How times have changed for Indian fans :)

[Ultimate_Game]

Just saw the retelecast of the WC final - they were showing it on ATN Cricket channel as Pak-WI Test didn't go through to the 5th day - and if they show any of the India knockout games (especially the semi or final) you simply have to watch it if you are not doing anything special :smiley: Anyways after watching the game and again seeing the players celebrate on the field I started thinking about how things have changed for the Indian team and fans. I started following cricket closely in 1993 - in fact it was the Ind-Eng series (Eng team headed by Gooch) which I remember fully well. The reason for that was I actually watched my first game live when Eng played a odi (IIRC the 2nd or 3rd odi in the 6 match odi series) in Chandigarh. That time Mohali stadium wasn't there and cricket was played in Sector 16 stadium. My dad took me to the game and since then have been an avid cricket fan, especially of the Indian team :--D Still remember watching the players live for the first time and was surprized how small Tendulkar and Kambli looked. I remember asking my dad how can these guys hit a 6 when they are so small :giggle: India won that game easily as they had to chase a smallish total. Tendulkar failed in the game and the main batsman for India was Sidhu. I still recall my amazement watching Sidhu hit a 6 off a spinner with the ball sailing high and far - I never thought a ball could be hit that far. And I also remember the first banner I watched in the stand - "Gatting I like you but not your batting" :giggle: Since that game and the series (Ind won the Test series 3-0 and odi series was shared 3-3) I have followed nearly every series even though I can't watch as many games as I would like to now. I remember those days in 90s where we used to be unbeatable at home but even drawing a match away used to be a great achievement. That was the time Tendulkar was the lone bright spark - sure there were Sidhus, Azhars, Manjrekars etc. but Indian hopes relied on Sachin. That used to be the time when the dependence on Tendulkar was so much that if Tendulkar used to get out cheaply, India generally lost the game and on occasions I switched off the telly once Tendulkar got out. Those were the days when we couldn't chase at all - either in Tests or odis, when our fielders didn't believe in diving and used to escort the ball to the boundary, when away tours were an exercise in futility and my reaction to away defeats used to be "let them come over to India and then we will show them" :mad: There were some occasional good days as well - home series, WC wins against Pak (especially the 96 one where we went crazy when Jadeja took Waqar apart and when Prasad bowled Sohail :smiley:), Tendulkar's desert storm innings against Aussies, when Ind chased 315 against Pak etc. But more often than not those were tough days for Indian fans. Every win or a memorable performance was followed by embarrassing losses - like the Ind tour to WI where we failed to chase 120 odd, Chennai Test loss to Pak, all those away tours to Aus, Eng, NZ, WI etc., seeing likes of Prabhakar & Mongia tuk tuk when the asking rate was around 12. That was the time I looked at the squad and after putting in 5 or 6 names (Tendulkar, Azhar, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Srinath) in my hypothetical team I used to struggle to find the other 5 players ( Those were the days when we had the likes of Jacob Martin, Gagan Khoda, Sujith Somasundar, Vikram Rathore, Hrishikesh Kanetkar, David Johnson, Sunil Joshi, Dodda Ganesh, Harvinder Singh etc. just to make up numbers. Those were the days when our tail started at no. 6 when Mongia used to walk in :haha: I used to look at SA team and saw likes of Klusener, Pollock, Symcox batting at 8, 9 and 10 and we had freaking Robin Singh and Mongia at 5 and 6 :omg: I used to think how exactly are we supposed to beat such teams and generally it used to take a Tendulkar special to win against better opponents. Then came match fixing and their was changing of guard with Ganguly taking over and a bunch of brash younhsters coming in - Yuvraj, Sehwag, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Kaif. Ganguly was the man who instilled self belief in the team. Ganguly was the one who didn't just dream but believed in winning against any opponent and anywhere - be it home or away. Ganguly was the one who did away with the regional/quota selections and backed players he believed in even though they were from a different region. For the first time I saw Indians giving it back to the opponents on the field. From the days of Srinath apologizing to batsmen for hitting him, now we had our players sledging the likes of Aussies with Ganguly leading the way by managing to upset the founder of "mental integration" Steve Waugh by keeping him waiting for the toss :hatsoff: Ganguly didn't care what others said and thought about him and didn't apologize for the change in attitude he instilled into the Indian team. Of course he received lot of flack from "Western" countries who derogately called him "Lord Snooty" etc. I guess they were happy seeing Indians taking all the s**t but when Indians started giving what was dished to them they were upset. For the first time watching and following Indian cricket was actually fun :smiley: Then came WC 2003 where we reached the final but lost out to a great Aussie team and the nerves of our younger brigade (Zaheer giving away 15 runs in the first over) but the tide had turned as India was competitive everywhere. India was the only team to match Aussies both home and away and was beginning to win matches away, if not the series. Then came the 2004 tour to Pakistan which has to be my favorite series :smiley: For the first time India beat Pakistan in Pakistan both in odis and Tests under the leadership of Ganguly. Ganguly was a no-nonsense leader who didn't worry about rubbing ppl the wrong way. He did things his own way and if he believed something would make the team better he did that. For example making Dravid keep wkts to add depth to Indian batting so that we had match-winners till no. 7. Finally the days of Mongias and Prabhakars at 6 and 7 were over :--D From that point on we have seen Dhoni take over, win the T20 cup and now the world cup. Now we have youngsters like Raina, Kohli, Ashwin etc. with a "never say die" attitude initially instilled by Ganguly. Now I actually believe that my team can win from any situation against any team. Chasing is no longer a concern and India currently holds the record of most no. of consecutive wins while chasing (I think around 18) in odis. In Tests we have chased 387 and various totals of more than 200. Now if someone fails I know that somebody will come in and perform. Even if we do lose it's not because of the lack of effort or just giving up and I know that we will be back in the next game. We are competitive both at home and away and I expect India to win anywhere - the venue doesn't matter as much as it used to anymore. Only blip came when Chappel took over as the coach and we had the disastrous WC 2007 but other than that as an Indian fan I haven't had too many complaints :smiley: We still have a few things to achieve - especially beat Aus and SA away and I am sure we will get there but those dark days of 90s sure seem like a bad dream now. Just seeing the Indians lift the World Cup while chasing the highest total ever chased in a final and after beating Aus & Pak in knockouts makes the win even special. By the way did I fail to mention that India became the no. 1 ranked team in Tests along with being the WC Champions :smiley: Finally Indian fans got the team they have always deserved for the unstinted and unconditional support the fans provided the team. Finally my, and I am sure other Indian fans', dreams of 90s are coming true :icflove:

[Rajiv]

You missed a smiley on the 4th para - 5th line

[Ultimate_Game]

You missed a smiley on the 4th para - 5th line

Naah that part doesn't bring back good memories but just for you here's a smiley on demand

[kubrickian]

You are spot on about some of the things about Indian cricket back in the 90s. Especially people turning off their TVs once Sachin got out. Azhar, Manjrekar, Jadeja were just making the numbers. Never winning while chasing. If India lost the toss, everybody thought it was over and they were right all the time. Fielders escorting the ball to the boundary and looking like they were sapped of energy all the time and looking disinterested even being on the field. Not being aggressive enough. Take sledging from opposition like SA, Aus lying down. Having the likes of Jacob Martin, Sujith Somasundar, Vikram Rathore, David Johnson, Dodda Ganesh :wall: Losing every match in overseas conditions in a one sided way. They barely competed against Aus, SA in their conditions. Batsmen getting out to deliveries outside off stump consistently in foreign conditions and having no clue how to play express pace or short pitch stuff. And many more things which I dont want to recall because I dont want to get depressed. The difference is like day and night.

[Sidhoni]

gr8 writeup..! :two_thumbs_up:

[ganeshran]

Our team was frustratingly mediocre in the 90s.. :mad: Except Sachin of course :icflove:

[ravishingravi]

You missed a smiley on the 4th para - 5th line

:cantstop:

[ravishingravi]

Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Sachinism]

Good write up :two_thumbs_up:

[Vijay.Sharma]

the zen monk said...."Even this shall pass". So let's do as much dhingana as possible while it lasts :yay: :band::band: :musicman: :devil_smile: :scooter: :yoyo: :cheerleader: :mummydance: :beach: :elefant: :dancing: :knuddel: i am sure I missed many more smilies so Rajiv has some work to do...

[kabira]

Yes been following India closely since 1992 Australia seires. I used to listen live commentary those days. No live coverage of test matches. DD used to show 1 hour highlight package daily which I never missed. We could have won 2 test matches in that series, but bad umpiring cost us atleast 2 test matches. Gavaskar was so pissed, on air he said, Aussies are playing with 13 players. David Boon always used to get few lives.

[Blueraphael]

The 1st match that i remember watching was the one in which Sachin scored 146 against Australia, and when he got out the whole tea crumbled away. That was what Indian cricket was all about in the 90s. Then came Ganguly and we started winning, although we were more often than nought the underdogs. But now with MSD, everytime we play, I expect us to win. Good days... You know,although its fun now, I miss being the underdogs and then beating the other teams. It was such a thrill. But its not likely I'll eexchange our plce now for that.

[DomainK]

What a superb write up. One can identify with every point. Yes, it's very satisfying to see the Indian team play like this.

[cameron_black]

i guess nothing has changed with indian fans. we could have been entitled for some interesting time-period of rioting had india lost the finals to sri lanka :winky:

[Vijay.Sharma]

Yes been following India closely since 1992 Australia seires. I used to listen live commentary those days. No live coverage of test matches. DD used to show 1 hour highlight package daily which I never missed. We could have won 2 test matches in that series, but bad umpiring cost us atleast 2 test matches. Gavaskar was so pissed, on air he said, Aussies are playing with 13 players. David Boon always used to get few lives.

I remember it was during the highlights that the first time Moods condoms showed its ads...lol! My cricket following has been since 1984 and religiously watching has been since 1985...first game was Ind-NZ semi final of BnH cup. First thing I saw was Hadlee bowling to Kapil and the great man square cutting him for four...and in that celestial moment a Hero was delivered to a 7-8 yr old dreamy eyed kid...cricket had me hooked on forever since...game over!

[nballa]

aww did you cry when tendulkar held the trophy?

[maniac]

Good write up...but you missed one of the most monumental turnarounds in Indian cricket the -2001 India-Aus Test series. I think this was the begining of the modern era in Indian cricket which most of us would want to cherish especially for some one who started following Indian cricket from 1989

[Ultimate_Game]

Good write up...but you missed one of the most monumental turnarounds in Indian cricket the -2001 India-Aus Test series. I think this was the begining of the modern era in Indian cricket which most of us would want to cherish especially for some one who started following Indian cricket from 1989

I mentioned it when I talked about the changes Ganguly brought in especially giving it back to the opponents, making Waugh wait for the toss and getting on his nerves and India being the only country who competed against the Aussies. I didn't specifically mention the 2001 series as even the 2004 series was quite special as India nearly beat Aus in Aus and would have done so if we had a better wk than Parthiv or maybe some other umpire than Bucknor who simply refused to give LBWs.

[The Outsider]

Good one, U_G. Can't really identify with it because I've watched cricket in the 80s as well, but here is a write up by me which tries to capture some of what you are saying : http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=88150

[Ultimate_Game]

Good one, U_G. Can't really identify with it because I've watched cricket in the 80s as well, but here is a write up by me which tries to capture some of what you are saying : http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=88150

Will read it for sure. Was too young to follow cricket in 80s and in fact don't recall too much about the Aussie tour so many posters have mentioned. The only thing I do remember of that tour is Tendulkar taking on Aussie bowlers as a teenager and scoring couple of hundreds, and one of them on the fastest pitch in the world - WACA.