How Don Bradman’s magnificent batting brought solace to the people during the Great Depression

Don Bradman’s superb batting diverted the minds of the people during the dark days of the Great Depression

While Bradman was making his entry into the record books, a significant event that was to cast its shadow for more than a decade, was occurring on the other side of the globe. The United States of America, having experienced great prosperity in the 1920s, post-World War I, saw soaring exports and booming stock markets, but much of the shares bought with borrowed money. This bubble that had consequently been created, burst on October 29, 1929, a day that came to be known as ‘Black Tuesday’.

The stock market on Wall Street collapsed. Countless fortunes were lost. The ripple effect engulfed the entire United States, and then the world. Banks failed, businesses and factories closed, and international trade came to a virtual standstill. The markets kept plunging and bottomed out only after three years. It is believed that 30 million people lost their jobs, half of them in the United States.

Australia too took a big hit as nearly one-third of the people found themselves out of employment, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by as much as 25 percent. The Great Depression had set in. It was a period of great economic hardship that lasted more than a decade.

It was exactly during this time leading to the Second World War that Bradman regaled the crowds with his magical 2 lb 2 oz bat. People thronged to the grounds to watch his run-sprees, as much as to forget their own miseries. His deeds brought solace to the multitude that watched, heard or read about his exploits.

In Australia there was the added glee of giving a hiding to the imperial masters, who protected the interests of their own merchants at the cost of the toiling masses. The impact of Bradman’s peerless accomplishments went far beyond providing entertainment and transmitting the joys of sporting excellence. His record-breaking feats helped lift, at least temporarily, the gloom in people’s lives, and enabled them to escape into a less depressing world.

When there was darkness all around, Bradman was one bright light that offered hope and instilled the courage to battle on. For many, Bradman became the very reason and purpose for their existence. Someone who has come close to replicating the joy that Bradman spread has been India’s Sachin Tendulkar. There has not been a more loved character in recent times than Tendulkar, nor one who people want to see succeed as much as he.

When it was later pointed out to The Don that he had helped so many cope with the pain of the Great Depression, he merely replied, “I don’t know. I was too busy playing cricket.” Indeed he was, and so focussed was he on the field that the only things that mattered to him were runs on the board and victory for his team.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century 

Published in India by Sporting Links 

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0 

Fully illustrated 

Paperback French Fold 

11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches 

Weight 480 grams 

188 pages 

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1 

Ricky Ponting, the quintessential Aussie. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

A batsman who has occupied the no. 1 slot over the last few years is Ricky Ponting. For years the Australians said he was as good as Tendulkar, but this was often dismissed as jingoism. In his early days he seemed to be a brash young man, the naughty boy of the team. He also lived in the shadow of the Waugh twins. The mischievous look remains, but as he matured - which coincided with being handed the captaincy - Ponting quickly scaled the peak. In 2003 he hit up 1503 runs in 11 Tests at 100.20 per innings. In 2005 he amassed 1544 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 67.13, the sole batsman to notch up 1500 runs in a calendar year twice.

Not surprisingly for an Australian, Ponting is the best batsman today against pace. Forever looking to get on to the front foot with an exaggerated pick up of the bat, he is quick to rock back and pull or hook. He has not always been happy against spin. Steve Waugh’s famous ‘final frontier’ series of 2000-01 in India was miserable for Ponting. Young off-spinner Harbhajan Singh mesmerised him, claiming his wicket in all five innings for 0,6,0,0,11.

In the 2007-08 series in Australia, Harbhajan again troubled Ponting, dismissing him cheaply in the first Test at Melbourne, and then again in the first innings at Sydney. One got the impression that the Australians pressed charges against Harbhajan because they wanted to shift his focus away from the game. Whatever the truth, Harbhajan did not bother Ponting again in the series.

Despite this, there can be no denying that Ponting has been the best batsman in the world in recent years. Having become the seventh to reach 10,000 Test runs - now stationed at 10,099 - with an average of 58.37 and 35 hundreds, Ponting would be vying with the likes of Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis to pass Lara’s record aggregate and set new benchmarks.       

In One-day Internationals Ponting has crossed 11,113 runs, more than 5000 runs behind Tendulkar, with an average of 43.24, strike-rate of 80.43 and 26 centuries. His moment of glory in One-dayers came in the final of the 2003 World Cup at Johannesburg when he virtually finished the match even before India batted. His unbeaten 140 with a record 8 sixes ensured that the ICC World Cup stayed with Australia.

Ponting’s captaincy record in the World Cup is magical. His team won 22 matches in a row - 11 each in 2003 and 2007 - a feat that is unlikely to be matched. Just as Steve Waugh’s side had a hiccup in India in 2000-01, Ponting’s outfit lost the Ashes in 2005. That was the first time Australia lost the Ashes since 1986-87, after winning an unprecedented eight successive series against the Old Enemy. Ponting’s team then bounced back at home, reclaiming the Ashes in style by 5-0 in 2006-07. His side also equalled the feat of Steve Waugh’s men by winning 16 Tests in a row in that acrimonious game at Sydney in 2007-08, full of umpiring howlers.

Of late the sheen has worn off a bit in Ponting’s career. His form has dipped somewhat, and there were even calls to sack him from the captaincy after that controversial Sydney Test. Peter Roebuck went to the extent of writing that Ponting had turned the Australian team into a “pack of wild dogs.” That might be going a bit too far, but his side lost the One-day triangular finals 2-0 to India. With his wrist surgery lately, clearly, there are a few challenges ahead of Ponting.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

 

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

When in the mood, Brian Lara a genius, no less. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

When in the mood, Brian Lara was a genius, no less. Caribbean flair, and not any textbook principles, was the hallmark of his batting. High backlift, braced knees, a hop this way and that in the crease, flashing blade and terrific bat speed, and deft wrist-work on either side of the wicket were characteristics of his inimitable style. When he put his mind to it, he was amongst the very best ever, in the traditional form perhaps next only to Bradman.

As super success embraced him, Lara was quick to assume the airs of a megastar. Petulance, brushes with authority and stormy personal life began to cast a shadow over his career. For a long time it seemed that he might go the way of so many hugely talented sportsmen like George Best who frittered away their God-given gifts and ultimately destroyed themselves.

It is said that the pressure of expectations got the better of Lara. To his credit, he broke free of the stupor and applied his mind to his batting, returning as one of the greatest rungetters the game has seen. The difference between Lara and Tendulkar - hugely talented as both are in their unique ways - was that Tendulkar remained grounded, a dedicated player, committed team man, modest and content in the security of family life. He never allowed the unprecedented adulation to swamp him, nor did the burden of having to perform constantly stifle him. He sailed along, darling of millions, everyone’s very own endearing Sachin. If he had a flaw, as we have already discussed, it was that he would get carried away by his own brilliance and give his wicket away when there were many, many more runs for the taking.

That 277 at Sydney in 1992-93, Lara’s first Test hundred, when the West Indies were desperately defending their status as top dogs, was only advance notice of what was to follow. Lara emulated Bradman by holding the records for the highest scores in Tests as well as first-class cricket. Sir Garfield Sobers walked on to the Antigua Recreation Ground to embrace Lara as the new hero went past his Test record. In that 1993-94 series against England, Lara hit up 798 runs at an average of 99.75.

The world had still not stopped applauding Lara when he astounded everyone by piling up an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire versus Durham at Birmingham. It was a new frontier - as a famous television series on space odysseys declared - where no man had gone before. In a matter of days he did what no batsman, not Grace nor Bradman, had done in 117 years. The English bowlers must have dreaded the sight of his punishing blade as he carved out 765 runs in the six-Test series on their soil in 1995 at an average of 85.

In between, Lara had not relished the slower wickets of India during the 1994-95 series. Not long after, when the euphoria of having scaled great highs so early in his career wore off, Lara began appearing listless and disinterested. It was akin to the feeling of unease that Bradman experienced in 1932, but Lara’s malaise was more severe. Bradman never allowed his performances to dip, Lara could not defy his slump.

He recovered, to the good fortune of cricket-lovers around the world. The first sign of a turnaround came in 1998-99. That season his stock had slumped to abysmal depths in South Africa as the West Indies were trounced 5-0 in the Test series. Then they were beaten by Australia in the first Test at home. There were shrill voices all around demanding that Lara be stripped of the captaincy. And then he struck. He scored a superb 213 to lead the West Indies to victory over Steve Waugh’s side at Kingston. In the very next Test at Bridgetown he carried his team to an exhilarating one-wicket triumph with a stupendous unbeaten 153. So gripping was the game that the Jamaican prime minister postponed meetings to watch the finale. The West Indies actually led the series 2-1 now, and Lara was again being hailed as a superhero everywhere. This was akin to Bradman’s stirring fightback in 1936-37, but not quite as decisive in the end. The Australians eventually levelled the series, but Lara had once again shown what he was really capable of.

The big turnaround eventually came in 2001-02 in the Emerald Island after a prolonged illness. He began with his 221 off the Sri Lankan bowling at Colombo in that landmark season. In three Tests, Lara scored 668 runs at an average of 114.66 with 3 hundreds. Though he suffered a serious arm injury as a result of a mid-pitch collision, he came back stronger than ever. Since that series, in the last six years till his retirement from Test cricket in 2006-07, he scored an average of a Test double century a year.        

When Sri Lanka made a return visit to the Caribbean islands the next season, Lara slammed 209 at Gros Islet. After he regained the captaincy in 2003, and perhaps consumed by a burning desire to finish his career in a blaze of glory, Lara was unstoppable. He played two big knocks in the 2003-04 season. He first slammed 202 against South Africa at Johannesburg. During the course of that innings he hit the highest number of runs in an over in Test cricket. He smashed Robin Peterson for 4.6.6.4.4.4, a total of 28 runs.

Matthew Hayden had taken away Lara’s Test record that season. The Prince of Trinidad, though, was not ready to be dethroned. And so Hayden had the pleasure, and privilege, of being Test cricket’s top-scorer for only a few months.  Lara returned to the same venue and against the very opponents of a decade earlier and reclaimed his coveted record. Again he went to a territory no Test cricketer had treaded before, reaching 400 before he returned unconquered. He had emulated Bradman by hitting up two scores of 300-plus in Test cricket. India’s Virender Sehwag joined the club at Chennai in 2007-08. But while Bradman was never able to reset the Test record, Lara, incredibly, got it back. That there was a gap of a decade between the two high watermarks, makes his achievements even more laudable.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

 

Aravinda de Silva, superb, compact technique coupled with exhilarating strokeplay. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva, on the other hand, was a gifted batsman. During the early stages of his career he would play brilliant cameos before throwing his wicket away through poor shot selection. For this he was called ‘Mad Max’. Gradually he learnt to temper himself and matured into one of the most exciting strokeplayers of modern times. In many ways, one felt, he was a more aggressive version of Gavaskar.

In fact the Indian maestro was initially an attacking player, with a penchant for the hook shot. But after the first flush of his memorable maiden series, when success became harder to come by, Gavaskar developed into an accumulator of runs, rather than a destroyer of bowling. De Silva retained the sparkle, though it has to be said that he was a middle-order batsman who could indulge in strokeplay with greater freedom than Gavaskar whose primary task was to see off the new ball and take away the sting from those menacing pacemen. Gavaskar and de Silva were of similar stature, maybe the latter was even a wee bit shorter, both compact and well balanced and similarly correct in strokeplay.

De Silva would drive in glorious fashion through the covers, or cut off the back foot, and was quick to hook or pull the short ones. When he got into the groove he was liable to pull off a string of big scores. His highest Test score of 267 came against New Zealand in 1990-91, the same match in which Martin Crowe registered his personal best of 299. De Silva scored centuries in each innings of a Test twice, against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo in 1996-97, when he was unbeaten in both innings, and against India on the same ground the next season.

His most prolific year was 1997 when he amassed 1220 runs at an average of 76.25 with 7 hundreds, the most since Vivian Richards got as many 21 years earlier. In his 93 Tests, de Silva logged up 6361 runs at an average of 42.97 with 20 centuries.

The 1996 World Cup was memorable for de Silva’s superb strokeplay. His 91 against Zimbabwe was followed by 145 versus Kenya, the highest for Sri Lanka in a One-dayer. In the semi-final he hit 66 of the 85 runs scored while he was in, against India. In the final he brought up victory with his unbeaten 107. That was in addition to his stint of three for 42 with the ball. He was man-of-the-match in the semifinal as well as final. If the player-of-the-tournament award had not been decided before the semi-finals, it would surely have gone to de Silva. In the latter half of the nineties, de Silva was doubtlessly one of the three best batsmen in the world, the others being Tendulkar and Lara. There is nothing more to be said.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

Vivian Richards…..monarch of all he surveyed. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

A batsman who many modern observers rate second to Bradman is Viv Richards. Sir Vivian was indeed king, monarch of all he surveyed in the sheer dominance of his strokeplay. He was mesmerised by Chandrasekhar on debut at Bangalore in 1974-75, and overshadowed by another first-timer Gordon Greenidge who nearly got a hundred in each innings. Richards set the record right in the very next Test.

I was fortunate to see that knock of his at the Ferozshah Kotla. At that time we knew nothing about the awesome strokeplay that he was capable of, but his power was certainly in evidence. One shot that has remained in my memory was the one he played while batting at the pavilion end. He hit one of the spinners straight and high, up above the big advertisement hoarding perched atop the stands, landing probably in the centre of the adjoining Ambedkar Football Stadium. I have never seen a cricket ball sailing that high ever again. Brijesh Patel, fielding at extra-cover, rolled his fingers around his eyes as though spotting the little spheroid with a pair of binoculars. It was a hit nobody ever forgets.

The other thing that I noticed was his dead-bat defence. Time and again during that long innings he would drop deliveries from the spinners Venkataraghavan, Prasanna and Bedi right under his eyes. He would then either bend down and pick up the ball, or tap it with his bat, passing it to the forward short-leg fielder Solkar. Whenever I hear people talk about Richards’ tremendous strokeplay, and how they felt he was vulnerable early in his innings because he whipped balls from outside his off-stump to the on-side, I always think back to that impregnable defence. Of course he was a blaster, but he was also a master for, like all the great players, he had a very good defence. People, particularly English ‘experts’, mocked at Bradman as well early in his career. Look what he did to them.

It was indeed a delight to see Richards bring up his first Test century and go on the rampage towards the latter stages, returning unconquered with 192. It was the beginning of the Richards saga. He was soon to become the best West Indies batsman and rule the world of cricket until he called it a day 16 years later. 

When the just-appointed England captain Tony Greig made a stupid statement before the 1976 series that he would make the West Indies “grovel”, Richards took it as a personal affront. He hammered the English bowling like no one else had done since Bradman in 1930. He slammed 232 at Trent Bridge, 135 at Old Trafford and 291, his highest Test score, at the Oval, aggregating 829 runs at an average of 118.42 in four Tests. Later Australia’s Mark Taylor got 10 more runs in England in 1989. Nobody has scored so many for the West Indies in a Test series. That year he hit up 1710 runs (in just the first eight months) at an average of 90 in 11 Tests with 7 hundreds. No one had scored as many runs in a year. The opposition: the great pace bowlers of Australia, Lillee and Thomson at their height, among others; the celebrated Indian spinners; and the pace and swing in England. The king had been crowned. It took another batsman, Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan, three decades to score more runs in a calendar year, 1788 with 9 hundreds, also in 11 Tests. 

A decade later in 1985-86, Richards blasted the fastest recorded hundred in terms of balls. He brought up his century in 56 deliveries before delighted home fans at St. John’s, Antigua, against England. 

Richards was the first batsman to dominate in Tests as well as One-day Internationals. If his electrifying fielding turned the World Cup final versus Australia in 1975, four years later his tremendous 139-run fifth-wicket stand with Collis King turned the second World Cup final. Richards scored 138 to raise a match-winning total. In 1984, also against England, he smashed the then highest-ever One-day International score of 189 not out. Michael Holding was a virtual bystander in an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 106. In 1987 he surpassed Kapil Dev’s World Cup record innings by crashing 181 off the Sri Lankan bowling at Karachi.

He took over the captaincy of the West Indies after Clive Lloyd retired in 1985 and under him the West Indies continued to rule world cricket in both its forms. They, however, could not reclaim the World Cup after the shocking defeat at the hands of India in 1983. 

When he called it a day, Richards had surpassed Sobers’ highest Test aggregate for the West Indies, finishing with 8540 runs at an average of 50.23 with 24 hundreds. A brilliant fielder anywhere, he also overtook Sobers in terms of catches, clutching 122 of his own. Add to this 6721 runs in One-day Internationals with an outstanding average of 47, and a strike rate of 90.20, the first to aggregate 1000 runs in the World Cup, and we have inarguably the best batsman in both forms of the game put together until Sachin Tendulkar took over the mantle.           

Statistics, though, scarcely tell the tale of one of the most self-assured cricketers ever. Helmets came into the game early in Richards’ career but he shunned them even when confronted with the fastest of bowlers. He would walk out to the crease proudly wearing his maroon West Indies cap, head tilted at a jaunty angle, chewing gum, as if strolling in a park looking at the birds on the trees. He could have been a character straight out of wild-west movies, aware of the danger but playing it cool, mind ever alert for a swift draw of his pistol. And, man, did he shoot them down, his powerful frame steering that heavy bat with great speed.

His haughty stance itself would put the jitters in the hearts of all but the most strong-hearted of bowlers. And then he would stun them by firing a bullet from outside the off-stump, screaming to the mid-wicket boundary before the startled fielders could even react. Yes, it was like a shot from a gun, not a stroke off a bat.

Richards made stroke-making look so natural, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. He would spot the ball early and then either take a big stride forward or rock back, or even step away to leg and whack the ball away. His stunning drives and pulls would leave the bowlers looking on in despair. Richards made a virtue of backing away to leg and hitting inside-out through the line. The desperation of the bowlers and fielding captains can then be imagined. To a ball pitched on or outside the off-stump, Richards could cream it across the line to the on-side; and to the delivery on or outside the leg-stump, he might loft it through the line on the off-side. If he chose to, he would just as well slam it in orthodox fashion. That is why captains were confused as to the field to employ, and the bowlers confounded regarding the line to bowl. That is also the reason why he scored so rapidly. 

They said he was vulnerable early because he was not copybook. That is only an illusion thrown up by mere theorists. Which batsman is not vulnerable early in his innings? If he were that vulnerable, he would have been sorted out early in his career by the world’s best bowlers. Instead he sorted out the greatest bowlers through his long career. Vivian Richards was an original, just as Bradman was. That is why armchair critics picked holes in their techniques as if there were a law as to how one should bat. They would do well to remember that Bradman and Richards were a law unto themselves. Just look at the scorecards, and the outstanding results their teams achieved.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: 

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

Crowning Glory: Special souvenir by Indra Vikram Singh on India’s win in the cricket World Cup 2011

Published by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-6-7

Fully illustrated

Paperback 11 x 8.5 x 0.1 inches

44 Pages

Weight 358 gm

Available at an attractive price on Amazon  https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166867 

Crowning Glory is a special souvenir on India's triumph in the ICC World Cup 2011, written, designed and produced by Indra Vikram Singh. The tenth edition of One-day cricket’s biggest show returned to the sub-continent for the third time. Never had the hosts triumphed on home soil, but in 2011 the favourites India, despite a few stutters, jubilantly lifted the glittering ICC World Cup for the second time at Mumbai on the balmy evening of 2nd April. 

This was not only the crowning glory for an inspired Indian team that had striven hard to win the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and attain the no. 1 spot in Test cricket in 2010, but also the missing jewel in the amazing career of Sachin Tendulkar who has set lofty benchmarks in Test matches as well as One-day Internationals. It was a fairy-tale come true, the real significance of which will be understood in the years and decades to follow.

Recounting the story of the 2011 cricket World Cup, Crowning Glory replays the hot spots - the highlights of this exhilarating tournament, the legends of the World Cup who sparkled in the event, and the new records that were set up. There are splendid photographs that tell a graphic tale, encapsulating another thrilling chapter in India's journey in the world of cricket.

(The author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com. His blogs www.indravikramsingh.blogspot.com and www.singhiv.wordpress.com offer an insight into his work, his family and heritage.)

Contents

Part 1 : ICC World Cup 2011

Part 2 : Stars of the 2011 World Cup

Part 3 : The Curtain Raiser

Part 4 : Hot Spots

Part 5 : Legends

Part 6 : Records set up in the 2011 World Cup

Part 7 : Other statistical landmarks achieved in the 2011 World Cup

Part 8 : Roll of Honour 1975-2011

  

See Indra Vikram Singh's other books on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s finest hour; India’s triumph in the World Cup 2011

It appeared almost inevitable that India would win the 2011 World Cup. A billion Indians seemed to believe that the team would certainly win, and the team itself desperately wanted to win it for its billion fanatical followers and for one peerless and inspirational representative of God himself, Sachin Tendulkar. The team had been steadily ascending the ladder of success since its heart-wrenching ouster from the 2007 World Cup. One by one, things began falling into place. Tendulkar toiled not only to regain the magical touch of yore but also to scale peak after peak. An efficient back-up staff led by the taciturn and hard-nosed Gary Kirsten engineered the side into a fighting machine. A young, razor-sharp, unflappable and versatile skipper Mahendra Dhoni arrived to steer the ship deftly through calm as well as stormy seas.

Blessed with arguably the greatest batting line-up in history, the team crafted one success after another, rising to no. 1 status in Test matches for the first time in its chequered history of 78 years, hovering around that position in One-day Internationals as well, holding its own at home as well as overseas, and all this after having won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 that same year of 2007. The victorious side defied conventional wisdom by clinching matches and series on the strength of its powerful batting, either posting unattainable totals or chasing down impossible targets. There was always enough depth as well as bench strength to tide over even acute crises, and to cover up for the sketchy and often profligate bowling. The captain and team management made skillful use of the embarrassingly limited bowling resources, which ultimately proved adequate in home conditions. The much-derided fielding proved equal to the task, and the end result was an inspired outfit that carried the day despite a bit of a stutter in the early stages. Even these hiccups had a silver lining, for they helped fine-tune the playing eleven and to temper the arrogance of the middle-order batsmen.

There were other fancied sides too, the Sri Lankans, favoured in familiar conditions, with strong batting and balanced bowling; the South Africans, whose day some experts believed had finally come, boasting the best pace attack in the world, a complete bowling line-up on paper, replete with allrounders, and a fine array of batsmen to go with their customary top-class fielding; and the Australians, never ones to be counted out as they showed in 2007 despite sliding down the order and obvious depletion in resources, still possessing top-quality fast bowlers but little else. The dark horses were Pakistan, unpredictable as ever, and they did threaten all the way until their ouster by the relentless Indians in an emotionally-charged semi-final.   

On behalf of the minnows, the heartening performance came from the plucky Irish along with a glorious hand by Holland’s Ryan ten Doeschate. This itself makes out a case for the inclusion of some associate member nations in the future World Cups. The idea to have just ten teams is perhaps a sound one but the bottom two teams among those with One-day international status should compete in the ICC qualifying tournament with the associate members to earn the right to play in the World Cup.

Despite the odd flutter, the eight top teams took their appointed places in the quarter-finals. As expected, that is where the real action began. After Pakistan disdainfully swept aside the once-mighty West Indies, India stopped the incredible Cup-winning run of an Aussie outfit in decline. Then came possibly the biggest shock of the tournament. The unheralded and grossly underrated Kiwis skittled out the Proteas to add yet another chapter to the bemusing saga of a handsome-looking side that invariably flatters to deceive in this showpiece event. To complete the picture, Sri Lanka were as contemptuous of England as Pakistan were of the West Indies earlier.

There were, not surprisingly, three sub-continental teams in the semi-finals. New Zealand did battle hard, as is their wont, but Sri Lanka were too good in the end. The Kiwis have now played six of the ten semi-finals without once breaching this penultimate barrier. The other semi-final was really a war and a carnival rolled into one, simply the most heart-stopping sporting event held anywhere. India prevailed over Pakistan in a most curious encounter, and the fireworks at the end would have one believe that the Cup itself had been won that night.

It was an engrossing final but a relatively sedate affair. Sri Lanka were worthy opponents, equalling Australia’s highest losing score of 1975 in a World Cup final. India, irresistible as they were by now, cruised to the title amid wild jubilation. Dhoni’s emphatic hit over the long-on boundary with plenty to spare only reaffirmed the belief of so many. India became the first team to win the World Cup on home soil, the crowning glory to Sachin Tendulkar’s astonishing career and to the team’s triumphant run of recent years.  

The final:

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 2 April 2011

India won by 6 wickets

Sri Lanka: 274 for 6 wickets in 50 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 33, Kumar Sangakkara 48, Mahela Jayawardene 103 not out, Nuwan Kulasekara 32)

India: 277 for 4 wickets in 48.2 overs (Gautam Gambhir 97, Virat Kohli 35, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 91 not out)

Man of the Match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Player of the Tournament: Yuvraj Singh

(Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh's book 'Crowning Glory'. The author  can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Follow his blogs: 

https://singhiv.wordpress.com/  

https://indravikramsingh.blogspot.com/

Sachin Tendulkar’s record nine man-of-the-match awards in the World Cup

Child prodigy, pride of a nation

When Sachin Tendulkar was selected for his first tour with the Indian Test side in 1989, one feared for him. He seemed just a little boy. He was one, at just sixteen years of age. One felt that he was being pushed into the lion’s den, for that series was against arch rivals Pakistan with their fearsome battery of pacemen - Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. But the manner in which the kid squared up to these awesome fast bowlers showed that someone in the selection committee indeed had a discerning eye.

Tendulkar lived up fully to the promise. Immediately, he carved out a permanent place in the Indian line-up. In the 1991-92 tour of Australia, preceding the fifth World Cup, he broke away from the rest, and pundits already began rating him as the team’s best batsman. The World Cup showed just why.

Sachin Tendulkar’s man-of-the-match awards in the World Cup.

1.  Versus Pakistan, Sydney, 1992  

The needle encounter with Pakistan created its own inevitable drama. Tendulkar chose the occasion to come into his own. He put on 46 for the fourth wicket with schoolmate Vinod Kambli, and combined with Kapil Dev to add another 60 for the sixth wicket. Tendulkar’s unbeaten 54, comprising 3 boundaries in a stay of 62 deliveries, set up India’s victory, helping post a total that could be defended on the lively Sydney track. This match-winning performance won him his first World Cup man-of-the-match award.

2.  Versus Zimbabwe, Hamilton, 1992 

Tendulkar top-scored again in the next match. A fine 99-run stand with Sanjay Manjrekar took the rain-affected game away from Zimbabwe. His superb 81 off just 77 balls, studded with 8 fours and a six, earned him a second successive man-of-the-match prize.

3.  Versus Kenya, Cuttack, 1996

There was a soft opening fixture with Kenya in the 1996 World Cup, and Tendulkar led the charge with a 163-run stand with Ajay Jadeja. It was not only India’s best opening partnership in the World Cup, surpassing the mark of 136 set up by Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth against New Zealand in 1987, but also the country’s highest for any wicket hitherto in the premier event. Tendulkar stepped on the pedal right from the start, hitting his first fifty off just 48 balls. He slowed visibly on the threshold of his first World Cup century, making doubly certain that he reached the coveted milestone. This was his fifth hundred in One-day Internationals, all of which came in the previous 18 months after he began opening the innings. Still in no mood to throw away his wicket, he escorted his side to an easy victory. Tendulkar’s unbeaten 127 from 138 deliveries was made up of 15 sizzling boundaries and one hit over the ropes. This was then India’s second-highest individual score in the World Cup after Kapil Dev’s 175 not out in 1983. He was named man-of-the-match.

4.  Versus West Indies, Gwalior, 1996  

The next match at Gwalior was billed as a clash of the two star batsmen, Tendulkar and Brian Lara; and also a confrontation between Tendulkar and the great fast bowling pair of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Neither of these happened. With the West Indies setting a modest target of 174, Tendulkar played a sedate innings, scoring 70 off 91 balls, having struck 8 fours before being run out. He had put on 79 crucial runs for the third wicket with Navjot Singh Sidhu. Tendulkar claimed his second man-of-the-match award in succession. 

He became a trailblazer in the 1996 event, the first to score more than 500 runs in a single World Cup. He had a tremendous run of scores: 127 not out, 70, 90, 137, 3, 31 and 65; two centuries and three fifties in seven matches. Tendulkar became the highest run-getter in any single World Cup with his 523 runs, averaging 87.16, a mark that was to remain till he himself bettered it in 2003.

5.  Versus Kenya, Bristol, 1999 

The year 1999 was an unhappy one for Tendulkar in many ways. He developed back trouble in the early months, and for the first time a shadow was cast on his career. The contemptuous pull shot off the front foot had to be eliminated from his repertoire to ease pressure on his back. Then just as the World Cup began, his father passed away. Tendulkar had to return to India, missing the fixture with Zimbabwe. He rejoined the tournament in traumatic circumstances. A debate followed about whether he should continue to open the innings in conditions where the ball moved around. As a result he was shifted up and down the order. Tendulkar had opened in the first match against South Africa and raised 67 with Sourav Ganguly before he was caught behind off Lance Klusener for 28. He missed the second game due to his bereavement. India lost both the matches.

On his return from home, Tendulkar walked in at no.4 to face the Kenyan attack, in a sombre frame of mind. He put together his concentration, and got down to work like a true professional. Soon he was stroking the ball in his magical way. Even the dark clouds lifted and made way for bright sunshine as if in reverence to the little genius. Rahul Dravid too flowered in his company. Tendulkar stepped on the accelerator after reaching his half-century. He raced to his hundred in 84 balls, the fastest by an Indian in the World Cup hitherto, surpassing another legend Sunil Gavaskar’s century off 85 balls against New Zealand in 1987. Tendulkar’s second fifty came in only 30 balls.

The partnership reached mammoth proportions, the pair still not separated after having added 237 runs when the innings ended. This was the highest for any wicket in the World Cup, breaking the previous record of 207, also for the third wicket set by Mark and Steve Waugh, coincidentally against Kenya in 1996. It was also a record for the third wicket in all One-day Internationals, beating the previous best of 230 by Pakistanis Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed against India in 1998. Tendulkar was unbeaten with an explosive 140 off 101 balls, slamming 3 sixes and 16 fours in a man-of-the-match performance.     

6.  Versus Zimbabwe, Harare, 2003  

As the Indian side sought to redeem itself in the 2003 World Cup, it faced Zimbabwe who were no longer the force they were four years earlier. Tendulkar and his young clone Virender Sehwag put their bowling to the sword in a rousing 99-run opening stand in 100 deliveries. The master continued to blaze away after the apprentice was dismissed. Dinesh Mongia was essentially a bystander in a 43-run second-wicket partnership. A delivery from left-arm spinner Grant Flower rolled on to the stumps off Tendulkar’s defensive blade. He left, having hit 81 off 91 balls with 10 exquisite boundaries. India eventually triumphed easily and Tendulkar wrested his sixth man-of-the-match award in the World Cup, the maximum at that stage, breaking away from the pack of Vivian Richards, Graham Gooch and Lance Klusener.

 

7.  Versus Namibia, Pietermaritzburg, 2003 

As the Indian campaign gained momentum, there was a picnic before the stern tests. The Namibians were in no position to challenge an indignant side hungry for success. Sehwag dazzled briefly, and once Sourav Ganguly joined Tendulkar, there was a deluge. Though Tendulkar was not at his fluent best, the pair just waded into the amateur trundlers. Dropped at 32, the little champion perhaps found it hard to motivate himself against the pop-gun attack, but bludgeoned it nonetheless. He raised his 34^th One-day International hundred, racing still far ahead of the rest. It was his fourth ton in the premier event, the most at that stage alongside Mark Waugh. The second-wicket stand logged up 244 runs before Tendulkar was out, having crashed 152 off 151 deliveries with 18 hits to the fence. This was his highest score in the World Cup, and the partnership was second-best ever for any wicket in the tournament after the 318-run Ganguly-Dravid duet of 1999. Tendulkar picked up his second consecutive man-of-the-match prize, his third such feat in the World Cup.

8.  Versus Pakistan, Centurion, 2003  

If India were getting their act together in this tournament, the Pakistani side was not. But in the mother of all cricketing battles, form counts for little. The team that soaks in the pressure better on the day invariably triumphs. This contest had two entire nations transfixed. Planeloads of spectators took off for South Africa, television ratings soared, and almost every other activity came to a standstill. Pakistan seized the initiative with a score of 273 for seven. Tendulkar was not going to let go this opportunity to display his class as well as temperament. The great Wasim Akram opened the bowling and Tendulkar drove the third delivery off the back foot through the covers into the pickets. Sehwag also got into the act. From then on there was only one team in the match. Shoaib Akhtar came on at the other end. Tendulkar blasted him for a six and two fours off the last three balls. The Rawalpindi Express conceded 18 runs off his first over and was promptly taken off. Tendulkar had established his ascendancy.

It took only five overs to rattle up 50 on the board. Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly were dismissed off successive balls but Tendulkar zoomed to his own fifty in a matter of 37 balls. Mohammad Kaif helped put on a brisk 102 in 15.5 overs. Though cramps began to hamper Tendulkar, he refused a runner till he could hardly move. Meanwhile, he brought up his 12,000^th run in One-day Internationals, playing his 300^th innings in 309 matches. He now stood alone on a pedestal, second-placed Mohammad Azharuddin parked more than 2,600 runs behind. When Akhtar let go a nasty bouncer the decapitated Tendulkar could only instinctively fend a catch to point. He fell for a magnificent 98, having faced just 75 deliveries and rocketed 12 fours and a six. This was arguably Tendulkar’s best innings in the World Cup. India had raced to 177 for four in the 28^th over. Dravid and Yuvraj Singh had only to bat sensibly from then on, which they did. India maintained their hundred percent World Cup record over Pakistan. There was only one claimant for the gold watch awarded to the man-of-the-match. Tendulkar had now walked away with three such glittering prizes in the last four matches.

 

Enthralled by his next innings against Sri Lanka, Australian great Greg Chappell wrote in his column in The Hindu: “Make no mistake, Tendulkar is a genius! Tendulkar’s combination of deft touches and raw power is virtually unmatched in the game today. Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Brian Lara can certainly match his power though they don’t quite match his exquisite skill and versatility. The versatility is an innate, instinctive skill. Bradman used the laws of physics better than anyone else, then or now. He used the energy created by the bowler and redirected the ball with brilliant footwork and incredible wrist work. Tendulkar goes closest to emulating him, but has the added advantage - delivered by the heavier modern bat - of being able to block the ball back past the faster bowlers more quickly than it was delivered. Tendulkar’s innings of 97 was as intimidating to most of the Sri Lankan bowlers, as it was for the Pakistanis at Centurion Park.” There could be no greater tribute, coming as it did from one who was himself one of the finest batsmen in history.

India lost to the unstoppable Australians in the final but Tendulkar won the Golden Bat, his award for being adjudged the player-of-the-tournament, which was presented to him by none other than Sir Garfield Sobers. In two World Cups - 1996 and 2003 - Tendulkar was the leading run-getter of the tournament. His 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 event laid down a new benchmark in the World Cup, and his aggregate of 1732 was then far ahead of the rest, none of whom had topped 1100.

9.  Versus Pakistan, Mohali, 2011 

Came the high-voltage encounter at Mohali, World Cup 2011 semi-final between India and Pakistan, a heart-stopper in the extreme, watched by the prime ministers of both countries. Two overs produced 6 runs, and then Sehwag turned on Umar Gul, bludgeoning him for 5 boundaries in the 3^rd over. Sehwag continued on his merry way, having had most of the strike. He fell leg-before at 48, having crashed 9 boundaries in his 38 off 25 balls.

With Sehwag’s departure, Tendulkar held centre-stage. He soon added three quick boundaries to an earlier one, but this hurricane start had camouflaged the uneven character of the wicket. As the ball lost its shine and hardness, it began to grip the surface and lose pace. Run-making became a struggle, which was reflected in Tendulkar’s resilient and fortunate innings. The Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) helped him survive leg-before-wicket and stumping appeals off successive Saeed Ajmal deliveries. Misbah-ul-Haq dropped him at mid-wicket and an edge found no fielder at slip, the ball running away to the boundary. Gautam Gambhir was not so lucky, being stumped after having helped put on 68 in 13 overs. Soon Tendulkar was put down by Younis Khan.

  

Carrying on the battle nevertheless, Tendulkar stroked two delightful boundaries to raise a fortuitous fifty, having taken on 67 deliveries. As Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh departed off consecutive balls from left-armer Wahab Riaz, Tendulkar had two more slices of luck. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal did not pouch an edge and his brother Umar failed to latch on to a pull. Eventually, he drove uppishly at Ajmal and the captain Shahid Afridi latched on jubilantly. Tendulkar had held his concentration through 115 deliveries in this tumultuous journey, having struck 11 fours in his 85 runs. He had scrapped all the way through, helping India total 260 for nine. In a match of such significance, and on a wicket of this nature, it was a winning score. Pakistan fell 29 runs short and a relieved Indian team marched into the final. At last Tendulkar won a man-of-the-match award in a tournament in which two of his centuries resulted in a tie and a defeat.

Crowning Glory

The World Cup 2011 triumph was the crowning glory to the inimitable Sachin Tendulkar’s cricket career, and for the Indian team which in the past decade had risen to no. 1 in the world both in Test matches and One-day Internationals. The celebrations, the fireworks, uncorking of champagne, tooting of car horns, singing, dancing and merriment were as much for India’s exhilarating triumph as was for Tendulkar’s awe-inspiring accomplishments.

No one could have written a better script, and no folk hero deserved more accolades than this lovable character received on the memorable night of 2^nd April 2011. His teammates paid him glowing tributes and hoisted him on his soldiers as a whole country leapt with joy. He finished this tournament as the second-highest rungetter with 482 to his credit, averaging 53.55 and striking at 91.98 per 100 balls. Only Tillakaratne Dilshan, who touched 500 runs, scored more. That Tendulkar sustained his brilliant performances through six World Cups, in adversity and in triumph, is a mind-boggling thought.         

To state the obvious, Tendulkar is by far the highest rungetter in the World Cup with 2278 runs at an average of 56.95 and a strike-rate of 88.98. To add to his 6 hundreds are an amazing 15 fifties, including 3 nineties. He has an incredible nine man-of-the-match awards. No one else has more than five. In the World Cup arena too, Tendulkar has lived up to his reputation as one of the greatest batsmen to grace this fascinating game. The maestro has indeed awe-inspiring achievements to his credit.

The lone man to aggregate 15,000 runs in Test matches and a record 51 hundreds at an average of nearly 54, and the only one to hit up 18,000 runs in One-day Internationals and yet another record 49 centuries at an average of almost 45 and strike-rate in excess of 86, this inimitable character has set seemingly impossible benchmarks for coming generations to strive for. He helped India scale the pinnacle in Tests as well as One-dayers. The only remaining team goal, to wrest the ICC World Cup, was also achieved in 2011.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/sachin-tendulkar-s-nine-man-of-the-match-awards-in-the-world-cup

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email  singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Follow his blogs https://singhiv.wordpress.com/  

https://indravikramsingh.blogspot.com/

https://www.sportskeeda.com/profile/indra-vikram-singh-1

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket 1975-2011

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166840