Things you will never forget about this Test match

[Predator_05]

Leaving aside the quality of the cricket, which was truly exceptional, there were small things which i made a mental note of while watching this epic unfold. Collectively, they will all contribute to making this test an all-time classic. 1. Sehwag and Gambhir sitting in the pavilion, laughing to themselves at Amit Mishra who nonchalantly whacked Panesar over mid on for 4. India were trailing England by some 90 runs at this stage yet judging by the demeanor of these two, you would think they were 200 ahead. It was a shot Sehwag would have been proud of 2. Gary Kirsten talking about how India was, in his words, "a team is capable of anything", equipped with players that could do some "special stuff" on a cricket field after day 3, a day which was dominated by England. How right he was 3. Flintoff constant staring and chirping at Yuvraj in an attempt to get him rattled. Yuvraj would uncharacteristically walk over to square leg and avoid any eye contact. A sign of how much there was at stake. Flintoff also changed his bowling action at the release once - not raising his non-bowling arm in an effort to confuse the batsman...desperation ? 4. Harmison picking a ball up after it played back to him by Yuvraj and then throwing it straight at his toes. I wish bowlers wouldn't do this, one of these days those throws may cause some grievous bodily harm...:winky: 5. Sehwag and Kirsten chatting happily to each other in the pavilion, without a care in the world for anything. Their enthusiasm and carefree attitude is infectious 6. Tendulkar stuck on 49 for what seemed like 5 hours. The crowd would build up the noise, only for him to delay the inevitable. The tension while Harmison appealed for a close lbw which struck him just outside off-stump (but rising over only marginally) was palpable - the cheer from crowd following the Englishmen's frustration even more so. 7. Pietersen smiling cleverly in Yuvraj's direction during a drinks break, as if to say, 'awww come on, don't you fancy it', as the umpire walked in between them. Yuvraj was then seen talking to Pietersen, must have been pleading for him to play the game fairly without any verbal BS. So much restraint 8. The crowd, growing by the minute as India closed in on a historic victory, vociferously cheering every dot ball Yuvraj played with Tendulkar a run or two away from his hundred at the other end. Then the massive gasp as Tendulkar nearly knocked one back onto his stumps on 99...the crowd wearing their heart on their sleeves, feeling every move their adopted son made, willing him towards his hundred... 9. The reaction after Tendulkar paddle swept 4...the groundstaff - barefooted men in green shirts and shorts, diminutive women in sarees running over to Tendulkar just to touch him as he walked back, random people hugging him...and the master acknowledged them all. There was also a crippled boy whose hand he shook on route to the pavilion, and then Ravi Shastri embracing him as if he was a member of the team...commentator neutrality be damned, i'm an Indian cricket fan too, just for this one second. This is probably how nutty Evangelicals would greet Jesus if he ever returned...the world will never see another cricketer capable of commanding such strong, emotional reactions from the crowd. Now that's how you win a game. Needless to say, I hope the DVD comes out soon. INDIA 4 EVER

[Holysmoke]

Yuvi's forward defensive strokes being cheered as if he'd hit a 6!

[umpire]

excellent post from Predator. should be made an article. where is article moderator?

[zubinpepsi]

great post predz.... u bast@rd... u dint sleep.. did u??

8. The crowd, growing by the minute as India closed in on a historic victory, vociferously cheering every dot ball Yuvraj played with Tendulkar a run or two away from his hundred at the other end. Then the massive gasp as Tendulkar nearly knocked one back onto his stumps on 99...the crowd wearing their heart on their sleeves, feeling every move their adopted son made, willing him towards his hundred... 9. The reaction after Tendulkar paddle swept 4...the groundstaff - barefooted men in green shirts and shorts, diminutive women in sarees running over to Tendulkar just to touch him as he walked back, random people hugging him...and the master acknowledged them all. There was also a crippled boy whose hand he shook on route to the pavilion, and then Ravi Shastri embracing him as if he was a member of the team...commentator neutrality be damned, i'm an Indian cricket fan too, just for this one second. This is probably how nutty Evangelicals would greet Jesus if he ever returned...the world will never see another cricketer capable of commanding such strong, emotional reactions from the crowd.

[Ram]

Stunning post. Helped me re-live so many things that I missed.

[Cricketics]

Great Post Predator.. Some great moments over there.. you summed almost everything.. For me, Sehwag coming to bat with Gambhir... Sehwag was literally swinging the bat standing near the boundary line as both gambhir and he walked towards the pitch. It looked as if Sehwag was practicing swinging the bat on England players rather then the ball which was being bowled at him. Another one - Tendulkar hitting the winning run and reaching the century. He knew Yuvi was gonna drop him as he couldn't lift sachin, but Tendulkar just made the use of that moment and raised his bat while being lifted by Yuvi. that picture was class

[Sachinism]

Yup definitely some memorable moments It would be awesome if a DVD came out, though I doubt they will release anything Im still waiting for the T20 World Cup DVD :-(

[Guest Hiten.]

9. There was also a crippled boy whose hand he shook on route to the pavilion

I remember reading somewhere that BCCI bears all the ticket/traveling expenses of this lad. Things I'd like to add: 1. Tendulkar's emotional speech about Mumbai tragedy and how he appreciated commando/police's work. 2. TNCA appreciating police's efforts to ensure that the test cricket was played without any threats. They also felicitated the senior cop, good gesture 3. BCCI donating 2 crore to the families (commando/police) who lost their loved ones.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[vroomfondel]

tendulkar b.tchslapping UV after he almost got out to the swannz.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Absence of coach-corner coach hoggin every media channel.. this was priceless. had it been Greggy by now million comments from him might have appeared.. Here is an unassuming guy doing what he is supposed to do behind the scene even at this kind of once ina lifetime epic chase..

[punjabi_khota]

One moment that stood out for me was Tendulkar's expression when UV came to bat. He was totally pumped up, and looked like he did not even think that we may lose this match. He gave quick pep talk to UV and was bubbling with confidence as if saying "Dude,, we are winning this one...chak de phatte" and then they pumped their fists. UV gave him a nervous but confident smile It was awesome to see.

[Ram]

That Sachin jump on the winning run... How often has that happened before? Priceless.

[Predator_05]

I haven't seen such a pumped up celebration from Tendulkar since that 35th hundred vs SL at Delhi

One moment that stood out for me was Tendulkar's expression when UV came to bat. He was totally pumped up' date=' and looked like he did not even think that we may lose this match. He gave quick pep talk to UV and was bubbling with confidence as if saying "Dude,, we are winning this one...cak de phatte". UV gave him a nervous but confident smile It was awesome to see.[/quote'] Yeah, i forgot to mention this. Lots of fist punching, enthusiastic chatting between the two (mostly by Tendulkar) when Yuvraj walked out there. Great camaraderie. In the post match presentation, Sehwag said something about how the atmosphere in the dressing was the best he had seen in years, no pressure on everyone and how they always believed they could do it. The Indian cricket team has always been very temperamental, and right now they are just oozing confidence, each and every player.

[Guest Hiten.]

Tendulkar was constantly chatting with UV. Even during the drinks break, he took UV on the side and was chatting with him. I do not mean to demean UV's performance, but SRT pumped confidence in UV that he can withstand the 'spinning' track. UV's innings was reminiscent to Rohit Sharma's in CB series 1st final. Both the 'men' were short of confidence and came in during the crucial period of time. SRT on that occasion too was hell bent to hit the winning runs. I really hope UV now realizes that he can actually play his attacking cricket in test cricket. If UV manages to score those 40-60 runs in most of his innings to come, that will be more than sufficient for India.

[vadodaravictor]

Tendulkar was guiding UV whenver UV seems confused or frustrated. Like the one on missed stumping, Tendulkar was quick to go up to UV for a chat. BTW, does anybody have highlights Pan Parag ?

[ludhianvi]

Predz, brilliant that you could recall all that and put it very vividly into words. Most of the points are already mentioned. Something to add: the crowd was brilliant on the last day in Chennai. I think the commies mentioned that atleast 30,000+ was there to witness this epic chase. The celebrations of Sachin and how much this test victory meant to him was for all to see. That scene where the 'ground staff' dressed in saree rushes to shake hands with Sachin was nice. Cant find any pics of that. Nice scenes those were Regarding that pep talk by Sachin to Yuvi, it reminded me of Sehwag's interview where he said how Sachin comforted him with moral support when he got his maiden century in Bloemfontein against South Africa.Same kind of effect here? Also lets not forget some other contributions : * Gambhir's innings * Harbhajan and Dhoni's partnership in the first innings Oh who can disregard the hardcore fans of ICF: -i'm not watching the match but are England taking a LOT of time between overs or is CI just slow ? -They are taking their time...why aren't you watching it ? -Nah, I watched over the past 4 nights and we didn't do so well. I'm not watching and just following it on CI (for the past 5 hours) and we're doing well. So I'd like to keep it this way. -EVERY Indian cricket fan must WATCH this. -atleast ur better.. im not even following cricinfo.... -That's nothing....I am in my same underwear since y'day as Veeru gave us the rollicking start that I was hoping for us to be in this position -Well, I've been wanting to pee since 2 hours -and im going to pee ,brb -abey hold kur And ofcourse, Bumble saying, ' get the dvd folks' :cantstop:

[Guest Hiten.]

P -That's nothing....I am in my same underwear since y'day as Veeru gave us the rollicking start that I was hoping for us to be in this position -

:embaressed_smile: that was a joke :giggle:

[satishg]

awesome post Predz..the crowd going wild with every dot ball that yuvi played was just amazing..and then everyone chanting Sachin Sachin was incredible..Sachins celebration after he hit the winning runs was priceless.. the other incident that i would like to point out is how Sachin went and spoke to Yuvi wen he miscued a shot that fell inbetween the 3 fielders in leg side..we just had 20 runs to get but Sachin was determined to finish the match without losing another wicket and he made sure that Yuvi gets that idea too..and Yuvi immediately started blocking and looking for singles..

[ludhianvi]

:embaressed_smile: that was a joke :giggle:

nah, I think that was serious stuff:haha: