Unsung heroes appreciation thread

[Sooda]

A few thank you threads popping up- thought this would be a good one to add to the mix...brings back some great and some less than good memories Dileeps article on cricinfo kinda inspired this; it a good time to look back over the last decade or so and appreciate the lesser known guys, and indeed lesser known events that did alot to help us get to where we are Im sure I will not remember them all But here goes...The Border Gavaskar series of 01 is a pretty decent place to start - Anyone remember Das and Ramesh putting on a decent opening stand for us when we were following on in the 2nd test. Laid a platform for Laxman to work his 281 magic Ganguly chipping in with a useful 48. or Tendulkar with the ball- taking 3 wickets amidst the Bhajji chaos- including Hayden (who was in such insane form) out lbw when on 67. -Das and ramesh again putting on a 127 run opening stand in the final test in Chennai, allowing SRT to come in and score that super 126 (-Das and Ramesh went on to have a decent tour of SriLanks in 2001 which we lost) The LEGENDARY Sameer Dighes gritty 22 helping us eke out a 2 wicket win. -Deep Dasgupta making 63 opening against Pollock Ntini etc to help us draw the 2nd test in the 02 tour of Saf-land (Sehwags debut series) -again though a series loss sadly - Dasgupta made a century when we beat England in Mohali in 2001 (first test) Our 'pace attack' was Yohannan and Siddiqui :cantstop: -When we beat the WI in Port of Spain in 02, Bangar did much to see off the new ball in the 2nd innings helping us put up a useful total How about Ratra making a century in the drawn match in Antigua- in his 2nd or 3rd test! (not a happy tour for us overall we lost 2-1) -We lost at Lords in 02 but Aggy made that ton :hehe: - Sanjay Bangar at the Headingly win :adore: making a 238 ball 68, chipping in with wickets off Butcher and Crawley Again a useful 20-odd in the Oval draw, he also had a decent series when we beat the WI at home in 2002 - Akash Chopra in Australia in 04 :adore: solid platforms in almost every innings, and also in Pak hanging around for a 42 whilst Sehwag was going mental at the other end Pathan and Balaji bowling their hearts out in a very batsman dominated series, Bala taking a match haul of 7 wkts when we beat them at Pindi -The Aussies beat us Nagpur in 04 (unhappy series that one) but Kaifs back to the wall first innings 55 (out of 185) saved us from completely folding. He also made a 64 2nd highest scorer after Sehwag scored that super 155 at Chennai in the previous test -Pathan taking 3 first Innigs wickets and making a useful 25 in the win over SA at Kolkata later that year -RP Singh MOTM in his debut test vs Pak in the high scoring draw at F"abad -Dinesh K making a 2nd innings 93 when we beat pak at Kolkata in 2005 -we really should have beaten the WI at St Johns in 06- Jaffers double hundred and all, and again at St Lucia- Munaf had a decent outing with the ball Add more on and continue from 2006 onwards (...like VRV Singhs manic 20-odd with the bat in the first innigs at J Burg, and Zak also with the bat- making 37 to help us to a decent 2nd innings total in that great win...)

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Thanks for helping to relive some of there less memorable wins and draws.. For my part, I would like to add, Sreesanth's heroics in Safrica test win 2006 Kumble's 100 in England in 2007

[Sachinism]

Wow you have a seriously good memory.

[Sooda]

^Hehe I wish The magic of the cricinfo filter function. I looked up the scorecards Its a sunday. I had time to spare. :P

[urbestfriend]

^^^ Good thread mate...:hatsoff:

[The Outsider]

Nice thread - I would add more here later but off the top of my head how crucial was Kaif's 25(yes just 25 runs) in the Bombay test in '04!

[kabira]

Dhoni saving Lords Test. At that time Dhoni was not established Test star I think. Two Defeats hurt me most. 1) Durban: We could have saved this game. Dhoni had almost done the job, but he playes bad shot. I think we had to play out 2 more overs and umpires would have offered us light. 2)Sydney : Well that game we should have won, but instead end up losing. again Dhoni played well but left had crucial junture.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

^^ somehow in my mind I've always been thinking that we won the sydney test and hence the series, although scorecards and records dont say it.. as far as i'm concernd, its we who won that series.. i dont care a damn what the stats say..

[vvvslaxman]

I think Parthiv patel debut test where he had bat out few overs. He did successfully. Just from the top of my memory.

[Guest Gunner]

Saurav Ganguly's 144 at the Gabba, a venue where we traditionally lost the first test. That built the base for that magic 2003/04 series.

[Sachinism]

Saurav Ganguly's 144 at the Gabba' date=' a venue where we traditionally lost the first test. That built the base for that magic 2003/04 series.[/quote'] Set the tone for the rest of the series after all the talk of 'chin-music'

[Sooda]

^ I agree, very important knock Not exactly unsung though really. Unexpected at the time perhaps, but looking back people hail it (as we are now) the aim of this thread is hopefully recognise the less than obvious achievements Outsider- kaifs knock at Mumbai is a good call, given the nature of the match. Forgot about that one.

[Guest Gunner]

S Ramesh, definitely a victim of BCCI's regional policies. The starts he gave us against the Pakistani pace attack in 1998-99 gave us a chance of a fight in that series. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/33066.html?class=1;home_or_away=1;home_or_away=2;template=results;type=allround He never did too badly to be punished. Definitely better than all the openers we tried barring Jaffer until Sehwag and Ganbhir. SHould have been given more chances.

[Karan114]

Yeah, he was very good against what was the strongest Pakistani attack of the last many years. Even against Lanka in 2001 he did decently in what was a poor series for the Indian batsman (Tendu and VVS were injured) apart from Dravid and Ganguly's 98* (I think) at Kandy. Never played after that.

[davidcooper]

Saurav Ganguly's 144 at the Gabba' date=' a venue where we traditionally lost the first test. That built the base for that magic 2003/04 series.[/quote'] yea that was some memorable knock!!

[The Outsider]

How about TAV's 6/41 at Adelaide - what a spell of bowling that was! Or Sameer Dighe's 20 odd not out at Chennai. Ashish Nehra's superb bowling at Port of Spain. Bangar's 70 odd at Headingly. Balaji at Rawalpindi. Pathan at Perth. Sreesanth at Kingston. A few I could recall off the top of my head.

[TheWall]

What about The Wall, right from Lakshman's epic 281... He's been the silent hero.

[Sachinism]

KKD and Jaffer in England, gave some solid starts and actually went on in some of those innings

[champ]

kumble bowling to lara with a broken jaw and getting his wicket was very inspiring ..