Cricket related quote/comment of the day Thread!!!

[maniac]

Ran across this on the internet and this is the best description of T20 and the value of test cricket I have seen. Courtesy Gordon Greenidge. Can’t agree more

 

please use this to post such comments. I know it’s hard but try to avoid any mundane or trolling statements like “Virat Bhai is the greatest” “Mahi Bhai thought me how to walk” etc 

[Ultimate_Game]

16 minutes ago, maniac said:

Ran across this on the internet and this is the best description of T20 and the value of test cricket I have seen. Courtesy Gordon Greenidge. Can’t agree more

 

please use this to post such comments. I know it’s hard but try to avoid any mundane or trolling statements like “Virat Bhai is the greatest” “Mahi Bhai thought me how to walk” etc 

 

Don't agree with such statements and opinions. Just because the older generation only played Tests, it doesn't mean other formats are easy. Just because T20s require different skills doesn't mean it's "easy". This is a typical "hamaare zamaane mein..." take which looks at the past with rose-tinted glasses and automatically assumes things in the past were better and everything more recent sucks.

[Tillu]

@nimishdubey on X

 

One of the most acrimonious Test Matches I have ever followed was the one between India and Pakistan at Lahore in 1984.

 

It was supposed to be a special match as it was Sunil Gavaskar’s 100th Test, and Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq felicitated him at the beginning.

 

However, things went wrong after that. India had Pakistan in a spot of bother, with new bowler Chetan Sharma creating serious problems with his pace, but Pakistan got out of it and reached 428/9 thanks to an incredibly patient 160 odd from Zaheer Abbas...and a lot of help from the local umpires if the Indian media and players were to be believed.

 

Only one Pakistan player, the no. 10, Jalaluddin (incidentally the first bowler to take a hat-trick in ODIs) was given out lbw as several close lbw appeals were turned down on a wicket that was slow and a little low. A cynical media person is believed to have asked for a copy of Wisden as he wanted to check if lbw had been removed as a means of dismissal.

Things were simmering a bit already but they got really bad on the third day India when India started batting. Gavaskar and Vengsarkar had given India a reasonably good start after Gaekwad had gone cheaply, but there was a slight wobble when both went in quick succession, and Sandeep Patil was dismissed for a duck.

At 114-4, India were in a bit of a pickle. Mohinder Amarnath who had been recalled after a disastrous series at home against the West Indies (one run in six innings, two pairs) was still there and showing signs of being back in form but he needed support. Fortunately, India batted deep - Ravi Shastri, Roger Binny and Kapil Dev were still to come. And Kirmani could chip in too.

 

Barely ten minutes later, the score was 120-7. Shastri, Kapil Dev and Binny were all back in the pavilion, all given out leg before. And each decision was contentious. Kapil Dev generally a genial soul, was unusually upset when he was given out leg before to Azeem Hafeez, claiming he had clearly hit the ball, and actually lingered at the crease before leaving. A shell-shocked Binny sat in the pavilion quietly and when a media person asked him if he was all right, muttered “Perhaps this is how things work here.”

 

India collapsed for 156 and were made to follow on, but on the rest day, all the talk was about the umpiring. Messrs Khizar Hayat and Shakoor Rana had not exactly covered themselves in glory. Some were saying that the extremely loud crowd, which was getting excited every time an appeal was made, was making things difficult. In all the controversy and brouhaha, Azeem Hafeez's magnificent 6-46 on a slow track was largely forgotten.

 

Needing to bat out two days in a hostile environment,  with chirping fielders and a crowd baying for victory, India got off to a good start with Gavaskar and Gaekwad adding 85, and then Gavaskar was given out lbw to Jalaluddin. It was again a close decision, and although Gavaskar did not protest beyond a slight pause and a look back at the stumps, tensions now reached another level. Gaekwad had a few sharp exchanges with the fielders, but when he, Vengsarkar and Patil were dismissed, India were 164-4, still 108 behind with about an hour and a day’s play left.

Shastri came out to join Mohinder Amarnath and if legend is to be believed, “Jimmy” (Mohinder’s nickname) told him to make sure nothing struck his pads, as he would be given out if that happened. India closed the day at 180/4, 92 behind with a full day’s play left.

 

The Indian newspapers were now in a proper fury. If I remember correctly, the Indian Express showed the scores of both teams, under India XI and Pakistan XIII. While umpiring disputes had been common, this was quite another level.

On a tense final day, Mohinder Amarnath and Ravi Shastri gritted and batted on almost two sessions. What was remarkable was their refusal to let the ball touch their pads. But there was still a bit of a twist left in the tale. Shastri was dismissed - leg before again controversially to Salim Malik’s part timers - with India only 18 ahead.

Sensing that the match needed to be seen off, Gavaskar sent Binny ahead of Kapil with insurrections to block till the end. He did so until one from Wasim Raja spun and hit his pad. It seemed to be missing the stumps but up went the finger. Binny had got a second shocker and India were 315-6, 43 ahead and with still about 10 minutes and 20 mandatory overs left. Pakistan seemed to have a sniff of a chance again.  The Indian dressing room was tense again, and even the commentary on AIR was seething with annoynace about the umpiring- a rare occurence in those days.

 

Kapil Dev now walked in to bat, and although the commentators did point out how he had gone cheaply in the first innings, this time he seemed to have come in a different mood. For about forty five minutes, the Haryana Hurricane unleashed hell at the crease and although Mohinder Amarnath seemed to be trying to ask him to restrain himself, he kept plastering the attack. Mohinder himself completed yet another comeback when he reached his century and when India reached 371-6, 99 ahead and Pakistan had not too many overs left, the players agreed to call it a day and returned. Mohinder Amarnath's 101 had occupied almost five sessions, but Kapil's brisk 33 had literally put paid to Pakistan's ambitions in the match.

The match ended with considerable tension between the teams and press boxes. Binny, Gaekwad, Shastri and Kapil Dev were supposed to be particularly incensed. After the match, a clerly furious Gavaskar spoke up:

 

"Despite the best efforts of the Pakistan umpires to favour the home team, we have managed to draw the Test and that is a miracle. Before embarking upon the tour of Pakistan we expected close decisions, but what happened in the Lahore Test was pre-planned and predetermined."

 

Of course, there was no talk of abandoning the tour. Those were different times. The second Test ended in a high-scoring draw, and the tour was called off following Mrs Gandhi's assassination. But that first Test at Lahore, particualrly the last three days remain among the most tense and nasty ones I have followed, with two teams and media sections sniping at each other.

 

#Cricket #India #Paksitan #IndiaPakistan #Cricket #Nostalgia

(@g_rajaraman, @Raja_Sw, @alawyerwrites, @WG_RumblePants, @VatsMusings, @anandkumarn, @anandbaskaran4)