Advantage Team India on off-shore venues

[King]

Advantage Team India on off-shore venues TIMES NEWS NETWORK / Nitin Naik Ireland is another off-shore venue where India will be parading their skills. Nitin Naik finds out they normally play well in unconventional centres. May be, it's the absence of pressure. Since 1984, India have featured in 31 tournaments, winning 7. Played: 115, Won: 55, Lost: 56 Sharjah First played: April 1984, Last appearance: November 2000 Tournaments: 20, Won: 6 Matches: 74, Won: 36, Lost: 38 Abdul Rehman Bukhatir made Sharjah a hot spot for subcontinent teams. India and Pakistan were the biggest draws and a match between the two sides was almost always staged on a Friday, a local holiday in Sharjah. India first played at the desert venue in 1984 in the Asia Cup and they ended up winning the tournament. In 1985, they managed to win a low-scoring match against Pakistan when they were bowled out for 125 and in turn bowled their great rivals out for 87. They beat Australia in the final. But after Javed Miandad's last-ball six off Chetan Sharma in the 1986 Australia Asia Cup final, an India-Pakistan match seemed to have only one winner. India rarely missed the final date and ended up second best. The tournaments that India won in the late 90s were the ones which didn't feature Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar's genius helped India win two tournaments in 1998, the first of which in April would probably rank higher as it was against Australia in the final. Shockingly that remains the last time they beat the world champions while chasing. Singapore Debut: April, 1996, Last played: September, 1999 Tournaments: 2, Won: 0 Matches: 6, Won: 2, Lost: 3, NR: 1 India played two tournaments here, one in 1996 and the other in 1999. Both were after the disappointments suffered in the respective World Cups. In 1996, Sachin Tendulkar's 100 against Pakistan wasn't enough to save India from getting knocked out of the tournament. However, their first match allowed them to extract revenge against Sri Lanka for the humiliation in the World Cup semi-final at the Eden Gardens. Navjot Sidhu's 94 helped India score 199 and Javagal Srinath's inspired opening spell enabled Azhar's boys script a 12-run win. The 1999 edition saw India lose the final to West Indies despite Rahul Dravid's unbeaten and controlled hundred. That was because Ricardo Powell went out of control and scored 124 in 93 balls hitting nine fours, eight sixes and announce himself as a worthy successor to Viv Richards. Toronto Debut: September, 1996. Last played: September, 1999 Tournaments: 4, Won: 1 Matches: 19, Won: 9, Lost: 9, NR: 1 In the mid-90s tension between India and Pakistan was so high that it was impossible to play in a bilateral series in each other's country. But ODI matches between the two nations had immense marketing potential. Hence, the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club became the latest destination for the tamasha ostensibly called Friendship Cup. While India narrowly lost the first edition 3-2, the next one saw them crushing their rivals 4-1 thanks to inspired performances from Sourav Ganguly with both bat and ball. (222 runs and 15 wickets in five games). In 1998, it was Pakistan's turn to inflict a similar humiliation as the Indian team was divided. One group had been ordered to go to Kuala Lumpur for the Commonwealth Games. In 1999, the just concluded Kargil war ensured that the two teams don't meet and instead India and Pakistan played a three-match series each against West Indies. India won 2-1. The last of the matches saw offie Nikhil Chopra excelling on a seaming track and picking 5-21 in 6.2 overs. The Netherlands August 2004 Tournament: 1, Won: 0 Matches: 2, Won: 0, Lost: 1; NR: 1 A tournament best remembered for poor weather, chaotic organisation, Australia's dominance and Sachin Tendulkar's tennis elbow. India played two games, one of them against Australia ended in a no result, and the other one against Pakistan which was a rain-shortened affair, saw them lose by 66 runs. Abu Dhabi April 2006 Tournament: 1. Won: 0 Matches: 2, Won: 1, Lost: 1 Sandwiched between a gruelling England series in the summer of 2006 and a tough tour to West Indies, nobody seemed keen on the event. But the two-match series against Pakistan was for the earthquake victims of Pakistan and no one wanted to give up a chance of showing their charitable side. India lost the first match but won the second thanks to Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag laying a grand foundation and helping India post 260. On a crumbling wicket, Irfan Pathan and Ramesh Powar took three wickets each and helped India to a 51-run win. Kuala Lumpur September 2006 Tournament: 1, Won: 0 Matches: 4, Won: 1, Lost: 2, NR: 1 A willing-to-milk-players-dry BCCI forced a tired and rusty Indian team to embark on the circus in Kuala Lumpur. It served only one purpose - to show how ancient our preparations were during the World Cup season. Sachin Tendulkar's comeback from a shoulder surgery was partly successful. He scored a hundred and a fifty against West Indies but he failed in matches against Australia. The only match that India won was against West Indies and it saw the bowlers bailing them out after the team had scored just 162. More...

[King]

I don't know how he can say "Advantage India". Not in one neutral venue has India more wins than loss. Considering recent trend winning as many as losing is a terrific result for the India team :P Perhaps the writer reckons winning as many as losing is a top class achievement.

[Cricketics]

i dont know why such ppl waste their time in finding such statistics of how India played well or poor in the past on neutral venues.. does it really matter? totally waste of time... as if this will make series victory for us happen for sure against saf advantage India, wht a joke

[gator]

on an average, india's record has always been near the 45 mark.... overseas, home, 5 yr, 25 yr, any sample... wen we won 18 or something in a row..... it got me worried... and then, lets jus say things evened out, only tht the WC came in between....

[Chandan]

I don't know how he can say "Advantage India". Not in one neutral venue has India more wins than loss. Considering recent trend winning as many as losing is a terrific result for the India team :P Perhaps the writer reckons winning as many as losing is a top class achievement.

If you'll read indiatimes/TOI, you'll only get garbage like these news!:regular_smile: