Fine wine

Approximately a year ago, I saw Sachin Tendulkar retire hurt at a personal score of 163 at the end of 45 overs in an ODI in New Zealand.  The way he was batting that day a double century was easily in sight, especially with the short boundaries in Christchurch. A few months later he surpassed that with a 175 at Hyderabad that was as emphatic as any of his innings. Crossing 150 is a rare enough feat in ODI's, doing it so many times in a career is phenomenal. Today, SRT finally crossed the rubicon, getting to the 200 run landmark that he richly deserves to be the first to get to, just as Brian Lara thoroughly deserves to be remembered as the first man to a Test 400.

There will be talk about how it was a flat pitch and the runs were there for the taking. Well, this was the 2,962nd ODI played and a batsman finally reached 200. I don't care how flat the pitch was, this was special. What made it even more special was that the team goal was not sacrificed at the altar of a personal record. (He did set the record for most 4's in a single ODI inning).

Money matters

(This post is based on a discussion I had with Dr.CL, who brought these points to my attention. I did not follow the events closely but did some research, as is my wont, to see what the fuss was all about.)

1) From the numbers in this post, it looks like the tournament that I consider unmentionable for extraneous reasons is here to stay. And not just stay, but get even bigger and worse.

A lesson in basic economics might be worthwhile for the organizers. There's a reason people don't eat sweets all the time.

2) Was Gilly mollifying a forgotten and discarded player or was he genuinely praising Laxman?

Gilchrist also had words of praise for VVS Laxman, from whom he took over as captain after the team finished bottom of the league last season. "Although we made changes in the coaches and the captain, everyone in the squad bought into it, including VVS," Gilchrist said. "He went through a lot emotionally. The captaincy was taken away from him and he only played five games, then the selectors decided we didn't need him."

Laxman remained a good team man despite being dropped, Gilchrist said. "He continued to contribute around the group with his experience and his vast knowledge. He wants to learn to be a better Twenty20 player. That's a wonderful example to young players to see a player at his age wanting to evolve into a better player."

Gilchrist said Laxman even worked with the team's coaches to improve his Twenty20 skills. "It's not just the young kids who are learning all the time, it applies to all of us. VVS epitomises what this franchise is all about."

There's a backhanded compliment in there somewhere, I think. But then, in the past, Gilly has been very effusive in his praise for Laxman. (By the way, if you are a true Laxman fan, you will enjoy the article linked above; you will even find out his favorite book...but to know that you will have to read the whole thing!)

Open mouth, insert foot, sell book

Adam Gilchrist and I share many things (those that know me know what they are, those that don't probably need not know) and I have always had the highest regard for him. We all knew that he'd be one of the first to pen an autobiography after retirement, and the Aussie gloveman did not disappoint.

However, he has raked up an old issue that should have been left untouched - the Sydney Test fracas between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds. It is Gilchrist's autobiography and he is welcome to give his side of the picture, but what gets me is that he was not involved in the Sydney fracas having been too far to hear (or not hear, depending upon whom you want to believe) Harbhajan respond to Symond's chatter. So, if he was going to write about the incident it should only have been to cast some fresh light on the episode.

When the reports first came out it appeared that he did have something new to add - that Sachin Tendulkar lied to protect his team-mate. However, in light of the severe criticism he has come under since the story broke, Gilchrist backtracked faster than he ever moved on the cricket field. In the end, if we are to believe him, we are back to square one. In that case, what did he actually accomplish with all this? I would have respected him even more if he had stuck to his guns and professed to saying all the things he said and not hid behind the age-old "quoted out of context" and "misquoted by sensationalist media" excuses. Perhaps the fear that he could lose out on the retirement fund (aka IPL purse) has a big role to play. One of the statements in there was about how the BCCI held the sport to ransom during the aftermath of the Test. Surprisingly, no one in the Board is bringing that aspect up. Surely, it cannot be because he is the captain of the Deccan Chargers and one of the prime selling points of the IPL, is it?

Then why did Gilchrist do this? Where is the upside to this? Ah yes, he will sell a few more copies of his autobiography. I was going to purchase it when I first heard about it, but not any more.

Sorry, Gilly, you lost more than just a reader in the past few days. You lost some of the respect I have for you.

My pages are numbered

As many of you know, I like to read. Books, magazines, newspapers, coupons, posters, billboards, brochures, and (in the absence of anything else to read) notices on walls. Of this lot, books take up the most time and it is only rarely that I can read a whole book in one sitting. In the past few years only books by Rowling and Child have moved me such that I read the book in one sitting. Over the years, I have been gifted numerous bookmarks by friends and relatives. But I rarely use these bookmarks for I have my own, possibly unique, way of remembering what page I stopped at the last time I put down the book.

It is simple really, and it merges my book-reading with my first love - cricket. The page numbers remind me of some score made in the past by some batsman or team. All I have to do is remember which player (or team) and the events associated with it. Sometime, I find it hard to remember a number so I associate that number with the nearest one to it of significance, in the process finding another number that fits the difference between the two.

Some memorable numbers for me are:
22 - the number of centuries by Azharuddin in Tests.
38 - K. Srikanth's score, the highest by a batsman, in the '83 Prudential Cup final.
45 - the score that Sehwag seems to lose his concentration at most frequently in ODI's (any number in the 40's would do, really!).
51 - VVS Laxman's score on Test debut versus South Africa.
58 - the number of 50's by Azhar in ODI's, a record when he "retired".
83 - for 1983 and Kapil's Devils.
87 - the number most feared by the Aussies (13 short of a 100).
93 - score made by Azhar in his first ODI outside India (in Australia).
99 - 101 short of a double century (a nod to AV).
100 - naturally!
114 - GR Viswanath's match-winning score in the Melbourne Test of 1981.
123 - K Srikkanth's highest score in Tests and ODIs.
130 - Sehwag's highest score in an underachieving ODI career, so far.
135 - Number of Graeme Hick's first-class centuries. This changes with time!137 - GR Viswanath's score on Test debut (with 25 fours!).
140 - Laxman's score against Zimbabwe, the aftermath of which changed Indian cricket.
148 - Laxman's score in THAT Adelaide Test match.
158 - Kevin Pietersen's favourite score, it seems.
163 - Kapil Dev's highest Test score.
175 - what else, Kapil Dev, Tunbridge Wells - 1983.
178 - Laxman (and Tendulkar) ruin Steve Waugh's memories of his final Test match.
183 - Highest score ever made in the second innings of an ODI (and, of course, 1983).
186 - Sachin Tendulkar's highest ODI score.
194 - Dravid's declaration with Tendulkar at this score causes a furore.
195 - Sehwag's Melbourne massacre.
201 - Jason Gillespie's highest score in his LAST Test - the best by a nightwatchman.
204 - Adam Gilchrist's highest Test score - the fastest 200 at that time.
222 - GR Viswanath's highest score in Tests.
227 - Vinod Kambli's highest score. So much promise...
233 - Rahul Dravid's magnum opus in Adelaide.
236 - Sunil Gavaskar's highest score - now surpassed by 5 Indian batsmen.
239 - Sourav Ganguly's highest score and first double hundred.
241 - Tendulkar's lesson in self-denial at Sydney (scroll down the page to the run-scoring chart) .
242 - Ricky Ponting's effort at Adelaide (the highest score in a losing cause).
248 - Tendulkar's highest score in Tests (and shockingly, in first-class cricket, too).
254 - Sehwag's third-highest score.
267 - Aravinda de Silva's highest score (overshadowed by 299).
270 - Rahul Dravid's highest score.
274 - Zaheer Abbas - the highest score outside the Indian subcontinent by an Asian player.
281 - really...do you even have to ask?
299 - Martin Crowe chokes (as AV would say, he has to score 299 runs all over again just to get to 300).
309 - Virender Sehwag breaks a barrier - for the first time.
310 - John Edrich's highest score - most boundaries (52 fours, 5 sixes) in a Test innings.
317 - Chris Gayle shows that he is not always a mindless biffer of the cricket ball.
319 - Virender Sehwag is at it again!
333 - Graham Gooch thrashes India at Lords.
334 - Mark Taylor and Don Bradman are inexorably linked forever.
340 - Sanath Jayasuriya lays down a marker.
353 - the higher of VVS Laxman's two first-class triple centuries.
365 - Sir Garfield Sobers's first century was his biggest one.
375 - Brian Lara, part I.
380 - Matty Hayden rightly surmises that people will not remember who the opposition was.
400 - Brian Lara - the sequel.
405 - Graeme Hick, my hero, announces himself to the world with a 6 to get to 405 (check out the next highest score in the entire match).
443 - BB Nimbalkar's tryst with glory was cut short by petulant opponents.
452 - the highest score in the storied career of the Don.
499 - Hanif Mohammad falls short, and then achieves, cricketing immortality.
501 - Brain Lara completes his trilogy.

Trivial pursuit

From the "Ask Steven" column in CricInfo, comes this nugget...

Is "c Marsh b Lillee" still the most frequent scorecard entry in Tests? asked Mitchell Brooks from Brisbane

That particular dismissal occurred 95 times in Test matches, which remains the record for a bowler-fielder combination. Next come "c Gilchrist b McGrath" [90] and "c Gilchrist b Lee" [81], just ahead of the first non-Australian pairing, "c Boucher b Pollock" [79]. The leading double act that doesn't involve a wicketkeeper is "c Mahela Jayawardene b Muralitharan", of which there have been 66 instances in Tests to date. For a full list, click here. The most-common Test dismissal is actually "bowled Muralitharan" (158), closely followed by "lbw b Kumble" (152).

Get connected

The World Cup is over (or rather the ICC World Cup West Indies 2007 - to give its offically-sanctioned name).

My thoughts on the farcical nature of the tournament may be material for a later blog post, but for now here are a few must-read links:

I watched this innings (except from 95 to 119 when I stepped out for just a few minutes to pick up lunch). I enjoyed every ball. The pitch was not a great one to bat on. One look at how the rest of the batsmen scored will tell something about its true nature. Adam Gilchrist relies more on hand-eye coordination than technique, so as SC pointed out to me yesterday, the type of pitch does not matter to him, how the bowler bowls does. Chaminda Vaas was taken to the cleaners early on and the tone was set for the blitzkrieg.

Glenn McGrath exited the stage with the lights shining very brightly on him. In the future when people talk about people who timed their retirements perfectly, Glenn McGrath has to be on top. Not near the top but on top of the list. How do you top winning the Ashes 5-0 with the last wicket and then signing off a 3rd ODI World Cup on the trot with the Player of the Tournament honours and a wicket with the second-last ball of your career? Year in and year out, for more than a decade, he has been one of the pillars of his team. A couple of years ago, I wrote about him on my blog. He has only enhanced my impression of him in the interim.

Take a bow, McGrath, and thanks for the memories.

Happy birthday, and happy hunting!

When India toured Australia in 2003, to play that historic cricket series, (Steve Waugh's final stand), on the team was a bowler who was expected to be a passenger, a drinks boy, a gap filler, for the tour matches. He was drafted into the Test side for the Adelaide Test and has not looked back since.

Irfan Pathan's first four Test wickets were a veritable who's who of current Aussie greats - Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. Of late he has also shown that he can be more than just a menacing swing bowler. Today he turns 21.

I hope and pray that his career stays on this upward spiral for a long time to come. Batsmen of the world beware, Irfan has come of age!