With a foot in the door as far as the WTC final qualification was concerned, India needed to guard against any kind of consistency when they met England for the final test match in Ahmedabad last week. England was already out of the equation and India needed a draw to go through. But you can’t play for a draw in a cricket match, can you? These days all matches are generally result-oriented and as was seen in the first three matches in this series it was highly unlikely for a draw to happen.

India on their part made the right noises before the start of the test match because the team excluded confidence of beating England 3-1. England was mentally down especially after getting beaten within 2 days in the third test match.

The toss was important I felt because batting first in India had its own special advantages. Unfortunately for India that didn’t happen but the surprise came from the English camp. In the third test match, they went with 3 pace bowlers which were heavily criticised, and to compensate for that they added cushion in their batting order. Going in with 7 frontline batsmen plus a wicketkeeper was a very defensive move but when a team got bowled out so cheaply in the previous test it was not an unexpected call, was it?

When England won the toss and decided to bat first, it looked like a very good toss to win. The pitch looked firm and there was no seam movement and neither was there any spin happening too. But as they say, quite rightly, the game is played in the mind. Axar Patel had taken over the English batsmen’s minds and he struck right away by picking up 2 wickets. Both the wickets had nothing to do with the pitch but as I said earlier, the game is played in the mind and the English batsmen were having nightmares facing Axar Patel. As an added bonus Md. Siraj picked up the wicket of the dangerman, Joe Root with a sharp incoming delivery. 

The pitch didn’t give much help to the spinners and hence Kohli continued using pace from one end and India’s one of the brightest stars in recent times, Md. Siraj got the all-important wicket of Root to peg England back. The win-toss & win-match syndrome died a quick death right at that moment.

England though had enough cushion in the batting lineup and I expected them not to be rolled over very quickly. But they failed to deceive. Ben Stokes looked solid and was playing aggressively but once he got out the tail didn’t wag for long. In hindsight, the extra batsman theory worked for England to an extent because the 7th batsman, Dan Lawrence scored a fluent 46 runs and if he had not scored that many, England would have struggled to cross 180 runs. In the final analysis, it didn’t count much because England folded up for 205 runs only.

India had an hour to negotiate on Day 1 but Shubhman Gill failed once again getting out for a duck. Here was one of India’s most talented youngsters on whom we had so much hope but he kept failing throughout the series. His weakness against incoming deliveries was well exploited by the English pace bowlers. Rohit Sharma and Chetashwar Pujara safely took India to stumps without further damage.

Day 2 was supposed to be India’s day. The pitch was good and all analysis pointed to a big Indian score. But India’s batting performance right through the season had not been a good one especially when you consider the top order. It came back to haunt India in this Test match too because India struggled to get going. Yes, England bowled very tight lines but Pujara in particular was unable to rotate the strike over. The run rate was going at 1 run per over for most of the first hour. And as what happens with this kind of batting when a wicket falls it adds pressure to the team. And in Indian conditions, one wicket brings two and sometimes three and that’s exactly what happened as Pujara and Kohli falling in quick succession. It has been a very strange performance from Virat Kohli over the last few months. A man who was dishing out centuries as if playing in his backyard had gone century-less for more than 15 months now. I do not even remember when was the last time Virat Kohli got 2 ducks in the same series. Failure of Kohli meant additional pressure on Rohit especially because Rahane was also not in form. 

The pressure applied by the English bowlers got them due results. It was extremely heartening to see Ben Stokes bowl. Here was a man who was not 100% fit but was up and running bowling 6-7 overs in a trot. The rewards were great too and India suddenly found itself at 121/5. Getting a sizeable lead was now feeling like a dream and the only hope was that the lower order would stick around so that India could come close to the English total.

One advantage that India had was their lower middle-order batting strength. Ashwin stuck around with Rishabh Pant for a while but when he got out it was left to Pant and Sundar to take India forward. Washington Sundar in his brief career had already shown that he was as good as a top-order batsman and that’s how he showed up in Ahmedabad that day. Rishabh Pant on his part cut out the risky strokes and together with Sundar started building a solid partnership. As slowly and surely India loved closer to 205, I was keeping an eye on the new ball. I had a feeling that with both the batsmen set, the new ball would work in India’s favour. The script worked exactly like that and in the first 3-4 overs with the new ball India scored 6 boundaries all across the wicket but none as audacious as the one Pant hit against Anderson – a reverse swat for four over the slip cordon. I doubt if any batsman in the world had ever hit Anderson for a four like that in test cricket. But then that’s Rishabh Pant. He will hit you if he thinks he will hit you. He is the kind of batsman who won’t play defensively with an approaching milestone. He had missed quite a few centuries because of this and here also he went for a big shot while on 94 but the difference was that it went over the ropes. It was one of the best counter-attacking knocks ever played by an Indian. The situation was grave for India when he came to bat but he played a mature knock to take India towards safety. Unfortunately, he got out after scoring the hundred but India had Axar Patel coming in at number 9 who was no mug with the bat either.

Washington Sundar brought up the third half-century of his career shortly thereafter and he along with Axar Patel took India to stumps with the team leading by 89 runs. The margin was already a big one and another hour of batting on day 3 would mean the end of England’s fight. That’s exactly how it panned out and England looked jaded as Washington Sundar looked well set for his first test century.

Then a moment of madness saw Axar Patel getting run out and suddenly India’s tail was exposed. It was not that India didn’t have enough runs because the lead had crossed 160 runs by then but it was about Washington Sundar’s century as he was batting on 96 runs.

Test centuries were tough to come by and as Ishant Sharma took strike, I just hoped that he bats out the over. But he got out the first ball to an absolute straight delivery from Ben Stokes. Md. Siraj was the last man in and went for an old-fashioned hoike not coming in the line of the delivery to get bowled and thereby leaving Washington Sundar stranded on 96 runs. Sundar’s expression didn’t divulge much but inside I am sure he must have been highly disappointed.

The lead of 160 runs for India was a very big one and I predicted a finish that day itself. Many of my friends didn’t agree because the pitch after all was not that bad to bat on.

In less than an hour, I was about to be proved right as England lost 4 wickets with only 30 runs on the board. Once again it was Dan Lawrence who looked most accomplished amongst the English batsmen and raged a lone battle but it was just lingering the inevitable. England was bowled out for 135 runs giving India victory by an innings and 25 runs. It was a spinners’ day out once again as Axar and Ashwin shared the 10 wickets equally.

It was a dream series for Axar Patel who picked up 28 wickets in the series. Rishabh Pant rightly picked up the man of the match award because his century was the turning point of the match as Ashwin got the man of the series award.

A series that started so well for England ended with them losing 3-1 and as I keep saying this often, morning doesn’t show the day all the time.

India ended the WTC league phase at top of the table and won the rights to play New Zealand in the finals to be played at Southampton later in June 2021.

It had been a great few months for the Indian cricket fans (whom I call the 12th Man of Indian cricket) and as I end the chapter here, I am yearning for the next few months to pass because a big Engish summer awaits us. I hope by that time Shami and Jadeja would be 100% fit and we will be ready to put it across England in their home conditions.

Till that time, stay well and keep smiling!

Winning the second test match got India back on track as far as qualifying for the WTC finals was concerned. On the other side for England, it meant they had to win both the third and fourth test matches to qualify.

Before the start of the series, the third test was the match which India eyed with trepidation. Mainly because of England’s superior swing bowling options. In the only Day-Night test match held in India previously (Against Bangladesh in Eden Gardens in 2019), the pace bowlers got 19 wickets and there was the chance of heavy dew in Ahmedabad too after 8.30 PM thus negating India’s spin bowling resources.

There was a lot of talk about the stadium and the pitch before the start of the match. It was a historic occasion because the newly built stadium in Ahmedabad was the world’s second-largest stadium (across all sports/countries). The stadium looked grandeur and it was indeed a proud moment for India. The pitch was always expected to be under scrutiny especially after the turner that was dished out in Chennai. Once again it was expected to turn but then how much turn was the big question and would dew negate the spinners in the latter half of the day?

England and the Indian team management seemed to have read the pitch differently. Because where England started with 3 frontline pace bowlers, India started with 3 frontline spin bowlers. It was opposite of each other and at the start of the match when I was chatting with my friends I told them that someone has read the pitch pretty wrong. 

Joe Root won a very important toss and quite expectedly decided to bat first. It was Ishant Sharma’s 100th Test match. Ishant Sharma entered with a bang in 2008 (who can forget that spell in Perth?) but his career progression didn’t follow the upward trajectory as it was expected after that initial burst in Australia. But over the last 3-4 years, he came back strongly and has now become an automatic choice in the Indian playing XI. Playing 100 test matches as a pace bowler for India is no mean achievement and no wonder he is the second man after Kapil Dev to reach this coveted milestone.

The Indian team gave him a guard of honour as they took the field on Day 1 of the Test Match.

Ishant Sharma started the proceedings for India and he provided the first breakthrough too. Incidentally, as things panned out, this was the only wicket that an Indian pace bowler took in the whole Test match. I guess, England got it all wrong with their team selection.

The spinners were brought in within the first half an hour and Axar Patel got rid of Johnny Bairstow pretty immediately to put England on the backfoot. Zak Crawley was playing some delightful strokes though and with the ever-reliant Joe Root for company, England slowly but surely got back into the groove.

With 15 minutes to go for lunch, Ashwin from round the wicket, got a ball to straighten and Root failed to read the length, played on the backfoot waiting for the turn and got hit on the pad right in front of the wicket. That wicket shifted the momentum completely because Zak Crawley who till then was playing so well and scored a delightful half-century failed to pick up a straight ball from Axar Paten and lost his wicket. In a matter of few minutes, England fell from 74/2 to 80/4.

The advantage of winning the toss was frittered away as it was India who looked to be in the ascendency when the teams broke for the tea break.

It felt a bit weird to think that the first break on a day was a Tea Break because generally it’s a lunch break for 40 minutes but then this was a day-night encounter with the match starting at 2.30 PM. The players were back after the break but the break did more harm to England than to India because right after the break Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes got out leaving England tottering at 81/6. 

When the series started it was a known fact that for India to do well, they needed to get Root and Stokes early. It didn’t happen in the first test and India suffered but after that first innings in Chennai, it became a night made for Stokes as Ashwin made him his bunny. There is a reason why Ashwin is the world record holder for dismissing the maximum number of left-handers in world cricket and Stokes’ problem against Ashwin just amplifies that fact.

Olly Pope came to India with a lot of hope but that didn’t translate into runs. His was a painful stay in Ahmedabad as he was neither able to judge the length nor the line. He was a sitting duck throughout his stay in the crease and the inevitable had to happen.

Once the top order was back in the hut it was just a matter of time for India to wrap up the tail. England finished at 112 to register their lowest total against India. Axar Patel with 6 wickets was the wrecker in chief. The lights were hardly on and India was out batting.

There were a lot of jokes running around twitter pointing out that the English pace bowlers wanted to bowl at the Indian batsmen under lights and that’s the reason why the team got out before sunset. Jokes aside, it was a horrible bit of batting from England. It was a wicket where one needed to apply himself and it was more in the mind than anything else.

When the Indians came into bat, the pressure was less because England had scored way too less but Gill and Pujara got out quickly and it was left to Rohit and Virat to resurrect the innings. They went about their duty very calmly and India looked well set to close the day with only 2 wickets down. One of the problems with today’s batsmen is that patience is no longer the virtue thanks to slam-bang cricket. It was this specific reason which brought about the downfall of Virat Kohli minutes before stumps. He tried to cut a ball that was too close to his body and he played on. That wicket made a lot of difference because, at that time, England just hoped for a wicket and India was in full control. 

The next day we got to understand the difference that wicket made because one after another Indian batsmen went back to the pavilion. Joe Root looking at the amount of turn that Leech was getting got himself to bowl and he picked up 3 wickets for virtually nothing. From 114/3 India slumped to 125/8. India took a lead but it was very minuscule. India finally got bowled out for 145 runs with a lead of only 33 runs. Joe Root was the destructor in chief picking up 5 wickets for 8 runs. Amazing figures for the English captain and it showed how much the pitch was playing in the batsmen’s mind.

How much would that lead matter? Or was this a second innings shoot-out was what was going in my mind when England started their second innings. A peach of a delivery from Axar Patel got rid of the first innings half-centurian, Zak Crawley on the very first ball. The stage was set for another encore for the man from Gujarat. In the very same over he got Braistow bowled too.

Joe Root and Ben Stokes held the innings together for a while and as soon as India got the better of them, it was game over for England. They could last only 30 overs and got bowled out for 81 runs only.

India needed 49 runs to win and I was thinking what more twist was remaining to be seen. But the English bowlers had almost given up and when the Indian openers came out to bat they were extremely positive. Some lofted drives and straight sixes greeted the English spinners and India was able to rattle off the required 49 runs in 7 overs only.

A 10 wicket victory within 2 days brought India to the cusp of the WTC finals. Lots were written about the pitch but the fact was that both the batting teams struggled to pick the pink ball and the pitch though not a minefield, played tricks with the batsmen’s mind. As Gavaskar said in the commentary, it’s all in the mind.

As it turned out it was the shortest game of Test cricket that was ever played in the world after world war 2. Only 842 balls were bowled and the much-touted day-night match hardly became one because 2 full nights of cricket were not witnessed.

Axar Patel continued his dream run in Test cricket picking up 11 wickets in the match and quite rightly bagging the man of the match award. India’s failure with the bat was somehow covered up with the excellent bowling performance by the spinners.

With 2-1 up, India had the momentum to take them through to the WTC finals and the loss ensured that England was thrown out of the championship.

The 4th Test match was a day match but the question on everyone’s mind was how would the pitch play. But then that’s for another day as India enjoyed their day under lights which took them to the top of the WTC table. A draw in the next test match was enough for them to seize the spot but no one plays for a draw these days, isn’t it?

I will come back once again to write about how things transpired in the 4th test match. Till then, Au Revoir!

Before the start of the second test match in Chennai, the raving discussion amongst us was about the toss. India couldn’t afford to lose another match in the series and batting first was the way to go. Of course one needed to bat well and that is something that depended on the top order. The Indian top-order has been flattering to deceive for months now so it was a case of big concern.

England was expected to make a few changes because of their rotation policy which had been put in place to allow all the players adequate rest due to a long cricket season. Some of the changes were forced ones too. In all, they made 4 changes to their winning line-up. 

James Anderson was replaced by Stuart Broad.

Dom Bess was replaced by Moeen Ali.

Jos Buttler was replaced by Ben Foakes

and

Jofra Archer was replaced by Olly Stone.

Another addition to this test was the crowd. The first test match was played without any spectators and whoever has seen cricket in India will know very well that the spectators bring in a lot of energy in the ground and most importantly it helps the home team’s morale too. All teams have a designated 12th Man but the real 12th Man is the crowd that fills up the Indian stadiums because it acts as a vocal tonic for the home team and adds to the pressure on the away team. I felt India missed the crowd in the first match and somehow the home advantage was missing. By the way, did you check out the book named, The 12th Man yet? If not go ahead and get your copy from Amazon or Flipkart today to understand why the 12th man plays such a vital role in the Indian cricket phenomenon.

Virat Kohli won the toss and quite expectedly decided to bat first. The pitch looked like a spinner’s paradise and quite expectedly India made a few changes too.

Shahbaz Nadeem was replaced by Axar Patel.

Washington Sundar was replaced by Kuldeep Yadav

Jasprit Bumrah was replaced by Md. Siraj.

Winning the toss and batting first was one thing but to bat well and bat big was another thing. Shubhman Gill in his short career was yet to see a failure because in each of the innings he played thus far he had score runs (not big but got starts in every innings). But that was about to come to an end in Chennai because an incoming delivery from Olly Pope caught him plumb in front of the wicket and India was one down without a run on the board. It was now on Rohit Sharma and Chetaswar Pujara to take India forward.

Slowly but surely both got about resurrecting the Indian innings. Rohit, in particular, played very positively and England on their part didn’t bowl with the accuracy that was required on that pitch. The ball started turning from the first hour itself and the spinners just needed to land the ball on the good length area and allow the pitch to do the rest but the English bowlers particularly Moeen Ali dished out short pitch stuff or full tosses once in a while which allowed Rohit Sharma, in particular, to never get bogged down. 

With things looking bright for India, Leech struck sending back Pujara and in the very next over, Moeen Ali got rid of Virat Kohli, and India from a comfortable position of 85/1 slid to 86/3. India needed to steady the ship and that’s exactly what Rahane and Rohit did in their 4th wicket partnership. Rohit is the kind of player who will always get runs at a fair clip and this ensured that India didn’t get bogged down at all. The afternoon session belonged completely to India as Rohit brought up a majestic test hundred. With a strike rate of close to 80, it was an entertaining knock, all right. Rahane played his part too and scored a half-century. With the English bowlers at sea, the only way they could get a wicket was by a mistake of the Indian batsmen. That’s exactly what happened when Rohit Sharma tried to hit a shot too many to get caught in the deep. He got out with the Indian score reading 248 runs and he had contributed 161 off them. Rahane followed him soon and suddenly the Indian innings was in disarray. A rearguard action was needed once again. India finished Day 1 at 300/6 and all hopes laid on Rishabh Pant to take India close to 400 runs.

But all our hopes were dashed as Axar Patel and Ishant Sharma fell in quick succession on the second morning. Kuldeep Yadav hung on for a while as Rishabh Pant brought out the big hits. One such hit got him to his 50 and he was in the mood to score a few more but the tail deserted him and he was left stranded on 58 runs. India folded for 329 runs only. The pitch was conducive for spin bowling and India needed to pick up quick wickets to put the English team under pressure.

Ishant Sharma drew first blood in the very first over and then Ashwin and Axar Patel got into the act removing Dom Sibley and Joe Root respectively. The prized scalp of Joe Root which was Axar’s first Test wicket tilted the match in India’s favour and when Dan Lawrence fell to Ashwin on the last ball before lunch, it tilted decisively.

England couldn’t put up a fight against the relentless pressure built by the Indian bowlers and one after another batsman bit the dust. Other than Ben Foakes none of the English batsmen could stay long enough in the crease and their innings folded for 134 runs giving India a massive lead of 195 runs. The pitch was turning square and the match was as good as over. Ashwin picked up 5 wickets and the Chennai crowd gave him a standing ovation. India’s comeback had started.

Time was never going to be a factor in this test with the third innings starting on Day 2 but the question was how long would the Indian team bat and what would be the lead that they would take. Chetaswar Pujara got out strangely in the first test and he found another strange way to get out here too. While getting back to his crease, his bat got stuck on the popping crease and when the wicketkeeper dislodged the bails, his bat didn’t cross the line. It was a very strange run-out dismissal and this wicket started India’s procession as one after another batsman, bit the dust and suddenly India found themselves tottering at 106/6. The lead was already big enough but one could never be sure hence it was quite a tense situation at that moment. India’s last recognised pair of Ashwin and Kohli was in the crease and I hoped that they take the lead beyond 350. My prayers were answered because Kohli and Ashwin took India far beyond that lead. Virat Kohli fell for a well-made 62 runs and by that time India’s lead was 397 runs. India was already in the safe zone but Ashwin had other ideas. Over the last few years, his performance with the bat had deteriorated but his show in Sydney earlier in the year showed that he was not ready to be pushed over so easily. He had the skills and had the technique to play long innings but he needed support from his bowling partners to score a century. Ishant Sharma provided the initial support and then Siraj did the rest. Both these bowlers hung on to allow Ashwin to score his fifth test ton. Siraj, in particular, had to face some tantalising time in the crease but he passed through that test and one could see the enjoyment that he had when Ashwin reached his ton. From 106/6 India ended at 286 runs – England well and truly out of the game.

India rubbed on the wounds further by picking up 3 wickets before the end of the third day’s play with both Ashwin and Patel picking up wickets.

It was a matter of time on Day 4 for India to finish the match and that’s exactly what happened as one after another English batsman failed to read the Indian spinners. Moeen Ali had some fun at the end hitting some lusty blows but it just delayed the inevitable. England finally got bowled out for 164 runs giving India victory by 317 runs which incidentally was India’s biggest margin of victory against England.

Quite a comeback for India after losing the first test so spectacularly. The Chennai crowd got their money’s worth. Not only were they treated to a great century by Rohit Sharma but they got to see their local boy, Ashwin to score a ton too. Axar Patel picked up 5 wickets in the second innings to make a memorable debut.

Just like in Australia a few months back, the Indian team made a strong comeback. But the job was only half-done because India still needed a win to reach the WTC finals. That’s for another day, I thought as the Chennai leg of the series came to an end.

The English ex-cricketers had a lot to say about the pitch but I think truth be told, the pitch was never a 134 run pitch which England scored in the first innings. 

The teams now move to Ahmedabad where the world’s biggest cricket stadium awaited the teams. How the pitch will play here must be wrangling on everyone’s mind and to add to the tension was the fact that it would be a day-night test match and India had recently had a horrible experience getting bowled out for 36 runs against Australia in their previous day-night encounter.

That’s for another day and till then take care and may God bless you all. 

Brisbane 2021 was a real high for any Indian cricket fan and I was no different. A ground where no one chased more than 220 runs in its 92-year history, India did the unthinkable of chasing down more than 300 runs and won the series to boot. The background of that victory has been written many times over and I was no different too.

Quite naturally, when you come back after such a high it generally gets difficult to motivate yourself again for another high-profile series on such short notice. The players were tired quite naturally of course after the long tour of Australia and the bigger problem was the bio-bubble where-in the players were unable to get out of their restricted zones. For some of the Indian players, it had been months in bio-bubble – the ones who played in IPL 2020.

But the World Test Championship was at stake. India needed to win the series against England by a minimum of 2-1 margin to ensure their place in the WTC finals. It came to such a stage mainly because of Australia’s decision to not tour South Africa. Beating England albeit at home was never going to be easy and with Ravindra Jadeja not available due to injury things looked tougher for India.

On the other side, England came off a 2-0 series victory against Srilanka. In a way, England looked more prepared than India because the pitches in Srilanka were spinning tracks and India was coming off a long tour of Australia and the pitches in India were supposed to be far different than down under.

Win toss and win matches had been the mantra of India in the ’90s. Md. Azharuddin had a wonderful record of winning tosses and with a good batting lineup India used to score big runs in the first innings and then the pitches used to turn and the opposition teams used to be at sea. Things changed in the new millennium no doubt but still, it was always safe to bat first in India because batting in the 4th innings in India was always a treacherous one.

Unfortunately, Virat Kohli doesn’t have the luck with tosses like Md. Azharuddin and lost the toss in the first Test match in Chennai.

It was known beforehand that Joe Root would be the biggest obstacle for India. He had come off scoring heavily against Srilanka and nothing seemed to have changed as he continued where he left off in the island nation. The pitch was a feather bed and after Australia, it kind of looked boring as England kept on piling runs. India was without Jadeja and they had selected a like-for-like replacement in Axar Patel. But he turned up injured before the start of the match and hence had to be replaced by Shahbaz Nadeem – another like-for-like replacement. Left-arm orthodox spinner was a must against England because of the number of right-handers that England had in their batting order.

But nothing could stop England as they kept piling on the runs. The only thing that India did well was keeping the run rate in check. Day 1 ended with 263/3 with Joe Root unbeaten on 128 runs. Jasprit Bumrah on his first day of Test cricket on Indian soil toiled hard to pick up 2 wickets. The expectation was that England would bat till tea on Day 2 and score heavily towards the end and force a declaration. But somehow the intent of scoring quickly was lacking and though India was unable to pick up the wickets they kept the runs under check. Till the time Joe Root and Ben Stokes were in the crease, England looked like pressing on the gas paddle but once Stokes got out and with the departure of Joe Root after scoring a double hundred, England’s scoring rate dropped and they finished Day 2 at 555/8. With no overnight declaration, India’s best option was to go for a draw, and with the pitch not showing any sign of deterioration, it certainly looked possible.

One of the problems that India had throughout the series in Australia was the brittle top order. Other than in Melbourne where Ajinkya Rahane scored a century, India didn’t have any centuries from the top order in Australia. There were a few half-centuries scored by Rohit, Gill, and Pujara but the big runs were lacking. With England getting all out for 578 runs, India’s primary work was first to avoid the follow-on (by scoring at least 379 runs) and then stretch the first innings as long as possible. 

India needed a good start.

But the top order failed once again and India was in big trouble at 73/4. The high of Australia came crashing down and suddenly an innings defeat looked imminent. In came Rishabh Pant. The 2 innings that he played, one in Sydney and the other in Brisbane had done a world of good for the Indian wicket-keeper. And he continued where he left off in Brisbane. Pujara at the other end was holding up and playing the way he is known for, as Rishabh Pant came out all guns blazing. He was particularly severe on Jack Leech as the left-arm spinner cut a sorry figure going for over 70 runs in his first 7 overs. England was rattled but then lady luck smiled. A short ball from the off-spinner Dom Bess was pulled by Pujara but quite inexplicably the ball hit the shoulder of the short-leg fielder and popped up for the mid-wicket fielder Rory Burns to complete a simple catch. It was completely against the run of play because India was in the ascendency at that moment.

But then Washington Sundar was there and Rishabh Pant was going great guns. Together they had to take India beyond the follow-on mark. But just like what happened in Sydney, Rishabh Pant played a shot too many and holed himself out at 91 runs. Another century missed. It looked rash but then that’s how he plays and probably that’s what suits him best. When it comes out, it looks brilliant and when it doesn’t you look sheepish. 

Ashwin and Washington Sundar took India safely to stumps on Day 3 but India was way too behind. There was hope for India but this was the last recognised pair. Ashwin showed a lot of application in Sydney a few weeks back and Washington Sundar was no mug with the bat which he showed very well in Brisbane but would they be able to script a comeback? This is what I kept on thinking as Day 4 dawned on us.

To be fair to both of them, they tried hard but it was too much of a task for them especially with the ball starting to grip. To their credit, they held off the English bowlers for close to an hour but then Leech was able to get the better of Ashwin and the Indian tail catapulted leaving Washington Sundar stranded on 85 runs. India was all out for 337 runs but England didn’t enforce the follow-on. They wanted to pile on the misery on India. The pitch was taking significant turn and hence they wanted India to bat last under very difficult circumstances.

The high of Australia was gone for good as India’s backs were completely against the wall. India needed to bowl well in the second innings but England was so much ahead in the game that even a major collapse wouldn’t have helped India.

India started with Ashwin and he got India a wicket first ball. The pitch had started to show the demons and India was already looking at a huge run chase. The match was as good as over. The collapse that India was looking for didn’t happen but the Indian spinners especially Ashwin bowled well. He picked up 6 wickets too but many of the English batsmen got out in pursuit of quick runs. England somehow played too safe and the longer they batted, it was better for India. They finally got bowled out for 178 runs leaving India 420 runs to chase. 

Getting 420 runs in 3 and a half sessions was out of the equation and India’s only hope was to playout the overs. Easier said than done though, especially with the pitch playing up. For the time being India needed to keep all their wickets intact going into the final day.

This hope also lay in tatters as a perfect ball from Leech got the wicket of Rohit Sharma. Gill and Pujara safely took India to stumps on Day 4.

For the records, India needed 381 runs on Day 5 to win the match. But there were only 2 possibilities – a draw or a win for England. To play out a draw, India needed Pujara to hold one end up for more than 2 sessions with the other batsmen playing around him. Pujara did that excellently well in Australia but he was unable to repeat it here. Saving Shubhman Gill who cracked a good-looking half-century and Virat Kohli who looked solid while scoring 72 runs, no other Indian batsmen were up for the challenge. For a change, the Indian lower order showed no resistance too and the Indian team got bowled out within 2 sessions leaving England victorious by 227 runs.

Jack Leech after the pasting he took from Rishabh Pant in the first innings came back very strongly in the second innings picking up 4 wickets. At the start of the series, Sanjay Manjrekar told that the series would be defined by how well the English spinners bowled against the Indian batsmen, and if the first test was anything to go by they came out better. Together the English spinners picked up 11 wickets and the Indian batting looked very brittle in home conditions.

In the final analysis, it was the top order failure on Day 3 which tilted the match in England’s favour because if they batted well, then India could have saved the match. 

Suddenly the WTC finals looked very far for India. India needed to win at least 2 of the next 3 matches and they couldn’t afford to lose anymore. India had a history of coming back strongly after losing the first match but the question was would they be able to do it again? 

Joe Root got the Man of the Match award for the superb double century he scored earlier in the match and India needed to get him out early if they had to fancy any chance against England in the subsequent matches.

So how did it go in the second match in Chennai? And how did the teams fare in Ahmedabad in the third and fourth test matches? That is what I will talk about in my subsequent blogs.

Till then stay well, stay healthy and stay happy!

As an introverted child, I made reading a habit from a very young age! As a young boy, I read a lot of fiction and always dreamt of writing my own book one day.

But as it happens, it always remained a dream. As life moved on and I became busy maintaining my corporate life and family, writing took a back seat. 

9 years back on my son’s 8th birthday, I decided to start my blog. From that day on, I wrote inconsistently on my site about varied topics. I never brought about any consistency when it came to writing blogs though.

Then COVID-19 happened and with the subsequent lockdown I ended up getting a lot of free time. The travel time between home to the office used to be more than 3 hours to and fro and I utilised this time by reading more books and started writing blogs consistently.

Then after a couple of months, I started writing on LinkedIn. I didn’t get much traction on my writings but I found few people showing interest in my way of writing and that made me continue the habit.

Then came IPL and for the first time, I watched all the matches. In the previous years, it was not possible to follow all the matches but with lockdown, in place, I had the opportunity to watch all of them and then came the idea to write about each match at the end of each day. And this led to a blog a day for more than 6 weeks.

At the end of IPL, my son said why don’t you convert all these writings into a book? This made me think and I came up with the idea to write my journey as a cricket fan. Being a die-hard fan of cricket, I have personally watched many matches and had a lot of views as the Indian cricket team played on the field! I thought of penning them down and as I kept writing, it became bigger and bigger, and finally, I had to cut short and stop the first volume in the year 2000.

Self-publishing was the best option after all no publisher would be anyways interested to publish my book who is a complete unknown. After all, I am not a celebrity- just a common man.

But now that I wrote the book it was imperative to publish it and hence I registered at Kindle Direct Publishing and went ahead and published my first book.

Writing is now a habit and I am now working on the second volume of the 12th man and working on a couple of fiction and another non-fiction.

If you are interested in cricket and want to know more about a fan’s journey from 1983 to 2000 then head here and order the book. Right now it’s an ebook but the paperback will be released soon too.

Appreciate your views if you end up reading the book!

Till then, be well and take care!

A tired-looking Josh Hazlewood hustled in for one last hurrah. The wicket of Shardul Thakur a couple of balls earlier had given Australia a slight ray of hope. They needed a miracle though. A low full toss it was outside the off-stump. Pant had been at the crease long enough to eye the ball with ease and ​drive it through the vacant mid-on region ​and as the ball tickled to the boundary, I and Neel jumped in ecstasy. The Gabba was breached after 32 years. History was created​ as India chased down 328 runs to bring to a close an epic turnaround which will go down as the best test series ever played by India on foreign soil​. It was epic and it was heart-stopping. It was an unimaginable feat something that would have been last in any Indian cricket fan’s mind after watching the team getting bowled out for 36 runs ​exactly ​a month back.

From the depths of despair rose this team of absolute no-hopers​ whom I called the Hospital XI before the start of the Final Test Match​ to script the biggest turnaround in cricketing history and in the process gave us the best cricket series ever on Australian soil. 

It was a snowy morning in Srinagar on 5th January 2019. I was on my way to the airport and the roads, the buildings all were covered with a thick blanket of snow due to the overnight snowfall. We had been in Kashmir for the last 8 days and though we experienced snowfall on our way to Sonmarg on 2nd January, it was completely dry in Srinagar. But on 4th January while on our way to Shankaracharya Temple, it started to snow and by the time we were back from the temple the entire area turned white. It was an experience of a lifetime no doubt but we had a flight to catch the next day and after a certain time, we sincerely hoped for the snow to stop.

“Man proposes but God disposes”

As destiny would have it, the snowfall continued right through the night. By the time we reached the airport, the snowfall had subsided but all flights were canceled. The next available flight was on 9th January for Kolkata and suddenly we had 4 extra days to spend in Srinagar. We had loved the place no doubt but we needed to go home, more so for me and Asif because Asif’s sister-in-law was battling the last stages of cancer and my father was battling kidney failure and had to be hospitalised on that very day with me, not in town. 

The situation was serious back home and we harboured thoughts of taking the road route to Chandigarh but we came to know that the Jammu-Srinagar highway was blocked due to heavy snow and with no options left, we had to go back in town and found a hotel nearby for those additional 4 days of stay over. Over the phone, I kept in touch with family and more so with Mukesh who had to take additional pressure of taking my father to the hospital and to do the needful. The only way to keep ourselves engaged was the cricket match that was going on in Sydney.

When we started for the airport, Australia began their first innings after a mammoth total put up by India. India had scored 622 runs before they declared late on the second day. Chetaswar Pujara and Rishabh Pant both scored big hundreds to set up the match for India. India was on the cusp of creating history because a draw or a win in Sydney would see them winning a Test series in Australia for the very first time. By the time we checked in to our hotel, the day’s play was over – rather, cut short due to bad weather. Australia was at 236/6 and India had a good chance to win the Test Match with 2 days to play. The only problem for India was the weather because it was expected to rain over the next two days in Sydney.

India first went on an Australian tour as a young independent nation in 1947. That team led by Lala Amarnath lost 4-0. India over the years has gone on multiple tours down under but my journey as a fan watching cricket down under began from the 1991-92 series. Getting up early in the morning was a challenge but cricket mattered more than the chilly mornings of Asansol. Over the years it became a ritual whenever the Indians traveled to Australia the frequency of which has noticeably increased over the past few years.

After the 1991-92 tour, India next toured Australia in 1999-2000 – a gap of 7 years and now we have the team visiting Australia every 2 to 4 years. I might have grown up but cricket takes me back to childhood and the mannerisms while watching cricket have not changed. My wife calls me childish when she sees me react the way I do when things don’t go India’s way but then you need to love cricket to understand the emotions that a fan goes through while watching India play.

The 4th day in Sydney on 6th January 2019 was partly disrupted due to rain. We had no work and nor we had the mindset to roam around Srinagar with the problems at hand back home and the only way to keep the mind away from those troubles was to watch cricket. Unfortunately, the first session was washed off and with each passing hour, India’s chances of winning the match eroded. It was not a problem though because India was already ahead 2-1 in the series. Play resumed post-lunch and India got the Australian team bowled out for 300 runs and enforced the follow on. Unfortunately, not much play was possible thereafter with the next 4 sessions being washed out as we 3 sat and kept watching the highlights of the wins registered by India at Adelaide and Melbourne. 

In wet conditions in Sydney on 7th January 2019, the Border-Gavaskar trophy was handed over to India and thus ended India’s 71 years wait of winning a Test Series in Australia. It felt like a personal victory that day because as a fan, I had been diligently waking up at 5 AM from 1991 whenever India played Australia down under, and finally, all those early wake-up calls bore fruit as the jinx was finally broken. Yes, India had won some great Test Matches in Australia be it the 2003 win in Adelaide or the 2008 win in Perth but none of those wins led us to a series victory. So this was extra sweet because for the first time after 1977 that India won 2 matches in a series in Australia but unlike then, this time the Indian team came out trumps by winning the series on Australian soil. History was created and it felt great to have seen it happening right in front of our eyes. It was bittersweet for me though because my father who used to diligently wake me up early in the mornings in 1991 was not there with me right at that moment as he laid in the hospital bed, back in Kolkata. I remember spending multiple hours speaking with him and debating India’s performances down under over the years and before I left for Srinagar, both of us felt that there was an opportunity for India to break the jinx this time around. I waited with bated breath to get back to Kolkata and get him back safe at home so that we both could savour this victory which we so yearned for over the last 3 decades.

That series win in 2018-19 didn’t stop the critics though because they quickly pointed out that Australia was without the services of their 2 best batsmen, Steve Smith and David Warner (both serving a one-year ban after the Sand-Paper Gate scandal). It was not India’s problem but critics were critics and they quickly forgot that the bowling attack of Australia was world-class and forgot to give due credit to the Indian batsmen who scored runs consistently throughout the series. I remember many cricket experts waiting for the next series down under because they felt that the Indian team was at an advantage playing against a relatively weaker Australian side who were without Smith and Warner.

From the time I had been following cricket religiously, India had won only 2 Test Matches in Australia. Both I remember quite distinctively, the one in Adelaide in 2003 which was India’s first victory in Australia after 22 years, and the next one in 2008 in Perth which followed the Monkey Gate scandal in Sydney. That victory in 2008, stopped Australia’s 16 Test Match winning spree, and once again it was India who stopped them from breaking their own world record. In 2003 Rahul Dravid’s stoic in the crease earned him the nickname, “The Wall”. In 2018-19, Chetaswar Pujara reenacted Rahul Dravid’s heroics and helped India win the series and people started calling him the new wall of India.

India was scheduled to travel once again to Australia in 2020-21 but before that Covid-19 stuck and the pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns and cricket was the last thing on anyone’s mind. With European Championships, Olympics all getting postponed it was pretty difficult to see the marquee series happening on time. But then things started to get better as England started playing international cricket at home under Covid restrictions and then IPL happened in the middle east in late September. To successfully organise a tournament of such magnitude, gave confidence to people around the world and the series against Australia got the go-ahead. It was an important series too because India needed to make up for the lost points against New Zealand in the qualification run for the World Test Championships final.

India had problems though with the injury to Rohit Sharma during the IPL and to top that Virat Kohli was about to become a father and hence decided to take paternity leave and was not available to play after the first Test Match. India selected a few newcomers for the tour, like, Md. Siraj and Navdeep Saini. Not to forget Shubhman Gill who though have been part of previous touring parties, was yet to play Test cricket for India. Covid-19 restrictions meant that one couldn’t have the services of Australian first-class cricketers as net bowlers and hence players like, Kartik Tyagi and Natarajan went along with the team. Natarajan of course was a last-minute replacement for Kamlesh Nagarkoti who pulled up injured during the IPL. As luck would have it, Varun Chakravarthy (who was originally selected for the T20 team) pulled up with a shoulder injury before the team was scheduled to leave for Sydney, and Natarajan was officially made a part of the team for the ODI and T20 series.

To be quite frank, the team looked weak on paper more so because of Rohit Sharma’s unavailability and Virat Kohli’s absence after the 1st Test. Add to that there was no Ishant Sharma in the team who was nursing an injury. Australia was back at full strength with the availability of David Warner and Steve Smith. Smith in particular has over the years been a tormentor in chief for India having an enviable record with a batting average exceeding 60. Both these players along with the emergence of Marnus Labuchagne made the Australian team an almost invincible one, especially in home conditions. Their bowling attack was the same as in the 2018-19 series led by the world’s number one bowler, Pat Cummins. All in all, things looked exactly the opposite of the 2018-19 series with India missing some key players whereas Australia had the service of their first XI.

The ODI series started on expected lines with Australia winning the initial 2 matches. All the matches were high scoring ones but Australia won them with ease because they scored a mountain of runs batting first. Though India batted well to score more than 300 runs in each of the matches they were not good enough. At that stage people on Twitter were debating if this would be the worst tour for India in Australia with many comparing this side with the one in 1999-2000 when India couldn’t win a single match against the Aussies (both Tests and ODIs included). India though put that debate to rest by defeating Australia in the third ODI to get a consolation victory. What was great to see though was the debut of Natarajan and the slog over hitting by Pandya and Jadeja. It raised the hopes of the Indian fans at least for the T20 series which followed.

In the T20 series, India did the opposite of the ODI series by winning the first two matches and once again Natarajan impressed with his accurate lengths and lines and most importantly with his consistency in hitting the yorkers. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and KL Rahul impressed the most as India won the series 2-1 and put to rest any doubts that the team would perform as badly as the one in 1999.

Test Matches was a completely different ball game though but one thing everyone discounted was the fighting spirit that the Indian team possessed. In a sense, it all started from the 2001 series against Australia in India when the greatest turnaround in cricket was played out at the Eden Gardens. That victory in 2001 stopped Australia’s world-record winning run in Test Cricket which included 16 straight Test Match victories. The fighting spirit and to never give up against all odds had been the hallmark that defined Team India from the time Sourav Ganguly took over the Indian captaincy. What was sown 2 decades back has now become a mantra for this team and no longer India were pushovers in foreign conditions. How ironic it was that the same man was now heading the BCCI and how satisfying it must be for the man as India scripted a turnaround for the ages in Brisbane 2021.

Doing well in white-ball cricket doesn’t always translate into having the upper hand in Test cricket. Test cricket is not about slam-bang cricket. It’s about patience and perseverance. Australia was a stronger team than the one India met two years ago. Steven Smith was back and though David Warner sat out due to injury they had Marnus Labuschagne whom many called the Steven Smith carbon copy because of the way he played. In 2018, it was in Adelaide that India started their victory journey and India was back at the same venue though this time it was played under lights – India’s first day-night test match down under.

Within the first hour of play, it was clear that it was a completely different ball game with India finishing the first session at 41/2. Before the start of the test series, it was a known fact that if India had to do well,  then the Indian middle-order had to shine just like in 2018/19. But the Australian attack comprising of Pat Cummins, Mitchel Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon didn’t give any freebies and runs were extremely difficult to come by. Wickets fall like nine pins in the final session in day-night test matches, especially in Adelaide but Virat Kohli stuck in and brought up an excellent half-century. 2020 had been such a strange year that it was for the first time after 2008 that Kohli didn’t have an international hundred in a calendar year. He looked determined to end the year on a high because it was his final match before he traveled back to India. India seemed to be cruising at 188/3 when a moment of madness brought the Indian team crushing down. A bad call for a tight single led to the dismissal of Virat Kohli and India lost a wicket against the run of play. The lucky break for Australia did wonders for them as the next 6 wickets fell adding only 56 runs and with that handing over the momentum to Australia. 

One thing that we have got used to over the past couple of years has been the resilience of this Indian cricket team. The never say die attitude meant India was never out of the game. Indian pace bowing resources have enhanced in the last few years and though Ishant Sharma and Bhubaneswar Kumar were not available the bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah was good enough to push Australia to the backfoot.

All the Indian bowlers were on top form when Australia came to bat and one could see that the batsmen were unable to break free. Unforced errors were committed and even with the lucky breaks given by India courtesy of the dropped catches, Australia found themselves reeling at 111/7. But test matches throw up surprises aplenty and when India was eyeing a lead of 100 runs or more, in came Tim Paine the Australian captain to play a captain’s knock to help Australia reach 191 runs. A lead of 53 runs was not bad but India needed to bat well in the second innings to drive home the advantage.

The fightback shown by the Indian bowlers of not allowing the Australians to take advantage of a low total put up by India deserved kudos because it was a good batting track but this Indian team was not ready to give an inch and found a way to wriggle out of tough situations. This was the New India after all – The young aspirational India who were not ready to be burdened by past historical mistakes. Gone were the days when Australian batsmen could pile on runs as the Indian team looked on haplessly. Ravichandran Ashwin was the star with 4 wickets and he answered his critics in style who before the start of the Test match commented that Ashwin got the opportunity to play only because of the disposition of Ravindra Jadeja. 

India came out to bat in the second evening having a handful of overs to play but Prithvi Shaw failed once again and India finished at 9/1 at the end of day 2.

On our WhatsApp group where we discussed mainly cricket, the feeling was that India needed to bat most part of day 3 and a lead of around 300 would be good enough judging by the way the Indians bowled in the first innings. I was a bit late in switching on the TV the next day and when I switched it on, I saw the night watchman, Jasprit Bumrah was already back to the pavilion with the scoreboard reading 15/2. It was a Saturday and I hoped to enjoy a great day of batting by India but all my hopes were dashed as India plummeted into a hole and within a space of a couple of overs, India was reeling at 15/5. Each ball bowled looked like a wicket ball. And very soon, Virat Kohli also bit the dust and at 19/6, I had seen enough to switch off the TV and got back to reading a book. It was depressing, to say the least. There was a reason why this Australian bowling attack was touted as the best in the world and as one after the other Indian batsman walked back to the pavilion, I couldn’t imagine what was in store in the next 3 matches. The only academic interest left was would India be able to surpass 42 runs (which till then was the lowest total ever scored by India in a Test Innings). That of course didn’t happen as India was bowled out for 36 runs to register one of the lowest moments for India in Test cricket history. In the process, Md. Shami broke his arm and an already tough series looked even tougher with another frontline bowler set to miss out in the next 3 matches.

A Test Match lost inside 3 days when at the end of Day 2 India was ahead of Australia. One session of brilliant bowling changed the complexion of the match completely. With Virat Kohli leaving for India and Md. Shami not available, it looked like a mountain to climb for the team. The cricket experts across the globe followed the same tune and almost everyone predicted a 4-0 whitewash. Nobody could really blame them because when a team gets bowled out for 36 runs, it’s hardly expected of them to draw or win a test match.

As a cricket fan I was dumbstruck and in fact, didn’t speak about cricket for the next week. It was too difficult to digest that the team could get bowled out for 36 runs. Yes, Australia was a great team but the capitulation of the Indian batting line up was too hard to digest. 

Old habits die hard though and there I was back in front of the TV on 26th December for the start of the boxing day test match at the MCG.

Md. Siraj got his debut test cap replacing, Md. Shami. Wridhiman Saha was dropped and he was replaced by Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja took the place of Virat Kohli. India also handed a debut to Shubhman Gill who replaced Prithvi Shaw. The team balance looked good and in effect, India replaced Virat Kohli by adding Pant and Jadeja. This also helped the bowling unit because the addition of Jadeja meant an extra hand for the team in the field. The very first hour showed that the Indian team had no hangovers of the Adelaide match as Australia was reduced to 38/3. The bowling unit once again was doing what was expected of them. Siraj looked nervous in his first spell but after lunch, he was able to put the ball in the right place and reaped rewards too by picking up the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green. Jasprit Bumrah picked up 4 wickets as Australia was bowled out for 195 runs.

It was a good start for India in the Test Match no doubt but the 36 all-out was already playing at the back of my end when Shubhman Gill came out to bat with Mayank Agarwal to open the Indian innings. Mayank Agarwal got out to a swinging Mitchel Starc delivery in the very first over and my heart stopped beating for a while. “Oh No, Not Again”, I thought. Thankfully though Shubhman Gill looked good at the crease and he and Chetaswar Pujara took India to 38/1 at stumps on Day 1. After being absolutely hammered to submission on the third day at Adelaide this was a good fightback by India. No more demons in the head, I thought and I hoped that I will have a good Sunday seeing the Indian team bat on the second day at the MCG.

That’s how it played out and the Indian batsmen led by their new captain, Ajinkya Rahane wore down the Aussies to take the lead in the test match. Rahane played a captain’s knock hitting a century and was ably supported by others. Jadeja scored a half-century and India took a big lead of 131 runs. Indian bowling attack even without Ishant and Shami looked good and this time around, Umesh Yadav gave India the first breakthrough getting rid of Joe Burns. But then came the twist as Umesh Yadav pulled up with a calf injury and left the ground. In hindsight, it was good that India had 5 bowling resources and there was no shortage of armoury. Once again the Indian bowling attack delivered and at 99/6, India harboured hopes of inflicting an innings defeat on the Aussies. That would have been some statement coming after 36 all out but that didn’t happen as the Australian tail wagged for quite a long time and the last 4 wickets added 101 runs with Cameron Green top-scoring with 45 runs.

A confident India walked off the park with the team needing 70 runs for victory. Melbourne has been India’s happy hunting ground in Australia having won 3 test matches (the highest number of matches won by India in any venue in Australia) and it looked like India was on their way to win the 4th one. There was tension in some of my WhatsApp groups when Mayank and Pujara fell in quick succession (36 all-out still playing on our minds) but Rahane along with Shubhman Gill played positively and took India to a famous victory.

It was a great Test victory for India mainly because of the way the team fought back after the Adelaide fiasco. People wrote this team off but they came back with heads held high to defeat a very strong Australian side within 4 days. In the process, they lost another frontline bowler but the way the team showed resilience after Adelaide, nothing could stop them.

2020 was a year of pain as many around the world lost their near and dear ones. The victory registered by the Indian team on 29th December 2020 brought back smiles to millions of cricket fans in India who had been through many hardships over the last 9 months. It also meant that the series was now even stevens and no longer the Aussies could take the Indian team for granted.

The next Test match was to be played in Sydney from 7th January 2021 – the day 2 years back when India won their first Test series in Australia. With the 4th and the final match to be held in Brisbane, it was vital for India to try and keep the momentum going in Sydney because Brisbane was a virtual fortress for the Australian team where they have remained undefeated for 32 years.

Rohit Sharma finished his mandatory 14 days quarantine to join the team which meant, Mayank Agarwal, missing out on the playing XI. With Umesh Yadav also out with injury, Navdeep Saini became the latest debutant to play for India. 2 virtual newcomers in the bowling line up and suddenly the Indian bowling attack looked vulnerable. 

Sydney as expected was a good batting track and Australia made good advantage of winning the toss and batting first. At 206/2, it looked ominous for India but as has been the story of the series, India fought back strongly and was able to restrict Australia to 338 runs. Steven Smith was having a horrible run in the last 2 matches but he came back to form scoring a beautiful hundred. Jadeja showed the importance of his selection by picking up 4 wickets and executing a marvelous run out to get Smith out which brought the Australian innings to a close. After the defeat in Melbourne, Australia was expected to come back hard and they needed Steve Smith to come to the party. He didn’t let the team down and for the first time in the series, the Australian batting unit was able to overcome the Indian bowling attack. It was still not a very bad performance by the Indian bowlers because Australia had a good opportunity to bat India out of the Test match. 

I was excited to see how Rohit Sharma performs as an opener in foreign conditions. For a long time, Rohit Sharma has been an enigma in Indian cricket. His performance in white-ball cricket never replicated when playing Test Matches and though he got a new lease of life when the team got him as an opener in Test matches, he was yet to play as an opener outside India. So it was a new challenge for him and it was important for India too that he along with Gill gave India a solid start.

India started well with the openers putting on a 70 run stand but thereafter things didn’t go according to plan as the Australian bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals. Shubhman Gill and Chetaswar Pujara scored half-centuries but no one was able to play a long innings and India folded for 244 runs. 

A lead of 96 runs was pretty big and Australia pressed on the paddle to bat India out of the Test Match. If this was not bad enough, news filtered in that Ravindra Jadeja had dislocated his thumb while batting having been hit by a rising delivery. Another Test Match and another player down for India. It was that kind of a series for India wherein the team kept losing a player or two after a match. The bowling resources were highly depleted and Labuschagne and Smith took full advantage of the situation to build a big partnership. Australia kept batting till Tea on Day 4 and declared at 312 runs giving India a target of 407 runs to win the match.

Once again the Indian openers gave India a great start stitching a 71 runs partnership but both Gill and Rohit got out before the end of Day 4. India finished at 98/2 when stumps were drawn.

309 runs to get on the last day was not out of reach for India but with 2 wickets down, survival was the best way to go forward. 98 overs India had to survive and against the bowling attack of Australia and at the outset, it looked like a herculean task. India didn’t start well as Rahane got out in the second over of the morning. India’s mindset was positive though because in place of sending Hanuma Vihari they gave a promotion to Rishabh Pant. Pant had been injured while batting in the first innings and to see him come out to bat made me sit up. 

Rishabh Pant has been countless times criticised for the way he played mainly due to the reckless shots that led to his downfalls. But such players have another angle too and that was if they came good, you will have to sit up and watch. As Pujara played the waiting game and brought all his experience in play to hold one end up, Pant kept attacking the bowlers. On a 5th day pitch in Sydney, it was expected that Nathan Lyon would be the tormentor in chief but Rishabh Pant hit him out of the park more than once and got him out of the attack. Batting at close to run a ball, India suddenly harboured hopes of winning the match. Suddenly Australia was on the backfoot with spread-out fields. 108 runs in the first session gave high hopes to India and another session of such high-quality cricket and who knows, maybe India could pull this off, I thought.

Rishabh Pant plays with a similar mindset of Virendra Sehwag. If a ball was there to be hit, he would go for it even if it meant taking on the boundary riders. 

“Live by the sword, die by the sword” – On 97 with a century for the taking, Pant gave Lyon the charge only to miscue the hit and got caught.

With Pant’s wicket India’s chances of going for victory diminished especially because Jadeja had a broken finger and there was no other player who could play the positive brand of cricket that was needed to take India to victory. What was even worse for India was that Pant got out in the 80th over which meant a new batsman had to face the new ball.

Hazlewood snared the wicket of Pujara with the second new ball and as Ashwin walked into the crease to join Hanuma Vihari India still needed to play out 44 overs. The victory was still 127 runs away but at that time it was all about survival. With Jadeja not in a condition to bat, it was effectively India’s last recognised batting pair who had to take India to safety.

In the meanwhile, as luck would have it, Hanuma Vihari got injured. From the outside, it looked like a hamstring strain which meant he was hardly able to walk and his leg movement was very limited. It was now a fight of determination because there were only 2 possible scenarios – Australian victory or a draw. India quite understandably opted for the second but to survive for so long against such an attack looked impossible. The Aussies kept peppering short balls and Ravichandran Ashwin kept taking hits on his body. 

People play for victory but in this case, for India, a draw was as good as a victory. As overs passed by Ashwin gained confidence. Here was a player with 4 Test hundreds behind him and he brought in all his experience and put his body on the line and ensured that he remained unbeaten. As time went on, the Aussies started getting frustrated and the ugly head of sledging raised its head. The Australian captain behind the stumps was the biggest culprit in this activity as he kept going after Ashwin with his non-sensical comments. Ashwin was well set by that time and no way was he to be fallible after coming so far. Tim Paine in the process of disturbing Ashwin, lost concentration himself and ended up missing a couple of catches. “Australia gave up all their luck in Adelaide”, I thought and it was high time that India got their due. With so many frontline players not available, India needed some divine help after all. 

43 overs of resistance by Ashwin and Vihari finally brought fruit as India came back with an honourable draw. The draw was as good as a victory for India because, with 5 wickets down, Australia had all the ammunition to bowl India out more so with India’s premier all-rounder indisposed. But that was not to be as India came out of Sydney with honours even. It was a case of exemplary courage and perseverance shown by Vihari and Ashwin that evening in Sydney. Their performance defied all odds because Vihari was virtually batting on only one leg. But this was new India. The days of getting intimidated by Australia was over.

Right through the first two sessions of play on the last day whenever the camera hovered over the Indian dressing room, one could see, Ashwin standing. Little did we know at that time that he was suffering from terrible back pain which didn’t allow him to sit. After the match got over, Ashwin’s wife tweeted about the sufferings related to his back pain which didn’t allow him to tie his shoelaces by himself. As I said earlier, it was a magnificent show of courage by both him and Vihari because though both of them were in severe pain they didn’t let go of the job in hand. Vihari didn’t have a great series till then and 50 years later when someone goes through the score sheet they might not realise the value of these innings but people like us who saw the fight will remember forever.

It was a test match which was all Australia but it was India who was talked about most because of the fight showed by them on the last day. It was a classical rearguard action and for a change, it was Australia who came back with “what ifs” on their mind. 

It all finally came down to the “Gabbatoir” to break the deadlock – a venue where India never won and where Australia never lost after 1988.

For India, a draw was enough for them to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy but it was a venue where India’s best result was a draw in 2003. India had played in Gabba 6 times previously losing five of those and with a team that quite literally looked like a hospital XI, all odds favoured Australia.

Before the start of the last Test Match what was interesting to see was who would turn up for India. With so many players injured there was hardly any choice left for the team management. After the match at Sydney, Jadeja was ruled out with his finger getting fractured. Add to that Hanuma Vihari was also out of contention with a hamstring tear. Jasprit Bumrah was having an abdominal strain and Ashwin was down with his lower back issues which meant both of them were not 100% fit. With the England series coming up it was not advisable to risk aggravating the injuries. But then who would play? Jokes started floating around on WhatsApp and Twitter that we might see Ravi Shastri back in whites. Jokes apart, it was a serious problem for India and it was hardly something which they wanted to do, going in Brisbane which by itself was a fortress yet to be breached in 32 years. But then life is all about how best you do with the resources you have in hand. On one hand, the tried and tested players were nursing injuries and on the other hand, new opportunities were about to open up for some talented youngsters.

It was 15th January and with a cup of tea in hand, I turned on the TV to watch the match unfold. India came up with a surprise by going in with 4 fast bowlers and a lone spinner in Washington Sundar. Two new debutants once again for India and this time it was Washington Sundar and T. Natarajan. Both of them came to Australia as part of the team for the white ball series and then stayed back as net bowlers. Graduating from net bowlers to test match cricket within a couple of months was unprecedented but desperate times called for desperate measures. Shardul Thakur was also selected and though it was not his debut match, one could consider it to be one because the one test match that he played two years back against the West Indies was just for the record books since he got injured after bowling 10 balls. Md. Siraj, an experience of 2 Test matches was about to lead the bowling attack that possessed a collective experience of 4 test matches. This was the most inexperienced Indian bowling lineup in 50 years and on paper, it looked like a third rung bowling attack. Comparing with Australia, on paper it looked like game, set and match for the Aussies.

India’s bowlers started well and after the first hour, it was tough to believe that Australia was struggling against such an inexperienced pace attack. But as the day wore on, Australia went from strength to strength with Marnus Labuschagne hitting a century. Against the run of play, Natarajan picked up 2 wickets which included the wicket of the centurian, and once again, India fought back into the match. Australia though took the day’s honours at 274/5. 

I have seen better Indian attacks being taken for 400 runs in a day in Australia and to compare that performance one could easily say that India didn’t do too badly. It was a known fact that the bowling attack would struggle but the good thing was that India didn’t let the Aussies roll them over.

India needed to make use of the new ball on the second morning and that’s what India did by picking up 3 quick wickets. The Australian tail wagged for a while before the team was bowled out for 369 runs. If anyone would have asked who was the happier camp then quite easily it was India because keeping Australia under 400 runs was a very good achievement. The newcomers did excellently well with Sundar, Natarajan, and Thakur picking up 3 wickets apiece. 

India needed to bat well though because batting last at the Gabba was not supposed to be easy. In Test cricket when a batsman gets his eye in, it’s important for them to put up a big score. This is exactly where the Indian top order failed with 5 of the top 6 batsmen getting past the 20 run mark but no one went on to get a big score and once again India found themselves on the rocks at 186/6. 

Throughout the series whenever the chips have been down, someone from the Indian team had raised their hand and came up with an exemplary performance. And as if on cue when the situation looked absolutely grim, out came the partnership of the match between, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar. Both the players were no mug with the bat but to see them playing so confidently against the Aussies in Australia was scantly believable. But then this was a team that was not ready to throw in the towel at any point in time and the partnership of 123 runs ensured that India reaches close to the Australian total. When India’s score went past the 300 run mark, for a brief while I felt India might as well go past the Australian total. That was not to be though because once Shardul Thakur got out, the rest of the tail didn’t wag long enough and India finished at 336 runs with Hazlewood picking up 5 wickets.

A 33 run lead was not something Australia bargained for having India at 186/6 but then that is what makes cricket the game it is. 

As someone aptly posted on Twitter, “between 36 and 336 we all grew up”. Cricket for people like us is a way of getting back to our childhood days and I feel sorry for people who do not follow this wonderful game. Nothing beats cricket and more so Test cricket.

Back in 2003, Australia led by 33 runs before a spell by Ajit Agarkar shifted the momentum towards India which helped them defeat the Aussies in Australia for the first time in 22 years. The lead was 33 runs again – will history repeat itself? I wondered. But then, it was Gabba, a place where Australia has remained undefeated for 32 long years. But, as my good friend, Asif said, records are meant to be broken so anything could happen and India could very well win the match.

The onus was now completely on Australia to force the game because they needed to win to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. It by no way means that India played negatively but an inexperienced bowling attack was under pressure as Warner, Labuschagne, and Smith went after the Indian bowlers. Aggressive cricket leads to wickets too and India kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and in a little over 2 sessions Australia was bowled out for 294 runs. To bowl out Australia twice with a collective experience of 4 Test matches was unbelievable, to say the least, and this Indian team made all of us proud with their gallant display.

328 runs to win for India with 3 and a half sessions to play. The game was in the balance when the rain started falling making the predictions of late evening rains on the 4th and 5th day come true. 

The evening was spent discussing India’s would be strategy for the fifth day. One of my friends, Sabyasachi Das was interested to know the weather predictions too though Asif wanted the day to be dry because he was confident of an Indian win. 

It had been exactly 30 days since India was bowled out for 36 runs in Adelaide and to think that the series was still on the line with a day to play was an achievement by itself by this injury-ridden team. As my friend Asif told me that taking 20 Australian wickets with this inexperienced bowling lineup was a story in itself. Undoubtedly he was right because at no point did this beleaguered team allowed the opposition to intimidate them. Yes, it was a tough chase but going by the temperament shown by the team after the Adelaide fiasco anything was possible.

In Sydney, India needed 309 runs on the last day with 8 wickets in hand.

At Gabba, India needed 324 runs with all their wickets intact. If they could save Sydney why couldn’t they repeat it or better it at Brisbane?

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and hence a favourable result for India was definitely possible though a last-day pitch with a crack right through the middle of the wicket was a challenge facing the Indian team.

Final day chases are not like white-ball cricket. The first session is always about survival and about not letting the opposition get wickets with the new ball. The second and final sessions are when the fun of the chase begins. But the fun could only start if the team chasing had enough wickets in hand.

By all calculations, India also planned in the same manner. The advantage for India was that with Rohit and Gill they had two very good openers who could play the waiting game as well as play aggressive strokes. India needed a solid start but Rohit got out cheaply. As Pujara walked in, I yearned for one more cup of tea but the superstition had kicked in by then and  I was not ready to leave the place till the drinks break at least. 

Pujara played like the way only he can. His strategy was about wearing down the bowlers and holding one end up as Gill played his natural game.

One and a half hours into the day with the sun beating down the Aussies changed their strategy. In came the barrage of short balls. You can’t call them body line but it was an attack on the body through short pitch bowling. It was a worn down pitch and with some balls not rising high enough, India entered a zone of intimidation from the Aussies. This is what they do best – intimidating the opposition. Pujara got hit on the helmet twice and on the shoulder a few more times but he didn’t bat an eyelid. My son sitting beside me kept asking me how was Pujara not showing any emotions when getting hit? I told him that’s how it is. You can’t show that you are feeling the pain. You should remain expressionless under adversity because your opponent gets frustrated when even after intimidation you don’t show any emotion or pain.

What was important during that passage of play for India was that they didn’t lose wickets. Gill on the other side was playing his natural game. Short balls were pulled and fuller balls were sweetly driven on the offside. His backfoot punches were soothing to the eye. As I saw him bat I just hoped for a big partnership between him and Kohli soon because it would be such a treat to watch. 

Lunch was taken with India at 83/1. Losing only one wicket in the first session was a very good result for India. As Shane Warne said on commentary India would back themselves to get 140 odd in the final session so this was an advantage for India going into the lunch break.

Still, a lot of cricket was to be played but for now, it looked like India would hold on to the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Right after lunch, one could see a change in batting stance from Gill. A little opened up stance with the back leg going further across waiting for the short delivery. No trigger movement of the front foot which meant that India knew the line of attack that the Aussies would come up with. As expected Starc started bowling short but this time around he was met with fire as Gill hit him for a sixer and two fours to make clear India’s intentions. If that was not enough, Gill’s aggression rubbed on to Pujara too as he also played a couple of glorious cut shots. Mitchell Starc was promptly taken out of the attack. 

But disaster struck straight after and the bowling change did the trick as Nathan Lyon snared the wicket of a well-set Shubhman Gill. At 91 runs he was all set for his maiden century but a moment of misjudgment led to his downfall. It was a very good hand played by Gill but for now, it was over to Pujara and Rahane to take India forward.

New age India has new-age fans and my son was a bit distraught seeing Rahane coming in at the fall of Gill’s wicket. He was of the opinion that aggression at one end and holding up the other end was the best way to go forward and so he felt Pant should have walked in ahead of Rahane.

Though the name was different the strategy was exactly the same he had predicted and Rahane started off playing aggressively. A lofted six off Lyon made his intentions clear but this was not his natural game and trying to upper-cut a rising delivery from Pat Cummins brought about his downfall and India was three down with 167 on the board with close to half an hour to go for tea.

It was heading towards a classic finish because Australia you felt was just a couple of wickets away from claiming ascendency and India needed a solid hour or so batting from Pant to push the Australians into the defensive.

As a fan, I had followed the 1986 tied test match and this game was getting close to that because it was difficult to pick the winner with a session to play.

After tea, the most important segment of play was the new ball and Australians were eagerly waiting for the 80 overs to complete. In the meantime, Rishabh Pant brought out those outrageous strokes once in a while nothing better than the six against Lyon over long-on – dancing down the track and playing against the turn. What made it even more outrageous was that just a ball before, he was handsomely beaten by a similar delivery which hit the crack and turned and jumped awkwardly beating everyone. But then this was Rishabh Pant. He won’t allow the opposition to take centre stage. As long as he was in the crease it had to be all about him. During the IPL, Ricky Ponting the head coach of the Delhi Daredevils felt that Rishabh was an all-format player and was destined to display a lot of heroics in the future. Little he would have realised that the diminutive keeper was planning an encore at the Australian fortress.

The new ball though did it’s trick and Cheteshwar Pujara got out to a seaming in cutting delivery from Pat Cummins. Throughout the series, Cummins showed why he was the number one bowler in the world. As soon as we thought, India was cruising, out came Pat Cummins and he invariably picked up a wicket.

Pujara’s wicket was a blow to India because he played his role to perfection till then. He kept one end up and all the while kept getting hit on his body. On the last count, a total of 11 deliveries hit him on his body through the innings during the course of which he scored his slowest half-century. He played 200 balls and it was his resilience that allowed the others to play aggressively.

Mayank Agarwal had been in wretched form throughout the series. One advantage of having an opener coming down the order was that playing the new ball came naturally to him. But when a man is not in form you find ways to get out. And after playing a couple of lovely straight drives, he tried a lofted cover drive only to find the fielder and India was 5 down with close to an hour’s play still to go.

Washington Sundar in the first innings showed that he was a genuine all-rounder and his partnership with Rishabh Pant was a very vital one for India. Sundar played aggressively but the shot that stood out was his Nataraja style hook shot against Cummins which sailed for a six over deep square leg.

After seeing that six, one of my friends declared on WhatsApp that India is winning because they are destined to win. You don’t dare the Aussies at the Gabba like that and this team just did that by playing those atrocious shots.

He was right and it was Rishabh Pant who hit the winnings runs to take India to victory.

As the Indian dressing room converged on Rishabh Pant, celebrating the occasion, one figure stood out in the background and that was of a smiling Ajinkya Rahane soaking in the magnanimous of the occasion. It was under him that the Indian team literally rose from the ashes after the horrendous performance in Adelaide.

The top two run-getters in the series were Aussies. The top two wicket-takers were Aussies but it was Team India which came out trumps beating Australia two times in a row within a space of two years and along with it breached the Gabba fortress. India in the process showed the template to the others in the world about how one could defeat Australia in their own den even when the chips were down. Scoring 324 runs on the last day at Gabba was no mean feat especially when teams have struggled to score more than 230 runs in the fourth innings in the last 90 years. Records are surely meant to be broken.

This victory would go down in the annals of history as the best series win by India on foreign soil mainly because of the lack of resources that they faced through out. India played 20 players through the 4 match series – the highest ever by any cricket team in a series and to come up trumps even after that just showed the exemplary spirit and fighting courage that the team possessed.

If there was a Rahane century, then there were Pujara’s stoic half-centuries. If there was the grace of Gill, then there were the sehwagesque Pant’s knocks. And above all, we had the debutants who all came out winners and did their part on the given occasion.

As India celebrates the 50th anniversary of our first overseas series victories in West Indies and England, it in a way was the best return gift to that generation who in a way started the evolution of the Indian cricket team.

As we return back to our daily lives, let’s not forget that we are living in strange times and the pandemic of Covid-19 is yet to leave us and to organise these tours amidst such difficulties in itself deserve a large round of applause.

To all around the world, A Pantastic new year, 2021!

I was speaking to one of my friends earlier today and as expected our discussion soon moved to cricket and he was asking me about my views on the best XI for IPL 2020. So I thought, why not – let’s do it.

We had a great time watching the tournament this year and I must thank all the members of the organising committee to make this tournament happen amidst this Global pandemic. It brought a lot of happiness to the cricket-loving people in India.

We have had some very close matches this year and some great performances too. Remember, never have had we experienced so many tied contests. 

Most players in the XI that I have selected don’t require a debate other than a couple which I will explain in detail below.

Openers: KL Rahul & Shikhar Dhawan

Rahul & Dhawan were the top 2 scorers in this year’s IPL. This makes it an easy choice. Rahul had a fantastic IPL and it has been 3 years in a row now that he has scored more than 500 runs in an IPL tournament. He started with a bang and his innings of 132 against Royal Challengers Bangalore was a treat to watch. His scoring rate dropped as the tournament progressed and it was mainly due to the team’s performance and the losses they bore at the start. He led well and his keeping has improved by leaps and bounds. It’s a rarity that a batsman ends as the top scorer without his team reaching the playoffs. Just shows how consistent he was throughout the league phase.

Shikhar Dhawan played 17 matches. That’s 3 more than Rahul and ended up scoring 52 runs less but still, he was the second-highest scorer in the tournament. He started very bad in the first few matches he got out within the powerplay. But then in the middle of the tournament, he played a sedate 60 odd which got him back to the groove. He roared back to form scoring back to back centuries (first time in IPL) and didn’t look back since. His form against Mumbai Indians was a problem though but Bumrah and Boult were top class.

Middle Order: Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan & AB DeVilliers

Surya Kumar Yadav has been on the borderline of getting called into the Indian team for the last 3-4 years but he always missed the bus mainly due to his inconsistency. Rarely has he played in a consistent fashion the way he played this year. He played his part at the start of the tournament without any big contributions but towards the end, he became indispensable for Mumbai Indians. His knock against RCB was the standout where he calmly took the team home and his hurricane knock against Delhi capitals in the first qualifier helped Mumbai Indians reach the finals. He is my number 3 of my playing XI.

Ishan Kishan was not even part of the playing XI when Mumbai Indians started the tournament. But a freak injury to Saurabh Tiwary gave him an opportunity and he immediately capitalised by playing a masterful 99 runs. He didn’t look back since and he played his part in both the Qualifier as well as the finals. You need consistency in the number 4 position and Kishan provides that in this team. He showed his batting power too by hitting 30 sixes in the tournament which was the highest number this year.

You can’t keep AB DeVilliers out of a T20 team – can you? The Mr. 360 of cricket and he was in full display this year too. He must be disappointed that RCB didn’t have a consistent run this year. He is the ideal number 5 in the team and the backup keeper to KL Rahul. What a sight it would be to see Surya Kumar Yadav and ABDV playing together. The two 360 degree players playing together.

A great Top 5 in my books for this year.

Lower Middle Order: Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer & Rashid Khan

Rahul Tewatia has been a sensational find this year. He showed his true all-round capabilities throughout the tournament. He was slotted at number 7 throughout the tournament so his chances with the bat were limited but whenever he got an opportunity he delivered nothing better than the turnaround against Kings XI Punjab when he took 30 runs off one of Cottrell to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat. His batting rubbed on to his bowling too and he performed equally well with his leggies by picking up 10 wickets. The best part was that he was economical too. A great number 6. To have a finisher with bowling skills is ideal for the number 6 spot and Rahul Tewatia is ideal for my team this year. Hardik Pandya was the closest to beat him but Pandya didn’t bowl so Tewatia takes his place.

Jofra Archer is one of the best bowlers in world cricket and you can’t really keep him out from your playing XI. Once again a player from Rajasthan Royals makes my team though they didn’t make the finals. Jofra Archer had the best economy rate in the power plays throughout the tournament and he got the team a breakthrough in the early overs. A must-have man in your playing XI. He is quite handy with the bat too and he showed his power in a couple of matches to help his team in critical situations. An ideal number 7.

Rashid Khan is one of the best Limited Overs bowlers in World Cricket today if not the best. He had a relatively slow start this year and one of the reasons was that no batsmen were taking any risks against him. He was not leaking runs but was unable to pick up wickets. But in the latter stages of the tournament, he got his mojo back and started picking up wickets regularly. He had the best economy rate in the tournament and he plays as one of my strike bowlers in this team.

Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah & Yuzvendra Chahal

Rabada is the best bowler in the world today along with Jasprit Bumrah. Both of them bowled as per the expectations. Rabada picked up wickets in each and every match-saving one and he walks into the team ahead of Boult because only 4 foreigners are allowed in the playing XI. This was a direct fight between two overseas fast bowlers but I go with Rabada because he got the maximum wickets in the tournament.

Bumrah got the second most number of wickets in the tournament and to think about it he had a very indifferent start. That he finished with 27 wickets (3 less than Rabada playing 2 matches lesser) just proves his worth in the team. He just went better and better as the tournament progressed and he was in top form in the playoffs. A great bowler to have in the team.

Having so many leg spinners in the team might not sound ideal but you need to pick your best XI and Chahal gets into the team on the back of some solid performances. He was the go-to man for Virat Kohli in the toughest situations and he always delivered. A great team man and a wicket-taker. He picked up 21 wickets which was the highest among all spinners in the tournament. 

So what do you think about my playing XI from IPL 2020 which would be led by KL Rahul? Have you built your team yet? Who is in and who is out?

The IPL final is here. 59 matches – 8 teams played against each other and the two best teams in the tournament – Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals were up against each other yesterday in Dubai. Before this tournament started, Delhi Capitals looked like having the best team on paper. That they played to form and reached the finals was an achievement in itself especially because they had never reached the IPL finals before. Delhi Capitals were a bit off colour in the middle of the tournament but they got their act together when it mattered and trounced Sunrisers Hyderabad to pave their way into the finals. Mumbai Indians on the other hand played to form throughout the tournament. They were the defending champions and they played like one throughout the tournament. Rohit Sharma was injured in the latter part of the league phase but that didn’t ditter them because always someone else rose to the occasion whenever the need arised. Only once had a team defended their crown in IPL and that happened in 2010 when Chennai Superkings won. Could Mumbai Indians repeat that feat? That was a big question in everyone’s mind as they took on Delhi Capitals for the IPL finals.

So how did it go?

Here are my 5 points highlights from yesterday’s match.

1. Trent Boult

In Qualifier 1, Trent Boult breathed fire and took out 2 wickets in one over to derail Delhi Capitals but he got a groin strain thereafter and couldn’t take the field. There were doubts if he could take the field in the finals but as it turned out he was fit enough. Yesterday he bowled an absolute peach of a delivery first up. Marcus Stoinis couldn’t get out of the way and nicked to Quinton De Kock. What a start for Mumbai Indians – wicket of the first ball. In the second over he came back with the same zeal and this time he picked up the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. Delhi Capitals were put on the back foot right at the start of the match. Trent Boult is the only bowler who took a wicket in the powerplays in each and every match in this year’s IPL. He finished with 3 for 30 and he was the primary reason why Delhi Capitals couldn’t put up an imposing total because their powerplay overs were completely messed up.

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is touted as one of the most talented players in India. His hand-eye coordination is superb and he can play strokes that others might only think in their dreams. But one of the biggest problems with Pant is that he ends up throwing away his wicket by trying to play audacious strokes at the most inopportune moments. This was the primary reason why he had a very low scoring IPL this year. When he walked in yesterday, Delhi Capitals was in dire straits. The scoreboard read 22/3 in the 4th over. It was important for him to build a good partnership with Shreyas Iyer to take Delhi Capitals to a respectable total. For the first time in the tournament, Rishabh Pant played true to his talent. He didn’t try any audacious strokes and played balls to its merit. In between, he played some great shots too. Together with Shreyas Iyer he built a partnership of 96 runs in 69 balls and took Delhi Capitals out of danger. Till he was there, Delhi Capitals looked on course to reach 180 but he got out to up the run rate and Delhi fell few runs short which had a telling effect in the end.

3. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer is another player in the Delhi Capitals set up who didn’t have a very big tournament as expected other than one or two matches where he played out of the skin. Yesterday he walked in at 16 for 2. Up against him was Trent Boult. He could have been out twice in 3 balls against the short pitch stuff but he somehow survived. Thereafter he put his head down and concentrated on building a long innings. He was ably supported by Rishabh Pant. Pant’s aggression helped Iyer to play his natural game without taking undue risk. Unfortunately, he was unable to continue the momentum after Rishabh Pant got out. He carried his bat through and finished with 65 off 50 balls but the score of 156 runs that Delhi Capitals put up was not good enough.

4. Rohit Sharma

This was Rohit Sharma’s 6th IPL final. In his previous 5 IPL finals, his team always won. This year Rohit Sharma has not been in that scintillating form that people are used to. Add to that he got injured and sat out for quite a few matches. But it was the IPL final and I knew he will make this innings count. From the very first ball, he was in his elements. His 6 against Ashwin in the first over made his intentions clear and he continued in the same zest throughout the innings. 68 off 51 balls ensured a relatively easy victory for Mumbai Indians. He was unable to stay till the end which must have disappointed him but another IPL final and another win and he became the first man to win 6 IPL trophies for his team – 1 with Deccan Chargers and 5 with Mumbai Indians. In my books, he is India’s best white-ball batsman as of now.

5. Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan didn’t start in the playing XI for Mumbai Indians this season. But then Saurabh Tiwary got injured and he was drafted in. In the very first match, he scored 99 and from there on he became a permanent face in the Mumbai XI. Match after match he came up with consistently good scores. When Rohit Sharma got injured, he filled the vacancy by coming in as the opener and when Rohit came back he went back to the number 4 slot. Yesterday, Mumbai Indians were off to a great start. They were never under any run rate pressure. When Surya Kumar Yadav got run out, Ishan Kishan walked in with the scoreboard reading 90/2 in the 11th over. Rohit Sharma was going great guns and there was not much pressure on Ishan Kishan. But to his credit, he played freely too. And when Rohit Sharma got out he took the onus to take Mumbai to victory. Though a few wickets fell in the end, with Kishan there Mumbai cruised to victory with Ishan Kishan remaining not out at 33 off 19 balls. He has done his reputation no harm and I won’t be surprised if he gets the senior team call up soon.

So Mumbai Indians won their 5th IPL trophy. Delhi Capitals played well but they were just not good enough against the well-oiled machine of Mumbai Indians. 

This was a tournament that was played under very difficult circumstances. Covid-19 is still creating havoc across the globe but credit has to be given to BCCI and all the organisers who helped in making this tournament a reality. We have had some fantastic matches – some very close encounters – a lot of last ball finishes and a lot of super overs. Credit needs to be given to all the players too because it’s not so easy to play under such a controlled environment but they did it and most importantly they entertained. Millions of people across the globe enjoyed and had a smile on their faces. And to make others smile in such difficult circumstances is an effort weighed in gold.

Trent Boult won the man of the match and Jofra Archer was the man of the tournament. Both of them made this tournament lovely to watch. Devdutt Padikkal rightfully won the Emerging player of the year. All in all, it was a great tournament and it was equally fun to write about it over the last 2 months.

Till we meet again, Take care and God Bless!

One of the best innovations of IPL has been the playoffs. This innovation has ensured that the top 2 sides after the league stage get 2 shots to reach the finals. Delhi Capitals lost to Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier and hence they got another chance to reach their maiden final when they met Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Sunrisers Hyderabad has been on a roll for the last couple of weeks by winning 4 matches on the trot. From the time they got Jason Holder and Wridhiman Saha in the playing XI, their fortunes have changed for the better. In the last match against RCB, Saha was out injured and that left a hole on the top of the order. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it to the playing XI yesterday too due to his hamstring injury. So how did it go yesterday?

Here are my 5 points highlights from the match.

1. Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan came back roaring to form in the middle of the tournament and scored two back to back centuries. But he didn’t look in good touch in the last couple of matches. He was bowled off an unplayable yorker by Bumrah in the last match. Delhi Capitals made a smart change by asking Marcus Stoinis to open the batting. With Stoinis teeing off from the word go, it became a tad easier for Dhawan. The trademark cut shot over point and the extra cover was on full display yesterday. The pick-up shots on the leg side were also played with aplomb. He was the highest scorer for Delhi yesterday by scoring 78 off 50 balls and was instrumental in giving a solid start to Delhi Capitals.

2. Shimron Hetmeyer

Prithvi Shaw has been a big let down this season. He got ample opportunities but his casual approach has not been very good to watch. Delhi Capitals took a good decision yesterday to drop him and bring in Shimron Hetmeyer. Hetmeyer is regarded as one of the most talented batsmen from the Caribbean these days but he also suffers from inconsistency. Yesterday, Delhi Capitals got a great start and hence Hetmeyer’s job was more of a finisher. He loves that role and he showed the same. 42 off 22 balls was a great performance from him to take his team to 189. His offside lofted shots were played with razor-like precision. He would be a bit disappointed that he couldn’t take Delhi Capitals to 200 runs but credit has to be given to both Sandeep Sharma and Natarajan who bowled 2 very good overs at the end.

3. Kane Williamson

A couple of days back when Kane Williamson guided Sunrisers to victory against RCB, Warner said that Kane is like a banker. How true he was. Here is a batsman who doesn’t allow pressure to build up and plays his natural game at any point in time. I had written this earlier too that if there is one batsman in the world after MS Dhoni who could be called a cool chaser then it was Kane Williamson. Once again yesterday, Sunrisers Hyderabad was under pressure. Sunrisers Hyderabad was not off to a good start and he lost partners around him. With Abdul Samad, he built a good partnership, and though Delhi Capitals were always ahead in the game due to the wickets that they took upfront – till Williamson was there Sunrisers could have won it. Williamson scored 67 off 45 balls and was very aggressive yesterday because he didn’t let the asking rate to climb at all. His wicket in the 17th over, turned the match decisively towards Delhi Capitals.

4. Marcus Stoinis

Delhi Capitals made a great decision to open their batting with Marcus Stoinis yesterday. He is a naturally aggressive batsman and he was in his usual self right from the word go. This rubbed on to Shikhar Dhawan as well and together they built a great opening partnership. 86 runs off 50 balls was a partnership that Delhi Capitals dreamt off when they got Stoinis to open and he delivered. 38 off 27 balls was a job well done but he was definitely not done for the day. He was back with the ball. With Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey going great guns, in came Marcus Stoinis. The scoreboard read 41/1 in 4 overs when he came into bowl. After his first over was over the scoreboard read 44/3. In the space of 6 balls, he took both the wickets of Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg and the Sunrisers’ chase was in disarray. He later again came back to give the biggest blow of the night when he picked up the wicket of Kane Williamson. 3/26 along with 38 runs that he scored while batting got him the Man of the Match yesterday.

5. Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada is one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket today. He didn’t have a great match the last time around and he was in a different mood yesterday. In his very first ball he bowled David Warner and Delhi Capitals was rocking. With 189 to defend, Delhi knew that the one batsman who could dent their chances big time was David Warner so to get him out early was very important for the team and Rabada did just that. He then came back in the 19th over and killed the chase by picking up 3 wickets. Rabada has this habit of picking up wickets consistently and yesterday he finished with 4/29 and guided Delhi capitals to their maiden IPL final.

Sunrisers lost by 17 runs and when they analyse the match they will realise that it was a match they could have won but their fielding let them down. Lots of butterfingers allowed balls to slip between the legs which cost them useful runs. And on top of that, they missed 4 catches out of which 3 were absolute sitters. Anyway, it was a good campaign for Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the last few matches, they played great cricket and entertained one and all.

For Delhi Capitals it was a great moment because they reached the IPL finals for the first time. They were the only team in IPL which had never reached the finals so this is a great achievement. When IPL started this year they had the best team on paper and to see that everything coming together must be a proud moment for their fans. Let’s hope for a grand finale on Tuesday when Delhi Capitals take on the defending champions, Mumbai Indians.

Momentum is very important. Sunrisers Hyderabad was down in the 7th position going into the final week of the IPL. They had 3 must-win games in their hand and those three matches were against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Mumbai Indians. They needed to win all 3 to get to the playoffs and they won them and were on a positive momentum getting into the eliminator. Royal Challengers Bangalore on the other hand lost 4 matches in a row and got through to the playoffs only because of a superior run rate. As Sunrisers Hyderabad took on RCB in their eliminator match yesterday, it was quite clear that they had the upper hand. So how did it go in Abu Dhabi yesterday?

Here are my 5 points highlights from the match.

1. AB DeVilliers

The 360 degree player of our generation with no major trophy against his name must be one of the tragic stories in World Cricket. For years he has performed very well for RCB but somehow the team has not performed and they have always gone back disappointed. Yesterday, 2 wickets were down very quickly and AB DeVilliers had a big job in his hands when he walked in at 15/2. The pitch for yesterday’s game seemed to be slow and some balls were gripping. It was not an ideal wicket for a player like ABDV but then he carried on and didn’t play any risky shots. Wickets kept falling around him but he kept his nerve and was probably looking at a strong finish in the last two overs. Natarajan probably bowled the ball of the tournament and got him out and that final push never came. But still, a score of 56 runs when the team scored only 131 – this was an effort worth mentioning.

2. Jason Holder

From the time Jason Holder was drafted in the playing XI, he has been a revelation. He has performed both with the bat as well as the ball. Yesterday he opened the bowling and immediately made an impact by taking the wicket of Virat Kohli. It was a huge blow for RCB and Holder dug it in when he picked up the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal who has been a revelation this season. He finished with 3/25 in his 4 overs and with the bat he finished things off with Kane Williamson with some lusty blows in the final over. He is the number one all-rounder in test match cricket and he just showed why yesterday.

3. T. Natarajan

The bowler with maximum yorkers in this year’s IPL is Natarajan. What a find this has been for India. These are the kind of bowlers India needs at the death. He bowls with pinpoint accuracy when it comes to yorkers. He showed his skills once again yesterday. AB DeVilliers was in the crease and his wicket could have easily made a difference of 30-35 runs at the end but a toe crushing yorker ended AB’s stay in the crease and thereby ensured that SRH need not chase a very big total.

4. Zampa & Chahal

Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t have a big score to chase but it was a knockout match and strange things happen under pressure. The pitch was slow and it was gripping. Two of the best players of spin was in the middle – Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson and it was important to get both those wickets to slow down the run rate. Zampa did just that by picking up the wicket of Manish Pandey. Chahal, on the other hand, took the wicket of Priyam Garg and together both these spinners didn’t allow the batsmen to break free. Zampa finished with 1/12 in 4 overs and Chahal finished with 1/24 in his 4 overs. That the match went so deep in the final over was only because of this great bowling performance by the 2 leg spinners of RCB.

5. Kane Williamson

If there is one cool batsman under pressure after MS Dhoni, it’s Kane Williamson. Till the time he is in the crease, you can very well breathe easy because he will find a way to take you over the line. The pitch was difficult and the RCB bowlers were bowling well especially the spinners. Siraj had taken 2 wickets and was bowling well too. But, Williamson kept a cool head and knew what he was doing. He just kept his end up and didn’t lose his wicket and in the last 3 overs started to take calculated risks and didn’t allow the asking run rate to go too steep. Along with Jason Holder, he built a match-winning partnership and took his team to victory. Though he was given the Man of the Match award, I think Jason Holder should have got it.

So the Sunrisers move to the 2nd Qualifier. They are the only team ever in IPL history who has won IPL after coming in last to the Playoffs and they are on the right path to repeat the same.

So will it be Sunrisers Hyderabad who will meet Mumbai Indians in the final?

What do you think?

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