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News reports and photos - India/Eng 2008

Rajiv

By Rajiv
in Cricket Talk

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goose Experienced

goose

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/15/cricket-england-india-first-test-mike-selvey Hero rises from horrors of Mumbai to fashion fated Test victory for India. After the horror of the attacks in Mumbai a fortnight ago, it was karma that the city's most celebrated figure, Sachin Tendulkar, should secure a famous win for his nation in the first Test against England. Mike Selvey India's Yuvraj Singh, left, and Sachin Tendulkar are congratulated by the groundstaff after scoring the winning runs during the first Test against England. Was this karma, the cause and effect as defined in Hinduism? Was this Test match, not just India's stunning beautiful victory but the fact that ultimately it was fashioned so perfectly by the genius of Mumbai's most celebrated figure, simply meant to be after the atrocity inflicted on that vibrant city a fortnight ago? Or was it merely a magnificent sporting contest, as good as any cricket can be when given extra meaning by the peculiar circumstances that surrounded it? I'm a romantic and lean towards the former. I like to think that sometimes things happen for the right reason and although the England team would have been disconsolate in the immediate aftermath of the match, with the celebratory clamour around them, the softer hours of their wind-down time may persuade them that this was one such occasion. There was no disgrace to be had in losing at Chepauk. I hope, indeed I'm sure, that Kevin Pietersen will have reminded his team of this and then of the part they played in an event of massive significance on the subcontinent, firstly by turning up to play where others may have allowed their natural reservations to take precedent, and then, as with their opponents, competing in such a feisty manner. The financial donations they made towards emergency funds were a fine gesture but the biggest gesture of all was being there. By all the natural laws that govern the progress of Test matches, England should have won the match. Another time they would have. The batting of Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood (two players, lest it be forgotten, who have been scrabbling for their Test careers throughout the past year) and disciplined bowling from an attack properly balanced for the anticipated conditions had set up a situation as the fourth day headed into the final session for which they would have grasped greedily had it been offered before the match began. On a wearing fifth-day pitch, slow but offering help for spinners and reverse swing for seamers, they might expect to win perhaps 19 times out of 20. Then, though, comes the genius factor. The fast bowlers broke ranks with the new ball, feeding Virender Sehwag's insatiable appetite for the cut (with Alastair Cook like a coconut in a shy in the gully), and by the start of the final day the brilliant, calculated, carefree assault had reduced the target to manageable proportions. England could no longer afford the côterie of close catchers that would have been expected when the declaration came, leaving the gate ajar. Sehwag, however, had set the stage for the master. Sachin Tendulkar had a score to settle with this stadium, having once previously, with a stupendous century — one of his very finest, scored despite labouring with a bad back — taken his side to within a spit of a successful run chase against Pakistan, only to falter, along with the India lower order, with the finishing post in sight. This time, in the course of constructing an innings so sublimely suited to the conditions that it should be made available to coaches everywhere, he found an ally in Yuvraj Singh, a devastating one-day batsman returned to the Test side to resume an unfulfilled career, susceptible to the fast short ball from which he is given immunity by unfair one-day regulations, and worked over magnificently by Andrew Flintoff in the first innings in such a way that it reinforced how Test cricket can provide scintillating passages of play for which there is just no time in the limited-overs game. Yuvraj played his perfect part but the day, the match and the country demanded it belong to Tendulkar. It could not have been scripted more perfectly: a boundary to win the match and complete a century. It had to have been preordained. Had to be. And Tendulkar's articulate, measured summary of what it all meant, even as the euphoria reigned all around him and the adrenalin still coursed through his veins, placed it all into a proper context. It was a triumph for India, but no less so for England who can be proud. Above all, though, it was a triumph for the spirit of Mumbai, through its champion, Tendulkar. Karma.
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SachDan Newbie

SachDan

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Sachin dedicates his 41st Test ton to Mumbaikars CHENNAI: Sachin Tendulkar dedicated his 41st Test century that powered India's sensational victory against England on Monday to Mumbaikars recovering after the terror attacks hoped that his ton will give "some happiness to them." "I dedicate this century to the people of Mumbai," the batting maestro said, adding "Cricket cannot lessen whatever happened... I hope this 100 will give some amount of happiness to the people." Tendulkar however said that by no means he was trying to say that his 41st century and Indian victory will make everyone forget what happened in Mumbai especially after what the hapless Mumbaikars had to face after the carnage. Tendulkar, who provided the finishing flourishes in a tension-filled match to score an unbeaten 103, said, "I think it was a very, very important hundred because, I always say that if the team wins, then the hundred becomes very special and today this hundred was very important." "But cricket is a lesser thing compared to what happened in Mumbai and we are with those who lost their dear ones." "What happened in Mumbai was extremely extremely unfortunate and it will be hard to recover," Tendulkar said, adding, "We are right with the people who lost their near and dear ones." The batting icon said he would like to thank England for coming back to play Test cricket and people are again enjoying cricket the way it is meant to be. The Mumbai terror attacks cast it shadow over the two Test cricket series between England and India and the matches were nearly abandoned over security concerns raised by the visitors. The English team flew back home after cancelling the last two matches of a limited-overs series it had already lost 5-0.

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The Outsider Newbie

The Outsider

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Sanjay Manjrekar has done a convenient U turn on Tendulkar it seems http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/382309.html?view=transcript

Sanjay Manjrekar: Well that was definitely one of India's greatest Test wins. Going back to the start of the match I thought we needed to thank god that it rained before the start of the Test because it didn't allow the groundsman to prepare a regular Chennai pitch. Had he done that it would have been a flat Chennai pitch and we would have seen a repeat of that match against South Africa where a lot of runs was scored and the match ended in a draw. As it turned out, it was a great pitch for Test cricket. It had everything - it had pace and bounce for the seamers, it was good enough to bat on and there was turn for the spinners. So the weather gods did help the groundsman to prepare a very good pitch for Test cricket. I thought England were very impressive right through the Test. I thought their seam bowlers looked very good and their batsmen dug in and got runs. Monty Panesar's lack of confidence was something that hurt England especially since they were relying a lot on him in the spin department. His lack of confidence was very evident in the way he bowled right through the Test. It was really a match of the second innings of both teams. When Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss got centuries in the second innings, you could see that the pitch had something in it for the batsmen. It wasn't going to be a pitch where it would be difficult for the batsmen to survive, once you got your eye in. All the Indian batsmen who would have looked at Strauss and Collingwood batting would have realised that if you spent some time in there, you could survive. Virender Sehwag's innings was another amazing knock from him. His innings was critical in that he evened the psychological factor between the two teams. I hope Yuvraj Singh - with his unbeaten knock of 85 - now gets the confidence to cement his place in the Test side. He needs to bring in consistency from here on because if he can become a permanent member of this Test squad, this Indian Test squad will look awesome. His knock proved to very important in the last stage of this Test so I hope it has done his confidence a world of good. But finally I thought Sachin Tendulkar's knock was key, especially the composure that he maintained throughout his innings. When he came in, it looked like India would struggle to save the Test because India had already lost Sehwag and then lost Rahul Dravid early today. So Tendulkar's innings - his ability to stay right till the end and play accordingly with different partners was really the most important factor in winning the Test. I thought there was a lot of similarity in the way he played today and the way he played during the century that he scored in the best of three finals [in the CB series] against Australia in Australia. I see that kind of temperament coming into Tendulkar where he goes into a zone and carries on playing without letting anything ruffle him; remaining unbeaten and getting the winning runs, something that he had missed on a few occasions. He will especially remember that match against Pakistan in Chennai in and will be very happy today. I wouldn't be surprised if he rates this as one of his best knocks out of the 41 Test centuries he has scored. For a guy to have such grit in his 20th year in international cricket is truly incredible. I think in this day and age of Twenty20 cricket this Test was a great advertisement for Test cricket. It is probably the best possible time that we could have had a Test like this. As you can see, a Test win is somehow more memorable than a Twenty20 or one-day international win. It was a great Test. Congratulations to England for returning to India and playing a really hard Test. Andrew Flintoff showed just why he is rated so highly - I thought he was the star performer for England. But India were just that little bit better when it mattered.
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