Calcutta 96 vs Kolkata 09

[Guest Hiten.]

...contrast of an Indian chase In 1996, SRT led a strong reply to SL's (daunting task of 251 back in the days) by scoring 65 and in that attempt fell when India were comfortably placed on 98/1. What happened after that not only brought tears in Kamblis' eyes but most of the Indian fans' eyes (. No matter how good a bowling arsenal your opposition carries but from 98/1 to 120/8 is totally unacceptable even by today's Pakistan's constant collapsing standards. Yesterday, SRT fell for a paltry score of 8 and India were pushed against the wall with Veeru and SRT forced to pack their bags on the score of 23/2 (as early as 4th over) in pursuit of 315; sure the task was not a "daunting" one, given how today's pitches are laid but when you lose someone as colossal as Veeru and SRT stature (sans UV + Dhoni) you are bound to think that a collapse is on the cards and a huge victory for SL was guaranteed (which you could have seen in Sanga's eyes when SRT fell). Sanga couldn't have even imagined a 200+ partnership (between a man who has been rediscovering himself in every format and a young boy who is ad hoc solution to India's middle order injury crises) even in his worst nightmare. Aren't we glad to see the back of those horrible "96 kolkata-ish" chases (obviously with an exception of Hyderabad '09) ? Although a lot has to be done by our rookie players in alienated conditions but they have fully justified MSD's/selectors' invested faith in them and are deservedly donning the Team India jersey. If only our bowlers can take a cue out of our young batsman's book.

[gs]

Watching Jayasuriya at Eden Gardens gave me goose bumps and brought back memories of that 1996 WC semifinal. All credit to the new crop of Indian batsman who have erased those disappointments at least for the time being. Another unrelated question. Why dont we play test matches at the Eden Gardens as often any more? It is probably one of the greatest venues ever to host a cricket match.

[Laaloo]

Offtopic, a friend of mine was telling me yesterday that Eden Gardens is the only cricket ground in the world which is a perfect circle. He was saying that the ground has a perfect shape. I was kind of shocked by that. Is it really true? :hmmmm:

[Celeste]

Calcutta 96 is one of my fav match. :--D

[Macj]

Calcutta 96 is one of my fav match. :--D

My favorite match was a certain one Pakistan played against West Indies in Cape town on a warm sunny day, 25th Feb 1993.

[Desi Cartman]

Calcutta 96 is one of my fav match. :--D

Mine is Banglore 96 :yikes:

[Texy]

I think back in 90s ...our team would depend heavily on one player and when he would get out...there would be a mental break down which would've lead to false dismissals....now our team thinks like a team...all the branches are connected..hence one falls, other one stands up (usually)

[vvvslaxman]

That pitch was crumbling really fast. Tendulkar managed to hide it with skillful display. I agree these guys are much more mentally tough than those bunch/

[Sachinism]

Calcutta 96 is one of my fav match. :--D

It must suck that Pakistan have never had any great victories that you have to take joy in the defeat of India

[OriginalCopy]

Calcutta 96 is one of my fav match. :--D

First you instigate and incite, then you people whine why you are treated with contempt on the forum.

[Block hole]

My favorite match was a certain one Pakistan played against West Indies in Cape town on a warm sunny day' date=' 25th Feb 1993.[/quote'] What happened There ? :nervous:

[Macj]

What happened There ? :nervous:

I had the pleasure of watching it LIVE!! See for yourself. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65959.html

[Block hole]

I had the pleasure of watching it LIVE!! See for yourself. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65959.html

OOUUch , that's hurt :haha::haha::haha::haha::haha: It's seems like that was a scorecard of a twenty20 Match :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Rajan]

when SRT was dismissed, i thought, 'ok, this match is gone, we have to win the decider. this match is gone like the Mohali match against the aussies where we missed out on a series winning easy target. hope these guys dont goof up in the decider". this team has a strong backbone and a half! apart from that, the other team had some shady fixers....

[DomainK]

What is refreshing is the way they approached the chase after SRT and Viru were out. There was no panic, they did not get into a shell, they did not swing blindly. The self belief was amazing. They approached the chase with a cool head and precise calculation taking into account the early loss. They had a plan and they executed with amazing professionalism. Yes, it's great to see that over dependence on SRT gone. It's great to see this team that loves challenges.

[The Outsider]

The pitch for the SF in '96 was atrocious - it is a tribute to Tendulkar's and to some extent Manjrekar's technique that they were able to last as long as they did. The current line up without Tendulkar will fold up for less than 100 as they have done in bowling friendly conditions.

[Rajan]

The pitch for the SF in '96 was atrocious - it is a tribute to Tendulkar's and to some extent Manjrekar's technique that they were able to last as long as they did. The current line up without Tendulkar will fold up for less than 100 as they have done in bowling friendly conditions.

actually, the original pitch that was laid for the semi finals was damaged/ruined in the inaugural ceremony or some meeting that was conducted by BCCI during the world up '96.so, they had to to repairs/relay the pitch for such a crucial match as SF and did not have the time to make a decent pitch. the team paid a heavy price for the bungling of the then BCCI management.they had no vision and were completely money minded that time. india hardly played test cricket and there were years when they scheduled almost 60 one dayers and some 4 tests..

[Anakin]

Huge huge differences. The pitch was horrible in 96. IIRC it was Jadeja who just stared at the bowler in disbelief when Sanath spun one from way down the leg to bowl the batsman out. Another big thing was the bowling attack. BTW, this is not to take any credit from GG and Kohli. It was still unbelievable, and doesn't happen all that often.

[StriKe]

I had the pleasure of watching it LIVE!! See for yourself. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65959.html

6 duckz and still 9 extras

[DomainK]

actually' date= the original pitch that was laid for the semi finals was damaged/ruined in the inaugural ceremony or some meeting that was conducted by BCCI during the world up '96.so, they had to to repairs/relay the pitch for such a crucial match as SF and did not have the time to make a decent pitch. the team paid a heavy price for the bungling of the then BCCI management.they had no vision and were completely money minded that time. india hardly played test cricket and there were years when they scheduled almost 60 one dayers and some 4 tests..

It was the inaugural ceremony. BCCI had organized a huge laser animated act for the inaugural ceremony and thats what they said ruined the pitch and it had to be relaid in a hurry. Unfortunately, the pitch started turning only when India started batting and in no time it was turning square. As The 'Outsider' said, it was a great display by Tendulkar that day. He and Manjrakar showed the world how to bat against a square spinning ball. They are both wonderful batsmen who read the spin off the pitch and did something almost next to impossible as proved later by the rest of the batsmen. Mohammad Azharuddin almost threw the world cup away by choosing to field first that day. The kind of form Tendulkar was in in 1996, we would have won the WC comfortably. Why did you do that Azhar??:((