THE BEST OF KING KOHLI

 

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Venue- Bellerive Oval, Hobart [28th February 2012].

In Hobart on February 28, 2012, Virat Kohli produced an innings during a One Day International that cemented his status as a future great. India's tour to Australia has not gone as planned. They were crushed in all four Test matches, losing the first by 122 runs, the second by an innings and 68 runs, the third by an innings and 37 runs, and the fourth by 298 runs. They had lost the Test series 0-4. They shared the T20Is. As a result India were in dire need of a boost as the Commonwealth Bank tri-series got underway. 

They were confident in their abilities after a few early victories, but it appeared as though they might have ran out of steam again after suffering three straight losses in the middle of the competition. India then needed to prevail in the series' eleventh match in Hobart. but required a significant victory. To stay in the tournament, they had to chase down whatever the score was within 40 overs.

After walking out to bat, Sri Lanka amassed a massive 320/4 in their 50 overs. On an excellent batting surface, the Sri Lankan batsmen made merry, with Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring a stunning 160 and Kumar Sangakkara chipping in with 105 off 87 balls. In an ODI, pressure from the scoreboard arises the moment a team surpasses 300, particularly a decade ago. However, the Indian team was adamant about winning.

As a result of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar's 54-run opening partnership in just 6.4 overs, India responded with great pace. But neither of the Indian openers could turn their starts into significant knocks. Virat Kohli entered the field and partnered with Gautam Gambhir in the middle after Tendulkar was out in the ninth over. Tendulkar and Sehwag had a solid start, but the equation seemed hard. Both Gambhir and Kohli had to keep up the pace and score at a high rate of attack against a Sri Lankan side that had players like Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Farveez Mahroof, and Rangana Herath.

Virat Kohli, nevertheless, delivered an incredible ODI batting masterclass in the aftermath. The earliest indications of Kohli's extraordinary ability to chase totals under duress appeared in Hobart. Kohli appeared to be a busy and proactive middle player right away. Lasith Malinga threw a yorker at him in the opening over he faced, but Virat Kohli was up to the challenge, slapping it over the mid-wicket boundary. By hitting those singles and turning one-run into a two, Kohli kept the scorers occupied. While Kohli and Gambhir forged a partnership of more than 100 runs for the third wicket, India was kept in the hunt by sporadic boundaries.

However, just when it appeared that the veteran batsman would change tactics, Gambhir was run out on 63. When Gambhir returned to the pavilion, India still needed 121 off 76 balls. After Suresh Raina entered at No. 5, Kohli shifted gears. The crowd at Hobart then witnessed devastation as he punished Kulasekara and Malinga.

It was, of course, not careless hitting or slogging, but rather accurate cricket shots that the opposing side was unable to contain. Lasith Malinga was also struck in all directions. The man who many even at the time thought would succeed Sachin was making the greatest death bowler in the world look like a net bowler. Few people can ever forget the 35th over of the game, in which Malinga gave up 24 runs to Kohli. At the height of his abilities, Sri Lankan batsman Malinga continued to fire yorkers, which Kohli consistently dismissed for boundaries. Read the 35th over's figures: 2, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4. 

Watching it in shock were Malinga and the Sri Lankan field players.  In just 36.4 overs, India chased the total following one of Kohli's most memorable big-hitting performances. 

To watch that knock of Virat Kohli, Click Here. 

THE BEST OF JUMBO

 

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Venue- Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi [February, 1999].

On February 7, 1999, Anil Kumble took the cricketing world by storm when he emerged as the second bowler, after England's Jim Laker (1956), to take ten wickets in a single Test Inning—and that too against Pakistan in a match that mattered significantly. In the second Test in Delhi, the Karnataka spinner posted figures of 4/75 and 10/74 as India won the match by 212 runs and levelled the series 1-1. In the second innings of the second Test, Kumble completely blew the Pakistani Batting lineup, making history that will never be erased from the cricketing books. At Manchester's Old Trafford, Laker became the first player to accomplish the feat, recording figures of 10/53 against Australia. After 33 years Kumble became the second one. 

It is pertinent to note that India lost the first Test of the two-match series in Chennai by a mere 12-run margin. At the time, the Indian cricket team was in a must-win scenario and was under intense scrutiny. In Delhi, Mohammad Azharuddin, the captain of India, won the toss and chose to bat first. However Wasim Akram with his incredible bowling reduced the hosts for mere 252 runs in their first innings.  Unfortunately, Pakistan too were unable to mount a strong defense because Kumble (4/75) and Harbhajan Singh (3/30) ruined the celebration for them. Shahid Afridi (32) was the leading run scorer for the Pakistanis as the visitors managed to score mere 172 runs in their first innings.

Thanks to solid scores of 96 from Sadagoppan Ramesh and 62* from Sourav Ganguly, India ended up scoring 339 runs in their second innings after gaining an impressive lead from the first innings, Although Saqlain Mushtaq claimed a fifer, the opposition was looking at a huge target of 420 runs.

Pakistan's openers got off to a good start, scoring 110 runs together between Saeed Anwar and Afridi before Kumble removed Afridi to end the standoff. At that point, the Indian spinner in Delhi took matters into his own hands and worked magic. Ijaz Ahmed was bowled out in the very next delivery as Kumble clean bowled the dangerous Inzamam-ul-Haq for six in the 28th over. The carnage in Kotla continued as Kumble dismissed Mohammad Yousuf, Moin Khan and Saeed Anwar in quick succession as the visitors were reduced to 128/6. Skipper Akram persisted, but Kumble kept on chipping wickets on the other end.  Eventually the Pakistanis were bowled out for 207 runs as Kumble ended the innings with a figure of 10/74. 

(Postscript- On December 4, 2021, in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, a seemingly impossible feat was repeated when Ajaz Patel of New Zealand joined the ranks. The spinner became the third bowler in history to take ten wickets in an innings against India.)

To watch the spell of Anil Kumble, Click Here.  

THE BEST OF MULTAN'S SULTAN

 

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Venue- Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore [January 2006].

In the winters of 2006, Indian Cricket Team toured Pakistan to play 3 Tests and 5 ODIs. The first test of the series was scheduled in Lahore - A Venue where both the Teams had brilliant track record. Pakistani Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq won the toss and decided to bat first. On a flat wicket, Younis Khan (199), Mohammad Yousuf (173), Shahid Afridi (103), and Kamran Akmal (102) registered hundreds as the Pakistanis reached a massive score of 679 for the loss of 7 wickets.

Indians were feeling the heat. They needed to respond appropriately to Pakistan. However, nobody anticipated what transpired at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. In that Test, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid batted for four days in a row, beginning on Day 2 and ending on Day 5, wherein they put up a record 410 opening-wicket stand. 

Only three runs short of the 413-run record set by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand in Chennai in 1956, it was the second-highest opening-wicket partnership in the history of India's Test cricket. In Test history, it is still India's second-highest partnership for any wicket.

The Nawab of Najafgarh amassed his third century-plus score in an innings against Pakistan - he had clearly developed a fondness for their formidable attack. Following his triumphs in Multan in 2004 (309) and Bengaluru in 2005 (201), Sehwag scored more than 200 runs against Pakistan, his third century-plus score in as many years, this time on foreign territory! His 254 included 47 fours and one six off just 247 deliveries. It is interesting to note that Sehwag batted for around 328 minutes before being dismissed for 254.

On that particular day in Lahore, Sehwag was at his most lethal best taking on opponents like Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami, and Shoaib Akhtar with ease. In just 77.2 overs, India finished the first innings at 410 for 1. Despite the match ending in a draw India had made a significant statement.

To watch the innings of Virender Sehwag, Click Here. 

THE BLOODBATH

 

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Venue- Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica [April 1976].

In the summer of 1976, Indian Cricket Team toured West Indies to play 4 Test Matches. This Test Series turned out to be highly controversial and eventful. The West Indies had toured Australia earlier in the 1975–1976 season and played a six-test series that was promoted as an unofficial World Championship between the two powerhouse of the game. The West Indian team as a whole struggled with discord and lack of discipline, and they lost 5-1 despite several players displaying flashes of their extraordinary talent. The tour was a "collective debacle and a personal nightmare," according to Gordon Greenidge, and there was a lot of disagreement and dissent in the dressing room and at meetings, according to Michael Holding. 

Even though the West Indies had lost confidence going into the series against India, they were helped by some mishandled scheduling, as their opponents had only two days to rest and get ready before their opening match after a 62-hour flight from New Zealand, where they had just finished a series. India consequently lost the First Test at Bridgetown and the Hosts got a much needed boost. 

However the Second Test, played on a flat wicket where the Indian batsmen felt more at home, ended in a high-scoring draw at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. Due to severe flooding, the Third Test, which was originally supposed to take place in Georgetown, Guyana, was moved to Trinidad. The West Indies were in a strong position thanks to centuries from Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran, and India was given a huge target of 406 to win the game. However defying all odds, India achieved this target with the help of centuries from Gundappa Viswanath and Sunil Gavaskar and thus broke the record for the highest successful fourth-inning run chase in a test match, surpassing Australia's 1948 404/3 at Headingley against England.

This was the last humiliation that Clive Lloyd was willing to allow his team to endure. Following the game, he addressed his spinners, saying, "Gentlemen, I gave you 400 runs to bowl at and you failed to bowl out the opposition." In the future, how many runs must I give you to ensure that you get the wickets? " Lloyd actually made the decision to forgo using slow bowlers. He contended that the spinners he had available were not of the necessary caliber, and that he was only obliged to use them because of custom and the requirement that a cricket team always have at least one slow bowler. He believed that the West Indian fast bowling crop of youth held the key to their strength. 

The West Indies chose a four-pronged pace attack consisting of Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel, Bernard Julien, and Vanburn Holder heading into the decisive test in Kingston. Even though the Sabina Park pitch was new and had an erratic bounce, the Indian batsmen played solid defense and ended the first day of play with a score of 178-1. The West Indian bowlers were encouraged by the grass that had grown over night, and they attacked the Indian batsmen near the wicket, concentrating on the opponents' bodies. Following Mohinder Amarnath's dismissal due to a short-pitched delivery, Viswanath was caught by a delivery that broke his finger, and Brijesh Patel was forced to retire hurt after being struck in the face. 

Then, as the assault of bouncers persisted, Anshuman Gaekwad, a tall, bespectacled batsman who had bravely batted to reach 81 not out, started to show signs of backing away to leg. He was struck on the glove and the body before a bouncer finally knocked him out by hitting him in the left ear. They had to take him to the hospital. The West Indian tactics infuriated senior players like Sunil Gavaskar and Indian captain Bishen Bedi. They believed that, in part due to pressure from the crowd, the umpires could have intervened but had chosen not to. The fact that the local audience had cheered when Holding bowled to Gaekwad and chanted "kill him" when the Indian batsman was knocked out particularly infuriated Gavaskar.  

Partly in protest, but also because he was ill-prepared to let himself and his bowling partner Chandrasekhar face the mighty West Indian quicks, Bedi declared the innings at 306/6. In the response the West Indies scored 391 in their first innings. However when India batted again in the second innings they got off to a good start but lost Amarnath, Madan Lal, and Venkataraghavan in quick succession as they were reduced to 97/5 in no time. Quite to everyone's surprise, Captain Bedi declared that the Indian innings.  He contended that five Indian batsmen should be listed as absent hurt because he and Chandrasekhar had both sustained fielding injuries. Furthermore he was also without the three batsmen who had been hit in the first innings. After taking just 11 wickets in the Test, all that remained for the West Indies was to score 13 runs to claim the victory. The Hosts chased it down in 11 deliveries and thus won the series 2-1. 

As the Indian team boarded their plane home, Wisden claimed they looked like Napoleon's troops retreating from Moscow. The Indian Cricket Board officially complained about the West Indian tactics used in the final Test, but their complaints were not answered. However a  few years later Michael Holding did confess and I quote-  "On that surface it was inevitable that some batsmen would be hit against such a pace-based attack as ours, especially as we adopted the tactic of bowling round the wicket, aiming the ball at their bodies. I was not too keen on this method since it gives the batsman little chance of avoiding a bouncer, but it was 1–1 in the series and we were under extreme public pressure to win."

Following this triumph, Clive Lloyd devised a plan that included four fast bowlers in attack. It was to prove successful in the subsequent series, a three-nil triumph over England, and lay the groundwork for the next two decades of West Indian dominance in Test Cricket.

To know more about that Infamous Test Series, Click Here.  

THE RESURRECTION OF DAVID WARNER

 

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Venue- Adelaide Oval, Adelaide [Nov-Dec 2019].

The Australian summer of 2019 saw the Pakistani Cricket Team visit Australia to play two Test matches and three Twenty20 matches. In addition to leading the two-match test series 1-0 at the conclusion of the first test, the hosts had won the Twenty20 series 2-0. Because of this, everyone's attention was focused on Adelaide, which was due to host the final game of the tour. All cricket fans wondered if Pakistan could win any of the games during the tour.

Australian captain Tim Paine won the toss and chose to bat first on a flat wicket. And Boy! What a decision that proved to be. David Warner scored an incredible 335 runs, carrying over his stellar performance from the first test. It's interesting to note that David Warner scored 39 boundaries and one six in about nine hours of batting. He simply demolished Pakistan's bowling attack.  In addition to Warner, Marnus Labuschagne contributed a strong 162 to Australia's first-inning total of 589.  On that flat deck at Adelaide the Australian batsmen continued to pile runs while the Pakistani bowlers appeared helpless.

Though it looked as though David Warner might even surpass Brian Lara's 400 record, Tim Paine called the innings at 589/3 with David Warner still unbeaten at 335. Despite not being able to surpass Lara's record, Warner did surpass Don Bradman's 334 which is something he could be very proud of. Apart from that Warner's 335* is the highest score ever scored in a day-night test. 

It is pertinent to note that David Warner was having trouble scoring runs in the Ashes not too long ago because Stuart Broad unsettled him regularly and dismissed him cheaply. However the entire atmosphere surrounding the southpaw changed in just two months time. The pitch was a bit flatter, but the outfield was just as green as it is in England. However the bowlers, who hailed from a nation known for producing quickies, failed to pose a threat to him this time. 

In just 2 innings, David Warner scored 489 runs as the Aussies whitewashed Pakistanis 2-0. The horror of the past were dug deep as David Warner resurrected himself in the summer of Australia. 

To watch the innings of David Warner, Click Here. 

THE ULTIMATE TEST

 

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Venue- Headingley Cricket Ground, Leeds [August 2019].

On August 25, 2019, Ben Stokes transformed into an English knight in shining armor. In the third Ashes Test at Headingley, he surprised the cricketing world by playing one of the greatest Test innings ever witnessed, helping England to an incredible triumph against Australia. In a thrilling one-wicket triumph over Australia on the fourth day of play, Stokes scored an unbeaten 135 runs with England chasing an enormous target of 359.  It is pertinent to note that this is the second highest successful run-chase of the English Cricket Team (At the time it was played it was the highest)* However English managed to chase down this massive target, thanks to the Ben Stokes' amazing innings of 135 not off 219 deliveries. It is noteworthy that with one wicket remaining, England were 286-9 at one point, 73 runs short of their target. The Aussies needed just one more wicket to win the win the match and retain the Ashes. 

As a result, Stokes changed gears at this point and, with Jack Leach, the last man, chipped away at the rising target methodically. Stokes showed off his flexibility by combining strong defense with prolific hitting. In the final 42 balls he faced, he scored 75 runs, displaying remarkable mental clarity and a disconcerting sense of composure under extreme pressure. It is pertinent to note that Stokes's  Headingley exploits goes beyond his on-field batting exploits. Earlier in the match, Stokes marked a constant presence on the field by his bowling and fielding; taking wickets at crucial juncture. Ben Stokes proved once and for all that he is one of the best all-rounders of the contemporary era with a Test match performance to remember.

This remarkable triumph revitalized the Ashes series and validated the excitement and attraction that cricket fans feel for this centuries-old rivalry. The unforgettable performance by Stokes at Headingley will live on forever in the annals of cricketing history. Such bravery and intelligence highlights the erratic beauty of Test Cricket. They also restate that heroes—like Ben Stokes—rise to the occasion and become legendary in their own right when faced with hardship. 

To watch the Final Day Highlights of the Headingley Test, Click Here. 

*(The record was ultimately broken in July 2022 when English chased down a massive 378 against India in Birmingham).