Cricket! Cricket! Cricket!

Friday's 20-20 cricket match between India and Pakistan was one of the most amazing matches that I had ever seen. It exemplified the definition of cricket. It vacillated between India and Pakistan and finally ended in a tie. This was the first time I ever witnessed a tie in an India match. If I remember correctly, India had tied against Zimbabwe in South Africa in 1996 before this. But I had somehow missed that match. Then of course, the famous tie in the world cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa in 1999. And an even more famous tie in the 2003 world cup in South Africa, where South Africa and Duckworth Lewis were involved. I just remember these two! I don't even remember who the other team was! I keep feeling it was Kenya, though!

Cricket is most enjoyed when it is a very balanced competition between batsmen and bowlers, or when it is a complete non contest between batsmen and bowlers. The best matches are those in which either the side batting first gets 320 or more and the other side gets it or when the first side gets 180 and the he other side doesn't get it. I somehow enjoy the second type more.

Well, seeing the tied match on Friday, I just wanted to make a list ala Shane Warne of the best in cricket that I remember. Best balls, best shots, best matches and such like. (There are two important differences between Shane Warne and me. The first is he took 700 wickets, so he can publish his thoughts in papers across the world, while I cant. The second is he cant publish in my blog, while I can!)

Lets start with the best test innings I have seen. It would have to be the Sachin's century in the second test match in South Africa in 96. I have never since seen an inning of such domination, such sheer presence! Laxman's 281 does come close, but the second best innings has to be Dravids double in Melbourne in 2004. And the above three also are one part of the best partnerships that I have seen. With Tendulkar in South Africa, there was Azhar, who got a century in 90 something balls! Then come the two Laxman-Dravid partnerships, one at Kolkata and one at Melbourne. Another partnership that does come for mention here is the Dravid-Tendulkar partnership in Headingly, in 2002.

Till now the reader must have come to realise that I am a rabid supporter of the Indian cricket team and very rarely will any other player or team feature in my lists. Be it a Lara double against Australia, or Hayden's antics against India in 2001. None will come close to any Indian players'.

The three best one day innings are obviously 2 Tendulkar tons against Australia in 1998 in Sharjah and one Tendulkar 90 against Pakistan in 2003. As the reader must also realize, I am a very hard core Tendulkar supporter! The best partnership, however, is the Kaif-Yuvraj one at Lords in The 2002 Natwest series.

As far as bowling is concerned, I somehow dont seem to remember any! There is a Kumble 10-74 at Delhi against, but Kumble has done similar things so often in the final innings, that it just doesn't seem so special. Kumble is the greatest cricketer that India's ever produced, because he has won more matches for us than anyone else I know! However, there is a Srinath 6-21 against South Africa in 1996, in Kanpur, that might require some mention. In a one day series, however, Ganguly's bowling against Pakistan in the second Sahara cup, has to be fabulous. This is the only instance that I know when an Indian bowler finished a batsmen's career! Ganguly was all over Rameez Raja, who never played any international match after that series!

Now lets get to the specifics. The best ball, the best shot and such like!

The best shot. Sachin's cover drive against McGrath in Nairobi, in the first ICC knockout trophy. One more from Sachin. A six off Caddick, an exquisite pull shot in 2002. I guess, any of Saurav's cover drives can come in here. He's hit so many, just pick any one. And how can one not mention Sachin's six off Olonga in Sharjah in 1998, off the cut shot. And the same shot off Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 world cup. If ever, one shot defeated a side, that was one!

The best ball. Well, there are so many to pick. A slower bowl from Agarkar that completely bamboozled Atapattu at Sharjah, in 1998, or Harbhajan Singhs dusra that got the better of Kallis in 2003. But the best one is shared by Shane Warne and Anil Kumble (bug surprise!!). Kumble cleaning up Steve Waugh with a flipper in Kolkata(or was it Calcutta then?) in 1998. Steve had no idea what had happened to him! The Shane Warne's ball to Collingwood in the 2007 Ashes. The ball pitched about 20 feet outside leg stump, spun, missed Collingwood's defensive lunge and hit the stumps. The best balls by fast bowlers involve Wasim Akram and Allan Donald. Wasim's ball to Dravid at Chennai, I guess it was. Dravid has a perfect forward defense and he seemed to have the ball covered. It pitched around middle stump, short of a length and somehow managed to find its way around Dravid'd bat and body and hit the top of off stump. I have seen that ball about 200 times on Youtube and I still dont know how it was managed! Then Donald's incutter to Sachin in 1996 in South Africa. It pitched about 3 feet outside off stump on a length and cut back in, missing Tendulkar's defensive lunge and uprooting the off stump. That also happens to be the fastest ball I have ever seen!

Okay, now the best catch, the best bouncer and the best yorker. The best catch was by Adam Bacher to get rid of Sachin in the innings I talked about earlier, against South Africa in 1996. He caught the Tendulkar pull on the boundary, jumping up at the last moment and hanging on by the tips of his fingers. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic innings. The 2 best bouncers are one bowled by Steve Harmison to Rikcy Ponting in the 2005 Ashes and the one to Tendulkar by Anderson at Lords in 2007. These two are the best batsmen in the world and hitting them on the face with a bouncer is a terrific achievement! The best yorker is not Waqar's to Lara, where Lara fell down to get his toes out of the way, but by Wasim to get rid of Chandarpaul in West Indies. The ball appeared to be a waist high full toss till it suddenly decided to dip, swing in and land around Chandarpaul's toes and make a mess of his stumps!

And can there be any finer match than that at Kolkata against Australia? I think not!!!

P.S. This is not technically a rant, but I was so moved by the 20-20 match that I wanted to write something good about cricket! If I had spent the amount of time I spend watching, reading about, playing or thinking about cricket in trying to find a cure for AIDS, I still wouldn't have managed to find it. At least, I had a good time doing nothing!