Where were you when the greatest Indian innings was played?

[Lurker]

I am of course talking about VVS Lakshman's 281 at Eden Gardens. Much as I am a fan of Kapil Dev and to me his 175* shall rate as greatest ODI innings played by an Indian but I have no doubt VVS's innings was just a bit better. VVS innings happened when I was travelling from my hometown to Mumbai. It was probably the best ever travel I have ever had. Almost every passenger was glued to the radio carried by a fellow traveller. In my compartment there was this gentleman carrying a smuggled Chinese radio that could pick almost all the radio bands and he was a bug hit. I remember boarding the train when Indian position was quite hopeless and with every hour the situation improved. As is often the case of travelling in trains, it was almost like being in a mini India. Biharis cursing loudly, Bengalis swinging between passion and extreme hopelessness in one go, Marathis chanting Ganapti Bappa at every four. It was freaking awesome. Hours after the game would finish(the train travel was a day plus) people would sit and strategise for the next day. My favorite experience is about an hour before the train pulled inside Mumbai Terminus. Gilchrist was batting in the 4th innings. Indian chances were looking extremely good. Sachin bowled and the commentator shouted something. At the same time the train went inside a tunnel and the commentary went completely off the hook - "Sachin bowls....zzzzz....zzzzzz.....Gilchrist........zzzz..zzzz....zzzzz....gone...zzzz...no...zzzzz...dismissed....zzzzz"....Pitch dark environment with people huddled shouting "Gaya kya", "Yes I heard dismissed", "I heard No as well".....What would have been a a minute or two inside the tunnel seemed like an hour. And then we see the opening of the tunnel, light coming in and commentary betting clearer with each passing second..."With Gilchrist dismissed India are well on their way". The entire train, and I make no overstatement here, broke with a "Ganpati Bappa Maurya". That coming out of the tunnel was almost metaphorical in sense of how Indian cricket has improved. So where were you when Eden Gardens/VVS happened? Remember the Devil lies in the details...

[satishg]

i was in my apartment glued to the TV the entire day..i sat the same way the entire day din move an inch..only during the drinks break did i take a break to pee and only during the lunch, i went for my bath and had lunch and as soon as the players resumed i went back to my chair pushed my brother off that chair and again sat in the same way as i was sitting before..dint take my eye off for even a single second..actually i lost hope wen Dravid and VVS joined together at the end of day 3..all i wanted was one of them to get a century..but then in the morning seeing VVS playing all those attacking shots and then from nowhere Dravid started attacking Warne as well..i thot im onto something special here and hehe i thot maybe because of the way i was sitting :D so i din want to take a risk and din change my position and the rest as they say is history..India won the game and i ended up hugging my apartments watchman who was watching the game along with me rather than doing his duty :D..

[Holysmoke]

I had given up hope.. all hope. I had seen Harby's hat-trick via the TV tuner card on my computer, and had recorded it as well. But going into this day I had no hope. India folding again, big deal. I was in 9th grade then, and was "supposed" to be studying on the computer. (Actually I was downloading music, chatting with friends, and watching the game on my computer). I pretty much spent the whole day watching the game, alternating between studying(translation-> watching the game on the computer) to "taking a break" (watching it on TV). I didnt realize the magnitude of Dravid and Laxmans achievements till much later. I was very happy with Laxman breaking SMG's record, and dearly wanted him to reach 300, thus becoming the first Indian to do so. On the other hand, Laxman was not such a known name then, and I also wished that one of my favourite players would have broken that record. My thinking on the day was... OK.. big deal.. Bhajji becoming the first Indian to take a test hattrick in the same game was a better feat. I remember watching the game the next day, being very very disappointed that Laxman got out early that day. India folded, and Aus needed to play out the day. At that time, I hadnt even thought of India winning the game. I saw the first few overs of the Aussie innings, and Langer and Hayden looked comfortable, and it looked like they would pull it off, no issues. But when the tide started changing, thats when I saw the magnitude of the achievement. Seeing the players celebrate with 100,000 people cheering them on brought goosebumps. I think we were only the second team to win a game after being made to follow on.. thats when it hit me! I cant remember the details exactly, but I remember being shocked.. it was an unbelievable victory. Who would have thought it even possible! More than this, the third test was an even bigger cliffhanger, where we needed 150 odd to win the game, and were 120/7. That was a nervous time. I remember Ganguly's reaction when we won, and the way he ran and hugged Dravid who was standing behind him. The press conference was also something i remember clearly. Another game which I will never forget was the Kumble 10/74. It was absolutely insane. He was carried off the field on other players shoulders!(Srinath specifically). Now that game is one I can never forget. Thats the stuff I used to dream of, and I just couldnt believe that it had been done before!

[Lurker]

i was in my apartment glued to the TV the entire day..i sat the same way the entire day din move an inch..only during the drinks break did i take a break to pee and only during the lunch' date=' [b']i went for my bath and had lunch and as soon as the players resumed i went back to my chair pushed my brother off that chair and again sat in the same way as i was sitting before..dint take my eye off for even a single second..actually i lost hope wen Dravid and VVS joined together at the end of day 3..all i wanted was one of them to get a century..but then in the morning seeing VVS playing all those attacking shots and then from nowhere Dravid started attacking Warne as well..i thot im onto something special here and hehe i thot maybe because of the way i was sitting :D so i din want to take a risk and din change my position and the rest as they say is history..India won the game and i ended up hugging my apartments watchman who was watching the game along with me rather than doing his duty :D..

Those two statements are soooo true for a cricket fan. We are probably more superstitious than our cricketers. I mean when India used to play I would often go all nuts when my Mom walked in to living room, as often her arrival coincided with an Indian wicket falling!! Today of course I feel bad about it. Also the whole act of hugging strangers. Can only happen after a cricket match. Guess they are right that cricket brings India together!

[Lurker]

More than this' date=' the third test was an even bigger cliffhanger, where we needed 150 odd to win the game, and were 120/7. [b']That was a nervous time. I remember Ganguly's reaction when we won, and the way he ran and hugged Dravid who was standing behind him. The press conference was also something i remember clearly.

I remember that too!! Sameer Dighe was the Man of the Match as far as I was concerned :--D and when Bhajji played that stroke off Mcgrath to take 2....man I went nuts..remember just banging my hands on the table and breaking many a plates and cups..all worth it of course!:--D

[Laaloo]

I remember that too!! Sameer Dighe was the Man of the Match as far as I was concerned :--D and when Bhajji played that stroke off Mcgrath to take 2....man I went nuts..remember just banging my hands on the table and breaking many a plates and cups..all worth it of course!:--D

damn u P.S searching youtube for that match of course :D

[Ram]

Believe it or not, I had an exam that day in school.:D The exam was scheduled for the afternoon, at around 1.30 or something. So, I was to leave at around 12.30, since it took us about 30 mins to cycle to school. I spent the whole morning torn between having to study for the exam and running to the television set every now and then to check the score. Bottom-line, I had already given up hope by then of our chances in that test/series, so I wasnt paying much attention to the cricket anyway. About the time I left for school, we hadnt lost a single wicket in the morning session and I was pleasantly surprised when I came to know about it. Still, I thought it was more of an aberration than anything else. When I finally did return from school at around 5, I was simply thrilled to know that we hadnt lost a wicket in the entire day. Now, till then, I had never witnessed an entire's day of test cricket where not a single wicket fell. So, it was a mix of shock, disbelief and sheer joy for me. As we all know, the rest, as they say, is history! :D

[Holysmoke]

I remember that too!! Sameer Dighe was the Man of the Match as far as I was concerned :--D and when Bhajji played that stroke off Mcgrath to take 2....man I went nuts..remember just banging my hands on the table and breaking many a plates and cups..all worth it of course!:--D

Have your read Indian summers? John Wright actually gives a very good description/account of the series. Ofcourse Dighe is the stuff of legend,telling the new batsman Zaheer (?) in English, that Colin Miller was bowling really well, so that Steve Waugh could hear it. Steve heard it, and kept him on for another over, only for Dighe to take 10 runs of it. Those 10 runs were pure gold at that stage. What a khadoos!

[satishg]

Those two statements are soooo true for a cricket fan. We are probably more superstitious than our cricketers. I mean when India used to play I would often go all nuts when my Mom walked in to living room, as often her arrival coincided with an Indian wicket falling!! Today of course I feel bad about it. Also the whole act of hugging strangers. Can only happen after a cricket match. Guess they are right that cricket brings India together!

yep u got that rite Lurker and hey about the mom thing lol i used to do that too..infact i asked her to be in the kitchen most of the time and not to come out wen India bats..even if she came she never opened her mouth..i feel bad now but then at that time i never wanted anything to disrupt Indias rhythm..hehe most of the times my mom used to go to my aunts place wen v were watching matches :D and regarding the 3rd test you are so right abt Dighe being the man of the match..he was pushing everybody and was pumping himself also..he gave more than his 100 percent and wen he edged that Miller guy for 2 fours i was jumping with joy..i thought Dighe should be a permanent fixture in our test squad :D what a match and Souravs reaction after we won that was priceless..the police man near Sourav din know wat to do as well he wanted to hug Sourav but Sourav jus ran into the ground..the best series ever by far :icflove:

[Gambit]

Saale Lurker, you have either led one heck one a life filled with interesting events or you are one master embellish artist :D As I mentioned on the 'Which match did you miss' thread, I had an interview in another city on the 5th day of this test. I did not have access to either radio or internet and didn't have a mobile phone then either. I was so nervous about the test that I forgot to be nervous about the interview. If god had given me a choice between the two, I would have chosen the test victory over the job. And that's exactly what I got. :D The most memorable train journey experience regarding cricket I had was when I took a train from Patna to Gomoh. The train was called 'Superfast' but the damn thing took 11 hours to complete the blasted journey. The train was packed and I lay on a sack of onions throughout the journey. On this trip, some messenger of god had brought a radio and 3 hours before I reached Gomoh, one of the most tumultous,tense and passion inducing cricket matches started - Ind v Pak '99 World Cup. As most people living in India then would know, our country was at war with Pak. The country was on a state of alert and nationalistic passions were stirred like never before. This match was almost like a battle which was part of the Kargil War. Anyway, almost everyone in the carriage surrounded that radio and followed the commentary with a silence that is reserved for examination halls and Pak crowds after an Afridi first ball duck. Tendulkar began cautiously but then started to explode. The roar after every boundary was immense. I had to reluctantly alight when my destination came and then raced off to where I was going and arrived in time to watch Srinath get Afridi out. :cantstop:

[Lurker]

damn u P.S searching youtube for that match of course :D

What!! You havent seen the video of that series....:omg::omg: Here is what you should follow: a) Close your eyes. b) Imagine me turn around, moon my ar $e in your face and go all Ner Ner Ner Ner :yay::yay: c) Proceed with a sigh on Youtube to find the clippings(not of my ar $e)

[flamy]

Wow, the first three posts on this thread are a marvellous read and make me infinitely jealous. Especially you, Lurker. That must have been some experience, sharing cricket with so many people from so many different places. Unfortunately for myself, I wasn't much into cricket those days, at least not into Tests. I did catch the highlights on youtube. WOW.

[Lurker]

Believe it or not, I had an exam that day in school.:D The exam was scheduled for the afternoon, at around 1.30 or something. So, I was to leave at around 12.30, since it took us about 30 mins to cycle to school.

See now you guys would know how it felt for us 80s bloke . I mean in those days there were no cellphones, no internet and radio wasnt allowed in the school. So at every break we would jump over the school gate and run to nearby paan shop to check the score. And when one reached home he would throw the bags and switch on the TV, generally to see either Sunny or Kapil battling for India with score 265/8!

[Lurker]

Have your read Indian summers? John Wright actually gives a very good description/account of the series. Ofcourse Dighe is the stuff of legend' date='telling the new batsman Zaheer (?) in English, that Colin Miller was bowling really well, so that Steve Waugh could hear it. Steve heard it, and kept him on for another over, only for Dighe to take 10 runs of it. Those 10 runs were pure gold at that stage. What a khadoos![/quote'] I didnt know any of that Holy...Damn man that is some mental game there by Dighe!! :two_thumbs_up: In words of Saint Cricketics - Dighe is a bloody legend...:two_thumbs_up:

[Cricketics]

12th March 2001, at the end of Day 2 India were about 130 odd for 9 wickets down and umpires offered light to batsman, just after 15 minutes couple of my friens came over to my house to pick me up and go near by Pav-Bhaji place. we all were annoyed by India's progress in the series, we all discuess how for the first time in such long period we were aobut to lose the series that to pretty comprehensively being 2-0 down in 3 match series. we all being bunch of optimists, started our optimism and some started talking how rain will end up helping India in this test and that we will win the third test and would level the series. when my turn came, i was like "Venkatesh prasad will score his first ever fifty tomorrow and will give a support to laxman who will help us avoid the follow on and then bajji and other bowlers will bowl Aus out early in 2nd innings and we will chase the target. though we knew nothing as such would be happening and aussies being the world champz would finish it up in first few overs to put follow on, we also didn't know that 2 of the greatest Indian test cricket days are coming.. Day 3 started, Laxman had shown his class, and my prediction of venkatesh prasad scoring his first fifty looked good, but then After reaching 50, India were bowled out and were forced to follow on. then again being 115-3, with ramesh, das and tendulkar all in pavilion, it looked as if we would end up giving aussies this series easily, but the best knock by any Indian in test cricket was pending to be played. Laxman's 281 and Dravid's fantastic support of 180 wel will go down as two of the best knocks in Indian test Cricket history which turned the whole series around.. my hats off won't even do justice to this. turning the whole test match around, turning the whole pressure the other way, PLAYING THE KNOCK IN INDIA'S BEST STADIUM, THE EDEN GARDENS, THE SCRIPT OF CHAMPION WAS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. The DVD of this game is very precious to me still and wuold always be. this is perhapz the best DVD owned. GREAT MEMORIES.

[Laaloo]

What!! You havent seen the video of that series....:omg::omg: Here is what you should follow: a) Close your eyes. b) Imagine me turn around, moon my ar in your face and go all Ner Ner Ner Ner :yay::yay: c) Proceed with a sigh on Youtube to find the clippings(not of my ar )

no ive seen it. im just watching again :D

[punjabi_khota]

I was at home, it was the summer after my 12th grade exams and I was enjoying my last days at home before going off to engineering college. But ****, what a match. And best part?, they did it again in OZ. Haha. One improvement we have made since 2001, is that when we win test matches now, there is somewhat uniform contribution from various members. Not freaky stuff like 281 or 33 wickets in 3 matches.

[Lurker]

The most memorable train journey experience regarding cricket I had was when I took a train from Patna to Gomoh. The train was called 'Superfast' but the damn thing took 11 hours to complete the blasted journey. The train was packed and I lay on a sack of onions throughout the journey. On this trip, some messenger of god had brought a radio and 3 hours before I reached Gomoh, one of the most tumultous,tense and passion inducing cricket matches started - Ind v Pak '99 World Cup. As most people living in India then would know, our country was at war with Pak. The country was on a state of alert and nationalistic passions were stirred like never before. This match was almost like a battle which was part of the Kargil War. Anyway, almost everyone in the carriage surrounded that radio and followed the commentary with a silence that is reserved for examination halls and Pak crowds after an Afridi first ball duck. Tendulkar began cautiously but then started to explode. The roar after every boundary was immense. I had to reluctantly alight when my destination came and then raced off to where I was going and arrived in time to watch Srinath get Afridi out. :cantstop:

Aha the Patna Gomoh line! Must be one of the slowest ever!! If I am not mistaken it is, or atleast used to be, a small gauge, chotti line as we called it in Bihar. That said Gomoh station has some weird, and extremely delicious, chaat that I have never had anywhere else. I couldnt help but laugh on that whole travel on sach of onions!!:hysterical::hysterical: That too Indo Pak Game. Priceless. Travel by trains brings so many memories. I once had this Combined Engineering Exams at Bhagalpur. Travelled by trains. Hotels/Retiring rooms were all booked so put down a newspaper and slept on the platform. In the morning stood under a hose pipe in my undies and was taking a shower when this train arrives on the next track and the "Mahila" boggy stops right by :hysterical::hysterical:

[DomainK]

I remember that series very well. I dont think any Indian over the age of 8 who saw that match would ever forget it....and the next match. I was much annoyed right from the beginning of the series and I was quite convinced that without Kumble, it was impossible for India to take 20 Australian wickets. Kumble had praised Harbhajan in an interview before the series began and he was sure that Harbhajan would do a great job. He had worked closely with Bhajji in the nets. I was quite sure that he was just being optimistic and Harbhajan wouldn't bother a single Australian batsman. If there was any hope left in me, it was all shattered with the first match. Three days and match over. The all conquering Australian looked like an Anaconda about to swallow India- the lamb. In the second match, Australia's first innings score was big. 450 at that time looked more than enough to give India an innings defeat. When the follow on happened, it was a feeling of sheer helplessness. The lamb was half swollen.....awaiting a painful death. Laxman's innings along with Rahul Dravid's amazing innings which always gets overshadowed by Laxman's, they looked good but never looked good enough. It looked more like a drowning man clutching at a straw. Harbhajan's 7 wickets in the first innings had also gone as well as unnoticed. But they all were going to make a collective impact. The day ended without a fall of wicket and it looked like the Indian batsmen only successfully delayed the inevitable. But then when Indian declared, the ray of hope was visible again. And then Harbhajan's second innings 6 wickets. That day was celebrated world wide by Indians. I can not remember a single person who was not over excited. The women who did not understand the game were excited because the men were so excited. And of course, the series decider, the final game with Sachin's century and Harbhajan's destruction. Who can forget that?

[punjabi_khota]

I was at home' date=' it was the during/after my 12th grade exams and I was enjoying my last days at home before going off to engineering college. But ****, what a match. And best part?, they did it again in OZ. Haha. One improvement we have made since 2001, is that when we win test matches now, there is somewhat uniform contribution from various members. Not freaky stuff like 281 or 33 wickets in 3 matches.[/quote']