventures may not be something you can talk of all day, but in the One Dayers, one can’t pass over a World XI without this burly and cheeky player.

Inzy was one of those street cricketers in the gallis of Multan, spotted by that great Pakistani Sportsman Imran Khan. He did a Nostradamus by predicting that this bright young lad of 17 would one day strike Gold and become one of the best batsman of all time! And the prophecy did indeed hold good!

Who would forget his great one-day knocks, especially the way he pulverizes the opposition bowlers making a total mockery as though they were mere club bowlers? With his stepping out to the spinners with his splendid footwork… he would make many a Dancer proud. His commanding personality, the towering sixes and the fours hit with such class, timing and power that one would associate with only him. He is an unique combination of aggression and style. His confidence when he walks in to bat is too good.

Every one of his knocks was a true Gem of its Own! Each one would be studded with his trademark square cutes, the fierce pulls, the dance down the track sixes, the odd risky single now and then, and of course the comical running between the wickets. He is on his day, the best batsman in the Pakistani team.

The reason he took more matches to reach this landmark is outrageously simple: mostly he caused his own downfall. Suicidal run outs, disastrous strokes; laziness and lapse of concentration were the main reasons for him getting out more rather than the bowler bowls a great ball. Self-destructive he was; had he been more careful in his approach, we certainly would have seen more blows from the willow of this cricketer. In order to change this look, of late he has gone in for the rugged look, sporting a beard. Whatever he does, he is still our Prankish Big Boy of Cricket.

Truly a player whose record is to be commended and salutations from me and all the fans of cricket for a truly fabulous effort. I wish Inzamam-ul-Haq all the very best with his captaincy and batting.

GOLDEN DEBUTS: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)

- Karthik Narayan

GOLDEN DEBUT MATCH : Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka at Nairobi Gymkhana, 4th Oct 1996

There is something that happened on Oct 4, something that changed the life of a 16 year old. This is a tribute being the 10th anniversary of that great event that has stood tall amongst the challenge of time, unconquered by none.

A total stranger to International cricket, Sahibzaha Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi. That’s a challenge to a Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas for a long name, wouldn’t u feel? Shahid Afridi as we all know him now as a household name is no bowler. He is the most explosive batsman in ODI history. In his first ODI at Nairobi, Kenya, he did not get a chance to bat. But his time arose in his next match in the same series and he got a chance to bat.

Setting a big total for the Sri Lankans was required from the Pakistani point of view. Pakistanis were supposed to defeat the Lankans and get a sizeable score to go past their opposition even on the Net Run Rate factor and reach the Finals which was to be played against South Africa. So a big win was the need of the hour. Had the Pakistanis lost, that would have been a great world record for the chasing team

Well, they just managed to pull off an incredible escape. Pakis did win that match by 82 runs, and only just managed to pull it off with a narrow net run rate and qualified for the Final. Pakistan took that risk of playing Shahid Afridi at number three on the batting order and he was a debutant as far as batting was concerned, but knowing the Pakistanis, it was only obvious that there would be a surprise always. And his date with destiny was sworn in as OCT 4, 1996. Engraved and etched for time immemorial!

NEVER HAS THIS BATTING CARD BEEN REPRODUCED BY ANY OTHER BATSMAN IN ALL THESE 35 YEARS OF ODI CRICKET.

102 runs off 37 balls with 11 towering sixes and 6 fours. The innings ended at 40 balls, and in the short space of around 7 overs, he had changed the entire course of the game! The highlight of that innings was scoring 40 runs of Sanath Jayasuriya’s 2 overs (who held that record for fastest ODI Hundred till that one Boy brought Joy!). Afridi missed the fastest Fifty by a ball, he took 18 balls to Sanath’s 17! But his second Fifty came off just 19 balls! So it was evenly scored either side of the Fifty, imagine sustenance at its best! Scoring 11 sixes is no easy thing at all.

Sadly very few have seen that match, and it has not been filmed for viewing as well, which is a paradox in itself. A teenage Prodigy who can hit the ball and make it go all around the park and cricket fans not being able to see it! For those who witnessed it, it must have been splendid cricket played in a very short span of time. And a high scoring game of cricket where every ball must have been something like watching a highlights program, 37 balls and a hundred runs.

Truly wonderful to listen, one can listen to this and read about this all day, we all do love batsman scoring runs at a rapid pace, don’t we? We sure do… and now all we can do is read it and relive those joyous wonderful moments, which sadly, we can never see in our lives.

A tribute to that day in History when a teenager smashed the cricket ball unlike no peer. And this is but a drop in the ocean to that knock which will surely stand the test of time. Afridi Deserves a name called after his Hundred. In the Cricketing Calendar, may Oct 4 be observed as a tribute to that whirlwind knock, just put in a date to commemorate this finest moment of History in this very fine Game.

Vijay Hazare: The Maharaja of Indian Cricket

- A Tribute to Vijay Hazare by Karthik Narayan

It’s a sheer delight to talk about legends. It gives us the joy, great pleasure to take a trip down memory lane to read and talk about these men who have braved many a storm and emerged the Hero, rain or shine! Vijay Samuel Hazare is a name known to many of the old timers, not much to us youngsters of the twenty first century. I would love to relive some of the finest moments in the life of this wonderful all rounder from Baroda.

Ask anyone in the streets of Baroda, they chant his name – he is a Demi God! One thing about this much-revered Indian cricketer is that, he played much before we all were born. And he carried with him the tradition and values of Indian cricket in its youth. (1932 was the year when India became a test nation). So Hazare has played when the speedsters sped up and aimed for the throat, there were no laws on bouncers, and definitely no pitch reports!

He made his test debut at the age of 31, in 1946 at Lord’s against England, a time when all the spectators were countable in dozens rather than by the thousands and at a time when both Indian Independence and Television was unheard of. This gentle giant played the game with so much fervor that simply one may say “Hazare was the matinee idol on the Indian cricketing field”. Life was always challenging for this talented player, and as you finish reading this, surely you will stand up and salute for all that he has done for the game.

As babies in the cradle of cricket, India went down under on their first ever series abroad after independence, and Hazare was chosen as the first post-Independence Indian captain in 1947-48. None of the Indians knew what Australia looked like and hadn’t played Australia at all. The Aussies led by The Don, with the nickname, “The Invincibles” never were going to give even a miniscule opportunity for the Indians. Yet, the spirit breeds fearlessness and brings man to do great deeds. Batting without the glitz, the glamour, and the paparazzi and battling communal problems, he had heralded many a great innings – like his first and second test centuries that came against Australia was a twin success – 116 and 145 in the fourth test at Adelaide.

He was congratulated by the Don himself for his brave deeds as captain and his performances with the bat – especially after that twin hundred. He also managed to spin the Don himself three times out with his occasional leg spinners and flippers in that historic series! This great player has so many great exploits as you would expect of him, everything has come with great difficulty and he has emerged out resplendent with all the brightness of a sunflower in full bloom.

He is a method player in the true sense, though he never let his aggressive self swim away at any point of time. He was patient, waited for the bad ball and put that away in fine style. His methods of scoring were ungainly and unseemingly, and yet he churned the willow for runs unlike no peer of his! He was a fierce cutter of the ball, his square cuts are too well known amongst those who he played against and with.

His first class career started at the age of 19, he played for Maharashtra a bit before moving to play for Baroda, and his record speaks for itself – 238 games for 18740 runs, with a magnificent average of 58.38; as many as sixty hundreds and a highest score of 316* - all accomplished in a long career of 32 years from 1934-1966. This article wouldn’t be complete without a mention of his 309 the Rest in the Bombay Pentangular tournament way back in the 1930s. Fortune favors the brave and this man was the bravest of them all. His 309 represents so much of wealth of talent, for that team managed just 387, for the Rest against the Hindus. He had a world record stand of 577 for the fourth wicket with Gul Mohammed for Baroda versus Holkar in the finals of the 1946-47 season of the Ranji trophy. That record still remains unconquered and most cherished by this batting maestro. The icing on the cake came in that match when Hazare also picked up 6 wickets! Vijay Hazare wasn’t just a batsman; he bowled exceedingly well as a leg spinner picking up 595 wickets for an average of 24.61.

The game of cricket is all about the spirit, the passion and fire in the belly and this cricketer had it aplenty. The wars and the eventualities had its toll on cricket too; life was never a bed of roses for these brave cricketers who lost most of their best years thanks to the courses of the world events. This cavalier was a batsman who formed his basics on the art of defense. Probably the phrase, “defense is the best form of offence” may have been framed by this man! Though he did play aggressively in the domestic seasons in his early days, as he played more, he used to get into a shell.

Respect is something that comes spontaneously – it cannot be induced and it should not be induced! In the case of Hazare, probably that was as good as signing over a few contracts with big companies for advertisements, as most of the current crop of cricketers do. That was the only thing he earned out of the hardships, the toil, the sweat on his brow and the frowns on this forehead. In all of 30 tests that he played in, he captained 14. An illustrious career marked with bright spots – the brightest being his twin centuries against the Australians in their own soil.

His lone test win as captain came against the English in the Chennai test in 1951-52. He was ousted as captain of the team and also as a player. Sadly, he did not play much thereafter. He has played against 4 teams during that era marked with blunted knocks battling the devils of great bowling and the perils of losing test places – England, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan. And he has managed at least one century in his typical slow manner against each of these teams. That speaks for his consistency in this game.

Now he is dead, a news that brought so much pain to my heart and all the cricket lovers, simply because he has engineered Indian cricket to what it has become now. For he, who has been the very symbol of a game we are so passionate about, should never be face to face with death. One might say he was the father of Indian cricket, because he had brought with him the force of the mind and the power of the soul to provide the greatness in his games, whenever, wherever he played throughout his life.

Well, its time to honour this great son of the Indian soil, to pay many more tributes that time will tell to be the best and most deserved for a person who has cherished every moment with the game that he loved more than his own life! I am very much sure that Vijay Samuel Hazare shall be remembered by all of us for life, without a moment of doubt. This tribute is but a pin in a haystack, much more shall be written about the exploits of this brave superhero, that we were so much unfortunate not to watch in action.

Justin Kemp – the Effigy of efficient cricket

(Karthik Narayan)

South Africa have had the flair for producing fluent fairy tale cricketers such as Hansie Cronje, Allan Donald, Pollock and more recently Lance Klusener. Fait Accompli shall be this Moral of Cricket. And it has been a luxurious fantasy not to be enjoyed by many teams; much to the chagrin of opposition bowlers, in comes in the New Age Breed of the same Clan – arriving with the bang of a Sling Shot, yet announcing his name for all the world to see and read thus – Justin Miles Kemp.

A medley of many talents, this natural cricketer hails from Queenstown, Cape Province. Being the cousin of former South African International Cricketer Dave Callaghan is another feather in Kemp’s cap.

Kemp represented Eastern Province, Northerns and the Titans before making his test debut for South Africa, following some real good performances in the local arena. His test debut came with him being used mainly as a medium pacer who batted way down the order as a batsman who liked to swing the bat and connect for valuable runs.

His test debut came against Sri Lanka at Centurion in the 3rd and Final test when Sri Lanka toured the Proteas in 2001. His big hitting in the domestic set up had built up such a great reputation for Kemp, putting unnecessary pressure even as he made his debut. Nothing was seen of his brave batting. The next series against West Indies was also nothing to write home about. His off the field behavior such as smoking marijuana gave him enough trouble to be distracted from what he was in the news for.

His ODI debut came in that same series as his test debut in 2001 against Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein, but the fluency required of him did not come when it was tested most. His bowling was decent in that series and then again versus the West Indies. He had not really shined in the batting department thus far. By the time the next series sprung up, Kemp was not considered in the test squads, and was to become one more of Cricket’s “ODI Specialists” in the mould of a Bevan, Jadeja or a Robin Singh.

Having big reputations, he did not do much in the first few opportunities he got – his efficiency was too well known for slim and sleek sixers in the local circuits. But, nothing of his big hitting was seen in the International arena. He always carried the reputation as a husky dusky and clean striker of the ball and blow the bowlers away – he has the remarkable South African record of hitting 5 sixers in one over in a domestic match. His first few matches did not see anything from the bat, Kempie (as he is known to those close to him) however, made some decent bowling for the team and retained his place now and then.

But the South African selectors maybe thought that they were luxuriously drafting this lad into the team that they decided to send him back to the drawing board to get new ideas and impress with good performances. It took Kemp as much as 3 more years to break back into the team. After the VB series in Australia in 2001-02, his next ODI came only in the England Tour of South Africa at Johannesburg in 2004-05.

Efficiency was to be what the doctor ordered for Kemp to stick back a place in the South African team. What he needed was a watershed to kick off his bad habits of poor scores and unleash the beast within. True to his name, he has come Miles out of his skin and played many a good knock in the recent seasons and has already evoked comparisons to that sweet son of South African Soil – Lance “Zulu” Klusener!

From the lows of the deep ocean, Kemp sprang up the troubled waters with a scuba set in the form of the England tour to the Protean soil. Kemp scorched the sun with a blistering innings of 57 in the 4th ODI at Cape Town (that was his first ODI fifty). The very next match, he went scuba diving became the trump card with a sequel innings that was even better than the previous match – he had the English bowlers for brunch, lunch and dinner! With an innings of 80 that shall remain in any South African’s scrap book for some years to come. That was pure match winning with classy and blitzy hauls over the fielders and clearing the boundaries with minimum risks for maximum results.

Purely scintillating to watch when he bats, his next great knock came all in the form of short sweet bursts against the touring Zimbabweans at Durban when he scooped a neat 53* in shorter balls and followed it with a classy and snipped and snapped the Zimbabweans everywhere with another match winning 78.

The best thing about this gifted cricketer is that he is efficient and eases the ball out of sight in no time. Don’t worry about technique – this player is of the New Age Heroes with shoot at sight orders at all times! His right arm medium is good enough with stump to stump operations.

Just for the record, Justin Kemp has MILES to go to even catch up with Klusener. It is interesting to note that Klusener had a Golden test Debut and was an immediate success in both forms of the game. It would be unfair to compare that “Scorpion of many of a bowling attack” to this “new scholar on the field”.

All hail this newcomer to cricket who is becoming one of cricket’s images of efficiency. One may know more of the hailstorms that this cricketer launches, from the Zimbabweans and the English who bore the maximum brunt of this short yet super stint of Kemp with South Africa. While all is early and dusky for enlightening ourselves with the brightness that Kemp has shown thus far, all is well that ends well for a promising future by this all rounder who has earned his claims to fame! Good luck to the lad for the seasons to come.

Mohammed Rafique – calligraphist bowler

If you have been keeping abreast of the developments in the Bangladesh cricket team, one of the first few things you will notice is the resurgence of the art of slow left arm bowling in the form of a spinner who answers to the name Mohammed Rafique.

If anyone has grown along with the stature of the Bangladesh team, it shall be this quiet left-hander who has silenced everyone with some stunning performances every now and then.

He retains in him the dying art of slow left arm spinners, a breed so rarely found in the noisy and fast versions of the game such as the ODIs and the 20:20s.


For this cricketer, born on teacher’s day (September 5), 1970 in Dhaka, the rich tradition of this variety beckoned in the year 1994 when he was 24, when he played his first ODI against India at Sharjah in the Asia Cup. His debut was along with as many as 4 Bangladeshis. His performance was pretty decent, making a 2 with the bat at Number 8 and a good deal with the ball 5-0-15-1 isnt bad by any means.


Variety is the order of the day for ODIs, where the runs and wins count more than the manner in which they come. My first impression when I saw this cricketer in 1998 in the tri nation tournament in India featuring India, Kenya and Bangladesh was that this young man has class and the caliber in him to take him places at quick paces.

His all round performance of an aggressive 77 and 3/56 versus Kenya at Hyderabad in May 1998 set up Bangladesh’s first ever ODI win. To make an understatement at the least, Rafique has made rapid strides ever since. ODIs have always been a cuppa tea for this seasoned cricketer who has played almost every game since. Being a natural cricketer with athletic skills made him the automatic choice to play the ODIs.


His successes in the ODIs naturally prompted the selectors to put him in the top eleven for the historic first ever test for the small nation in East Asia against India in November 2000 at Dhaka. Even though Aminul Islam and Naimur Rahman stole the limelight in that test match, Rafique had a decent outing for a beginner in the world of grueling test matches against a tough opposition scoring a quick 22 and taking 3 wickets.


Success follows those who work hard and strive for it. Rafique was always a team man, ever ready to do anything to make the team win. He had his own ways of doing things, without much ado about nothing. His bowling was the classical type, with the arc of the arm coming in very clean, and flight of the delivery and the loop which it gathered as it drooped in on to the batsmen.


Even as he has always been delight for the connoisseurs of the game, his action did come into the scrutiny of the ICC; that kept him out of the national team for a while. Eventually after being cleared, now he is more than a match for the opposition batsmen. His great display of spin bowling against the South Africans in 2003 in just his third test match. He bamboozled the Proteas with the guile of a fox and the turn of a top.

He has made almost every occasion of international cricket count for him and the team. He has 4 fiver wicket hauls in tests, the most recent coming in the ongoing test against Zimbabwe.

I would rate his back-to-back 5 wicket hauls against Pakistan in 2003 at Peshawar and Multan as his best performances to date with the ball in a test series. The Pakistanis, supposed to be one of the best players of spin, faltered against this ever-smiling bowler.

His first class cricket speaks volumes of the talent level we are talking about all this time – he along with Enamul Haque (sr) are the only two Bangladeshis to have over 100 first class wickets. With 19 tests and 71 ODIs, his bowling figures are not bad at all – 66 and 61 wickets in each respectively,


His batting is a bonus – his first two scoring strokes in tests were a four and a six. (his first innings against India in the inaugural test at Dhaka 2000). His batting has always had something in it to watch and he is a keen player laying emphasis on batting as well.

He sports a magnificent and typically aggressive century for his team in the test matches, his 111 coming against the West Indians at Gross Islet in 2004 the first test of that 2 test series, which was a great series for these underdogs of cricket amongst the top half. (That series was drawn 0-0, which was spell binding). It was really heartening to see a bunch of minnows give the lions a hunt for their money, as also delightful to see the young crop of Habibul Bashar, Mohammed Ashraful and Khaled Mashud do well. Rafique also sized up the West Indian batsmen with 3 wickets in that test.


With both bat and ball doing the talking, Rafique is a potent force, a must have and a boon for the Bangladesh team, which sports an all new look. The recent series against India saw the emergence of Mushrafe Mortaza and the team has been evolving into a mighty fine unit of talent with experience.

Rafique is a very good fielder who normally fields in the deep, his throws are sharp from the outfield and that makes him a total all rounder, with the peak of his career happening even as we speak and write articles on him.


Rafique today is an experienced cricketer, a rare blend of aggressive yet reliable batting with a good profile bowling. His richness to the team suits a team, which is in the consolidation stage. At a time when granting test status to this team is questioned every now and then, it shall be these cricketers like Rafique, Ashraful and Mortaza who will come forth to set all minds at rest with resounding successes.

It is only because of the advent of test status have we seen these skillful crop of cricketers surface to the top.

Age shall most certainly creep up soon on this fine player, but the sun shines all through the year, and so do the tales of fine cricketers ring all through their lives and even after. Being one of the very few Bangladeshis in the top 50 of the cricket ratings is by itself a great honour for this cricketer who has been donning and doing his job quietly without much fuss.


I wish this top cadre player good luck and call out to him to call the shots in the field of cricket and enthrall all of us in the near future.

Yuvraj Singh – the Crown Prince of Indian Cricket

(Karthik Narayan)

Every youngster in India dreams of making it to the Indian cricket team, and making a name amidst the crores of population that this country has got, not to forget the adulation the world over! Yuvraj Singh was just another kid watching TV and wondering when he would pack some runs for himself representing India.

Passion undoes men to do strange things, one of them is chasing a dream. And every dream needs a kick-start – in Yuvraj’s case, good performances for Punjab and India Under 19s and the world cup 2000 boosted him to go the first step towards chasing his dream.


The captain who kick started it all for him was Saurav Ganguly. Getting a look in to International cricket is always a challenge, especially for teenagers. Life does change in a matter of a few minutes that one spends in the middle of a vast green field surrounded by half a lakh people and millions watching glued to their television sets.

His ODI debut came about in the ODI against Kenya in the ICC Knockout in Kenya, which India easily made it through. His fellow debutants were Vijay Dahiya and Zaheer Khan. December 12 is Yuvraj’s actual birthday, but he would have rather had celebrated it on Oct 7, 2000, when his first ODI innings came about. A big occasion deserves a big innings, and Yuvraj learnt that lesson right away. Number five is not the best place to make one’s first batting stint, but Yuvraj found his groove very quickly much to the chagrin of the Australian bowlers. Coming in with the side in a spot of bother, this Punjabi lad immediately started middling the ball fluently, his on side play was particularly very good indeed. The wristy flicks, and the on drives made our cricket crazy country go even wilder as India won thanks to a blistering kncok of 84 by this newcomer against the very best! That bowling line up which boasted of McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie was made to eat humble pie and looked more like club players when Yuvraj stamped his essay. A dream debut indeed!

That was the highest individual score for an Indian first timer! Commendable job, that!

Good scores follow good players, but one must say that Yuvraj has been patchy in his career so far. The match winning knocks are aplenty, as has been the innings in the tougher conditions; this Chandigrah born lad has shown maturity when it matters. Keeping a cool head under murky conditions when the team needs a life saver, he comes in and knocks the ball around and very soon he is en route to a solid knock. That’s typical Yuvraj for you! I distinctly remember an ODI in Colombo on Aug 1st 2001, at the SSC, when India batting first were 4-38; Yuvraj stepped in that time. With some able support from Dravid and little from the others except Reetinder Singh Sodhi, he got a valuable 98* off 110 balls even as Murali dictated terms with the Indian batsmen. India won the match with some spirited bowling. Sadly he missed what was a deserved hundred.

His first ODI century eventually came around in Bangladesh, the game where Avishkar Salvi and Gautam Gambhir made their ODI debuts against Bangladesh in April 2003, being a brisk innings off 85 balls bringing joy to the faces of many Indian fans.

And who will forget his knock in the Natwest trophy on July 13, 2002 and his partnership with Mohammed Kaif when the chips were down and India looked lost. That is only a leaf out of his many good knocks for India. That was special for the sheer pleasure that the truth of the youth of the nation as its destined Rulers came to the Fore.


His test debut was more debated as he was considered more a Bevan rather than a Hayden. His ODI success always pushed the Indian selectors to give him a chance at the test level and it finally cracked; his test debut was against New Zealand in October 2003, but a dull dour 20 and a 5* wasn’t what one would have expected of him on test debut.

He did get a super century recently against Pakistan at Lahore off just 110 balls when the side was in trouble at 94-4 and proved he wasn’t just ODI material as the selectors thought.

He has opened the test match batting for India when India were in a dearth for openers, did not do much with the bat. His weakness against the moving ball has had him time and again. Also he is troubled by the spin bowlers. Some aspects he needs to really ponder over when he works over his weaknesses.

Something that he has been working on, but really that was a major blot in otherwise what is a tremendous career so far, with over 2500 runs in ODIs at a decent average of 29.80, with 2 centuries to boot.

His left arm orthodox has been quite well used by Saurav Ganguly, though Yuvraj’s bowling options are limited to bowling simple without the normal flourish or the variations, he has a best bowling of 4-6, something which any bowler can be proud of! He dons the role of odd partnership breaker or a bowler to squeeze runs in small spells, which is the Mantra of ODI cricket anyway.

His batting is quite outstanding, with the flashy blades and the swishes here and there, laced with the sweetest of shots through the field placing, piercing many a strategy of the opposition captains. He is someone who has his own way and really princely manner of dealing with things. With the occasional problem against the short pitched delivery and the good ones outside off stump, he still looks batting look good out there in the middle. That is vintage Yuvraj for anyone watching!

Yuvraj Singh is a name synonymous with good fielding apart from good clean hitting. Not to mention some stunning catches! Always a tiger on the field, always ready to dive around not caring for a clean pair of shirt or trousers, this lad along with Mohammed Kaif are the young guns to lead India into the Mini World Cup 2002 Finals and also the World Cup 2003 Finals. Photos of his catch in those games are memorabilia worth having by any cricket fan!

He has also represented Yorkshire in 2003-04 following his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, who also played for Yorkshire.

Fitness and good technique are the key to a youngster and Yuvraj seems to have both of that. Now all that remains is Yuvraj making runs consistently against all attacks. Also the batting against quality attacks, especially spinners has to be worked upon extensively for Yuvraj to be in International cricket for a long period of time.

Well, knowing how competitive this young man is, and knowing his desire to give nothing but the best for the Team, one is sure that he will be a world beater and a famous son of India by the time he hangs up his shoes from cricket! Cheers for this brave new hero to herald the goodwill that he has earned thus far!

I wish this ever cheerful and most active cricketer on the field to wage and win more battles and complete his dream on a wonderful note.

HARBHAJAN SINGH – THE BATTERING RAM

(By Karthik Narayan)

(India’s first hat trick man in tests)


Rewind back to the 1990s, and think Indian Spinners. Draws a blank, doesn’t it? it was the time when Indian cricket had a dearth of quality spinners; nobody really flourished in the team. Nobody made the impact in the world stage except Anil Kumble who was perhaps the lone spinner of the mid 90s. Then towards the end of the decade popped a new star in the making – a cheeky rookie with hopes of append his name to the Hall of Fame of a land famed for its spinners. A sardar from Jallandhar named Harbhajan Singh.

His first series was against the Aussies in 1998 when they had toured India. This off spinner started off reasonably well in his first season with the Indian team.

However, like his mentor Muralitharan, this sardar’s action has also come under the hammer a couple of times, and it was corrected with the help of some experts. He has overcome the trauma of those turbulent times.

Harbhajan made a comeback to the Indian team in the early 2000 season. And this time his opportunity to seal his place in the team was more important. And he did himself proud in 2001 when the Aussies came to India.

It was in this series against the Aussies that proved as the watershed for this wonderful bowler. All ideas of conquering the Final Frontier by the Aussies were spoiled by this offie. Steve Waugh’s Final Frontier Dream was never to come true and Harbhajan was the major spoilsport picking up an amazing 32 wickets in just 3 tests including a hat trick – the first ever by an Indian in a test match, and this hatter had done it! That super performance earned him the Player of the Series award.

Harbhajan has always been the trump card for his captain, Saurav Ganguly, who has used him as a matchwinning bowler on most occasions and true to his being Hatchet Man, he has been quite good at his pursuits.

Naturally, his prolific run of success with the ball gave him access to landmarks – he is the fastest and youngest Indian to reach 200 test wickets.

Harbhajan has a high arm action and a loop that befuddled many a batsman. He has a shortish run up (as most spinners have), but he opens his shoulders as he begins to deliver the ball and this ends in a high action that means more chances of bounce and good aggressive turn off the pitch. He possesses turn, bite and control.

As far as his batting is concerned, being a tailender, he is not very prominent for his batting. His batting style reminds you of tennis slams! But even with his acrobatic, unorthodox ways of batting, he has dealt some lusty blows and made valuable runs for his team, especially in the slog overs in the ODIs. He has to work on his batting, though – such unorthodox manner will not earn him accolades with any cricket lover.

Normally, Harbhajan is an outfielder and his fielding hasn’t been out of the ordinary, but he has a decent throw from the outfield, though wayward. Again, an area he has to work on.

As an individual, Harbhajan can be trusted to keep the momentum going, as he is an aggressive and attacking bowler. He has mastered the doosra quite well and disguises it well and bamboozles many a quality batsman.

Now it is time to take our hats off to this youngster who has earned respect from world-class players all around the globe. He has reached a stage where he can conquer the whole world and snare many more batsmen and wickets and I personally wish him all the best at it!

SHANE WARNE - THE MAGIC CRUSADER

Would cricket be complete without a mention of this Aussie?????

In India, we spin a TOP with a string. But one man spins a red cherry like a top unlike no peer, with the mere power of his wrists! And when that ball spins thus, the revolutions that it sends to the heads of the batsman facing is truly a spectacle to watch!

What has started with Ravi Shastri has continued to the expansive drive of Irfan Pathan, (which was incidentally the World Record chased for the second time by the same bowler, in the space of one year) and looks rather good to continue and has in fact continued to the next few more wickets.

Oct 15, 2004 will be marked in the calendar of this great spinner, perhaps the greatest leg spinner of our times and all other times to come. That was the day when this bowler overcame “Indian Conditions” and the “Indian Batsmen” to knock over the record held by Murali for a few months.

And as Hayden happily caught the edge from Irfan Pathan’s bat at first slip, Warne’s joy knew no bounds as he conquered the home team and went on to take that elusive wicket that puts him on top of everyone else on the bowlers all time wicket takers lists. The ongoing tussle for the world’s leading bowler has just begun, with both Murali and Shane Warne playing active cricket; Murali has not played since August, but will return soon to test cricket.

Each bowler is great in his own regard. Murali has played lesser tests to get to the Wicket Number 532, just 91 tests to Warne’s 114. The road to getting to this world record has been very patient and long, with some unwinding and winding up at various places. Finally the Spin King has arrived with his bag of tricks to the Land which he dreads, the land where the spinners blossom. Not so quite for this great bowler, at least not until now.

His debut test came against those “meddling Indians” at the Sydney Test, the third of that series when India went Down Under. That was something to really forget for Warne, with almost all Indian batsmen going after him and he finished with figures of 1 for 150, perhaps the worst start he would have never dreamt of. That wasn’t quite the way to start the New Year, was it, way back in Jan 1992. After getting massacred by Ravi Shastri, the consolation came for Warne when he picked up his wicket after a masterly double hundred. But then, he has overcome those turbulent times, a few summers and New Years have come and gone, and lots of magic weaved, and the beautiful baskets of Spin have been spun over a few batsman.

Warne’s first hundred wickets came in his 23rd test; a steady flow at 19 tests for the 200th wicket. He had a lean patch getting to 250 wickets, but ever since 250, he did not look back, 21 tests to get to 300 from 200; sadly for this great spinner the next fifty was dragging 17 tests! 12 more for the 400 mark, so by the time he reached the 400 mark, it was 92 tests. Then Warne crept up fast faster, back from the injuries, and 9 tests to get to that mark of 450. One long year he had to wait to get back into cricket again with the raging controversy of doping. Others would have been gone long time back, not this Steely Gritted Man - Shane Keith Warne.

The next six tests have been a comeback for all the money in the world, for all those watching this game and following this game of bat versus ball right over these long yet wonderful years, this is a treat!

On the face of it, Murali may have been the youngest and fastest in terms of tests to the 500 wicket mark in tests but figures may show that there is nothing much to choose between Warne and the wily off Spinner from Kandy. Both have hurled down nearly similar number of overs in tests they have bowled, though Murali has played in lesser tests, he has bowled almost the same number of overs. And there’s so much similarity as regards the strike rate, almost every 10 overs bowled, both get their wickets on the average.

The major difference comes when one takes the concept of playing conditions. Warne has played more tests at home compared to Murali, but its too lopsided for Murali, he has been more successful in the matches played within the sub-continent rather than outside! And most of the wins have come at home for Sri Lanka, he does have a great rate of taking an average of 5 wickets every test, but that’s doesn’t really suit the team’ cause, the others let him down.

Ultimately to conclude this comparison of the bests, I would say Murali does a One Bowler show for Sri Lanka, whereas Warne is just one of the superstars for Australia, there is McGrath, Gillespie, and Brett Lee who torment the batsmen and keep tugging away at the wickets column every now and then. Probably that’s why Warne has had to wait for more number of tests to get to the World Record!

If one goes to watch Warne’s bowling videos, there’s nothing to miss. Every ball is his best performance by itself… every minute, something happens; a flipper, a missed catch, or something caught (most often caught), an LBW appeal, batsman unable to read a ball.

The agony just stacks up for the batsman. And when he gets you hypnotized with his magic, he never lets you go; he keeps pulling at the batsman, inviting the drive, cascading the balls one after another at various speeds and angles, and the revolutions per minute are evolved with a clear intention to keep all of us watching. The slip fielders and the keeper’s gloves gloved with glee totally involved and interested.

Bombshells are meant to be dropped on adversaries at the right time and this Blond Bombshell-man knows that very well. Take a breather as I say… 28 five wicket hauls and 8-ten wicket hauls, and simply because it is quite staggering. And staggering is a complete understatement, as he mesmerizes the batsman totally. Ashes always speaks about Warne, he started his first Ashes Test with the Ball of the Century in England in 1993, and Glory followed Warne ever since.

His record in India has not been as much as a typical Warne fan would like, let alone Shane Warne himself. The first time he played, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was ready to take him on along with Navjot Singh Sidhu who had clobbered him in almost every match of the series. Warne ended up getting creamed, taking the brunt of the aggression. The next time he came back there in 2001, already with a tarnished and humble record, nothing much clicked for him, as Laxman and Dravid played him with as much ease as eating a banana.

This time around, this may very well be his last series in India; he is here with a mission. A mission to show the whole wide world why at all he has been crowned the world’s greatest spinner.
He has already proved his mettle with his First Five Wicket haul in India, and his personal best bowling ever on this Soil of the Greatest Bowlers of Spin! And with the record at the TOP of the world will most certainly not go to his Head! Now it is time to pile up the wickets while he is ahead of Murali. That is going to be exciting, as the world record will change hands over minutes with every passing cricketing test!

MICHAEL CLARKE - GOLDEN DEBUT

A train chugged along the tracks of Bangalore in Karnataka, in India. That train had started its journey, but it bore neither a destination nor a time frame for completing its journey. After all, the journey had started, why at all think of stopping and completion. That Chugging Chuckler is none other than Michael John Clarke.

Scoring a hundred on debut is really something to dream about. That too against an opposition, which can fire on all cylinders at their own home grounds, that’s asking too much out of a batsman. But tell that to this young man, Michael Clarke, who never ceases to amaze all of us. Maybe, he will have a smile on his face and look up at us as if to say, “What are you talking about? I make things happen!”
The Match is the first of the series and already the Aussies have made it very clear that they are here on a mission with a vision to win! And they won’t think of anything other than positive cricket. True he has played ODIs and he has bloomed very much into cricket for his team, but a century on debut is always special.

Clarke is the 17th Aus player to score a ton on debut and only 5 other Aussies have gone past the 150 run mark in their first test! The last centurion on debut was Greg Blewett against England at the Adelaide Oval in 1994-95 (102*).

Earlier in the match, Adam Gilchrist the Aussie captain won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat first. The start was sedate with a fine tight line by the Indian seamers, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan. Wickets did fall at regular intervals, only Langer managed to score a fifty in the first 4 batsmen in the scorecard. In came our hero – Michael John Clarke, the valiant player of many a cameo in ODIs.

The score was 149-4 and he accompanied Simon Katich to the crease. Katich was striking the ball well, and he had his eye in, so he took on every bowler in sight and started to score some runs freely. Katich was eventually out at 256/5 and his personal score at 81.

Adam Gilchrist then joined Clarke and then onwards it was all these two players to come good. The skipper played freely, and Clarke started to get the upper hand against the bowlers. The way in which Clarke played the spinners, particularly his assault on Kumble was truly spectacular. As many as 4 sixes and 18 fours laced his super innings of 151 off 258 balls. The Dream Innings of Clarke finally came to an end when Zaheer Khan got him out caught by the keeper Parthiv Patel.

But already the damage was done...Clarke had broken the nearly 10 year shackles of a century by an Aussie on Debut and had put his team to a winning position with a huge first innings score of 474.


Well nothing can really stop this Runaway Superstar from trudging on the path of greatness. There’s not going to be any more stopovers for this Batting Express. I personally wish this young cricketer to go on and just entertain us with all the hoots and toots that he got to show us.

GLENN MCGRATH - ACCURACY PERSONIFIED

If King Midas had ever played cricket, I'm sure he would have loved to be a bowler. Just be stingy with his overs and give the least runs and get maximum wickets in his usual greedy self. We do have a person that fits that bill, as u wonder the name of Glenn McGrath just cant pass your mind.

Drafted into the Aussie team in 1995 as a tall lanky paceman, this legend has become the mantle of the Aussie Pace Battery. Totally coming good in his first series itself against the Caribbeans, he cemented his place in a team, which has more Hall of Fame Fast bowlers than any other team in this game. The great Lillee, Thomson, McDermott, Merv Hughes, Bruce Reid all awe inspiring names. McGrath has become the game’s greatest new ball bowler of all time, for all the money in this world.

Like just King Midas, McGrath is gifted with the Golden Touch of getting wickets and the manner in which he meticulously gets them is something really amazing! The Wealth of a bowler is not the wickets, wickets come and go. But the story that the batsman tells of a bowler is his real wealth. He has most certainly captured the minds of one and all. For me, he simply is the wealthiest bowler in the history of the Sport.

Throughout most of his career, be it ODIs or tests, he has never been any less stingier. Maybe the odd occasion when he was hit. Like the World Cup 1999, in the league game against Pakistan, Moin Khan, in a very unorthodox dispatched him for plenty of runs in a dry spell.

There’s never really a dry spell for “the Pigeon”. He has this uncanny knack of bowling balls in the “corridor of uncertainty” with such precision over a spell. He is a bowling machine. And all this has not come without so many hours of practice in the nets and sheer determination to excel. When one says new ball bowler, invariably the first name that comes to mind is this guy!

In a game dubbed as the Batsman’s game, as it has concept suited to the batsman more than bowlers such as the Fielding Restrictions, this bowler has stood out. Whenever one sees him bowl, it is so refreshing to watch, and he has this ability to bowl so good that one rarely sees a boundary off him! Maybe the odd single, but six on six just outside the off stump is some phenomenon!

There are so many things about this wily paceman that I can talk about, but I don’t have all day, and u don’t have all day! So lets talk about two standout performances of McGrath.

Who would forget his miserly string of bowling spells in the series against WI in the Home series! He bowled more overs than the runs he gave away and wickets kept falling under his name! And his economy rate was mind boggling, something bowlers dream of. Astounding pieces of bowling, at 17 runs per wicket, one could not help but wonder if this bowler would ever give away runs at all… runs were so hard to score off this precision machine like bowler that the West Indians just gave up!

The one that stands out for all of us is the career best and first 10 wicket haul for this fine bowler is the 10/27 in the First test at the Gabba, Brisbane! That is the stingiest and most wonderful string of bowling.

It is surprising to see that England happens to be his favorite opposition! He has played 22 of the 97 in all against England (that’s the Ashes Series), and he’s has got a quarter of his test wickets (117). One standout performance for me was the 1997 Ashes Series, the Second Test at Lord’s. He totally demolished, demoralized, totally wiped out the entire England team. In a spell of a score overs (20.3 to be exact) his miserly run was evident (38 runs) and that devastating spell had 8 of the English names in the scorecard all for this King!

In the second innings though, the English scrambled out a plan and he could manage only 1 wicket, but then, he had stapled the English and sealed them for good! Such is the class of the greats!
No other bowler can be compared to McGrath. No other bowler has single-handedly taken the opposition for a ride of their lives. For me McGrath is the most respected and most sought after bowler. He is the Meanest Bowling Machinery, a piece of machinery that has not depreciated at any point of time.

It is very sad that he has had a few personal problems (his wife is diagnosed with cancer!) and he himself has had some ankle problems. But at 34, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. He may be in the evening of his career, but its definitely not time for Good Night! And with his renowned stinginess and greed, he can only go further.

I salute this Legend and pray that he goes on to bring unending joy into all our hearts!