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

Sunil Gavaskar’s memorable debut Test series in the West Indies fifty seasons ago. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

Sunil Gavaskar’s arrival was indicative of the fact that Indian cricket had come of age. The spin quartet of Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bishen Singh Bedi were at the height of their powers. Gavaskar showed that fast bowling could not only be tackled but also scored off, in a prolific if not dominant fashion. Before him, Indian batsmen, with some notable exceptions, had the dubious reputation of stepping away to leg when confronted with genuine pace, and floundering against swing. Gavaskar changed it all.

There was a new captain at the helm, Ajit Wadekar, on that path-breaking tour of the Caribbean in 1971, ending at least for the time being the Pataudi era which had also begun in the West Indies nine years earlier. The signs were ominous as India won the second Test at Port of Spain by 7 wickets. It was India’s first victory over the West Indies in six series, home and away, and helped clinch the rubber, with the other four Tests drawn. Gavaskar scored 65 and 67 not out on debut, and gave solid starts in both innings along with Bombay (now Mumbai) colleague Ashok Mankad.

Two other Bombay stars made it a habit of pulling India out of troubled waters. In the first Test at Kingston, with India tottering at 75 for five, Dilip Sardesai (212) and Eknath Solkar (61) put on 137 runs to help raise a respectable total of 387. With no play on the first day, the follow-on could be enforced in the four-day Test with a lead of 150 runs, and Wadekar in his maiden Test as captain inflicted this ignominy on the hosts. The ageing Rohan Kanhai and skipper Garfield Sobers brought back memories of their halcyon days in a match-saving fourth-wicket partnership of 173 runs. Kanhai scored 56 and 158 not out, and Sobers 44 and 93. It seemed that the experienced middle-order would have to see the West Indies through, for the bowling was depleted, with Sobers having to bowl long stints.

It was not to be. Sobers and Kanhai did not fire in the second Test, and Clive Lloyd was a disappointment through the series. India won the Test with ease, heralding one of the happiest phases in their history, and marking the beginning of the end of Sobers’ days as leader. The brilliant side that he had inherited from Worrell, and which flowered under him in the mid-sixties, had all but disintegrated. In that triumph at Port of Spain, after Gavaskar’s promising debut, once again Sardesai (112) and Solkar (55) added 114 for the fifth wicket to give India a handsome first innings lead. Then as Wadekar, in a master-stroke, brought on the tall left-arm spinner Salim Durrani who castled Lloyd (15) and Sobers (0), India were on the road to victory. Gavaskar ultimately brought up the win in the company of Abid Ali.

That was the point when Indian cricket earned its self-respect, and emerged from the shadows onto the world stage. The man to show the way was the little opener. Rarely has one man done so much to change the fortunes of a nation’s sport. Inevitably, Gavaskar’s maiden Test century came in the next innings. He scored 116, once again laying a solid foundation to the Indian innings along with Mankad, and helping India take the first innings lead. It took an unbroken 170-run fourth-wicket stand between Charlie Davis and Sobers, unbeaten with 125 and 108 respectively, to save the day for the West Indies. Sobers’ declaration provided the opportunity to Gavaskar to score his third sixty. This time he clocked up an unbroken century stand with Mankad, worth 123 when stumps were finally drawn.

The only innings in which Gavaskar failed in the series was at Bridgetown when he was caught at mid-wicket off debutant paceman Uton Dowe for 1. Yet again Sardesai (150) and Solkar (65) retrieved the situation, this time from an even more abysmal 70 for six, faced with a huge West Indies score of 501 for five declared. Sobers had scored a monumental unbeaten 178 and put on 167 for the fourth wicket with Davis. On this occasion Sardesai and Solkar were associated in a 186-run partnership. The tailenders held on with Sardesai to save the follow-on. Sobers set India a target of 335 to win in a little over five hours. The run chase was never on and Gavaskar, in his own words, played “purely a defensive innings” of 117 not out, though he did fire a few rousing shots including a hooked six off Dowe. The Test was saved.

On the eve of the six-day final Test, again at Trinidad, Gavaskar developed severe toothache and spent a sleepless night. He had to wait for his troublesome tooth to be extracted till the Test was over and was denied pain-killers even at night on the plea that they would make him drowsy during play. Mankad had fractured his right wrist fending off a Dowe snorter in the second innings at Bridgetown, and his replacement Kenia Jayantilal broke his thumb in the intervening match at Dominica. As a result Abid Ali accompanied Gavaskar at the top of the order. Sobers, under pressure to square the series, opened the bowling, sending down a torrid spell. Abid Ali fell for 10 and Wadekar for 28. Gavaskar and Sardesai then put on 122, the little opener batting through the pain to score 124.

Sobers was indeed a determined man. He hit up 132, putting on 183 for the fifth wicket with Davis (105). West Indies piled up 526, a lead of 166. The pressure was on India. Gavaskar was now weak and worn out, still in pain, unable to eat or sleep properly, and having fielded for long hours in hot and humid conditions. Sobers was again sharp with the new ball, trapping Abid Ali early. Wadekar, though, helped Gavaskar add 148 runs.

The battle lines were drawn on the fifth day as Gavaskar soldiered on. He completed his second century of the Test to a huge ovation, with some of the spectators invading the pitch. He began the final day on 180, in very poor physical condition. And when he cover-drove Dowe to bring up his double hundred, all hell broke loose. The delirious crowd hoisted him high and literally played around with the little fellow. It was only the second time in Test history, after Doug Walters’ 242 and 103 against the West Indies in 1968-69, that a hundred and double hundred had been scored in the same game. Gavaskar had progressed to 220 when he finally chopped a ball on to his stumps. The next highest was Wadekar’s 54. Now at last Gavaskar could get his tooth extracted. It was a painstaking effort, literally, that ensured a landmark series triumph for the country. 

The West Indies needed 262 to win with time running out. In the end their ninth-wicket pair hung on precariously to eke out a draw. Such was Gavaskar’s memorable, and phenomenal, initiation in Test cricket. No one had scored so many runs, 774, on first appearance. That was in just four Tests, and his average of 154.80 would have made Bradman proud. The entire cricketing world was now talking about this 21-year-old. Over the next sixteen years Gavaskar earned the admiration and respect of players, critics and fans alike, and came to be rated as one of the greatest opening batsmen ever.

It might not have been a top-class West Indies bowling attack and Sobers may have dropped him on a couple of occasions, but Gavaskar displayed a wonderful technique, a wide range of strokes, patience, determination, resilience and a tremendous will to battle on in the face of acute physical discomfort. Surely, this little young man was out of the ordinary.

(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

Don’s Century by Indra Vikram Singh: Biography of Don Bradman and a panorama of batting from the 1860s to the present times

 Don’s Century

Biography of Don Bradman

and a panaroma of batting from the 1860s 

to the present times

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

 

The questions still asked are: how great was Don Bradman actually, was he just a run-getting machine and a statistical marvel, or was he truly the best there has ever been, have there been other batsmen as good or better than Bradman. Don’s Century analyses Bradman’s batting technique, brings forth his amazing achievements at the crease, and assesses the merits of other great batsmen from the 1860s to the present times. Written in the centenary year of the peerless Don Bradman, the book is a celebration of the life and magic of the willow of The Don, and also of the art of batting and indeed the game of cricket. 

The 11-chapter book by Indra Vikram Singh, the only Indian biographer of Bradman, interspersed with stories and comments from legendary writers and cricketers alike, and extensively researched from scores of old publications, has three sections.

The main segment showcases Bradman's days at the crease from Bowral to Sydney, on to Lord's and Leeds, back to Adelaide, and finishing at The Oval in 1948. The legend begins with young Don’s rise to the top, his first fifty and hundred in the backwaters of Bowral, the maiden double century against Wingello and triple ton versus Moss Vale, hundred on first-class debut and on to Test cricket. Bradman’s legendary feats in the Test arena are recalled in all their magnificence, the hundreds in his first Test series, the unprecedented and still-unparalleled triumphs of the Ashes tour of 1930, and annihilation of the West Indies and South African teams.

The saga undergoes a dramatic twist with the vicious Bodyline attack that was devised solely to decimate the genius of Bradman. This chapter carries extracts from letters received by the author from England’s Bob Wyatt who was vice captain to Douglas Jardine during that infamous series.

The aftermath of Bodyline, Bradman’s exhilarating fightbacks on and off the field, how his stirring deeds brought solace to the suffering millions during the Great Depression, and his resilience as captain of Australia are presented lucidly, leading to the sabbatical brought about by the Second World War. The final lap of The Don’s career after the war, the firm hold on the Ashes, his exploits against the first Indian team after the nation’s independence, and finally the 1948 tour of England by his ‘Invincibles’ are described vividly and objectively. The text is supplemented by twenty scorecards detailing Bradman’s finest achievements in the first-class and Test arenas.

A large chapter in the middle is a panorama of batting portraying thirty-four of the best players down the ages, for no story of Sir Donald Bradman can be complete without an appraisal of other giants of the crease.

Commencing with the colossus of the Victorian era Dr. W.G. Grace, the captivating genius Prince Ranjitsinhji, the endearing and enthralling Victor Trumper from Australia, the complete master Sir Jack Hobbs, continuing with the likes of Frank Woolley, Charles 'Governor General' Macartney, Bill Ponsford, Walter Hammond, Stan McCabe, the forbear to West Indies giants George Headley, the brilliant South Africans Bruce Mitchell and Dudley Nourse, India’s Vijay Merchant, Sir Leonard Hutton, Dennis Compton, Neil Harvey, Arthur Morris, the inimitable Ws Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Clyde Walcott, the original little master Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad, the incomparable Sir Garfield Sobers, Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Greg Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Vivian Richards, arguably New Zealand’s finest Martin Crowe, Steve Waugh, the exhilarating Sri Lankan Aravinda de Silva, and concluding with the champions of the modern era Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden, and many more referred to down history, how good they were, and how they compared with each other and Bradman.

They include some of Bradman's favourite players. This is not just a factual or statistical segment, but importantly talks about the epochs and conditions they played in, and also has interesting little tales. It traces the evolution and development of the game from W.G. Grace’s days in the 1860s till the present day.

The third and concluding part explores the vicissitudes of Bradman’s life, trials and tribulations, his persona, way of life and quest for excellence, the detractors, friends and family, post-retirement days and role as cricket administrator, and the final stretch of one of the most amazing stories ever, of a sporting hero and icon beyond compare. A handwritten letter from The Don received by the author Indra Vikram Singh in 1999, and an article based on it that he wrote at Bradman’s demise in 2001, are all featured in this tribute to the unquestioned king of kings of the crease.

There are nearly 100 classic photographs of Bradman and other greats in sepia brown from the top agencies of the world. A comprehensive statistics section highlighting Bradman’s accomplishments and records sums up the inspirational tale. A detailed index makes the book extremely user-friendly.

Contents

Chapter 1 : Born to Conquer

Chapter 2 : The Phenomenon

Chapter 3 : Sinister Plot

Chapter 4 : Truly Immortal

Chapter 5 : At the Helm

Chapter 6 : The Ageing Lion

Chapter 7 : Peerless Rungetter and Other Masters of the Willow

Chapter 8 : Reclusive and Focussed

Chapter 9 : The Game's Ultimate Authority

Chapter 10 : Travails Off the Field

Chapter 11 : End of a Glorious Innings

Career Record

Bibliography

Index

(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.)

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

A Maharaja's Turf by Indra Vikram Singh: Collector’s edition on the triumph of Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla in the Epsom Derby of England in 1934

 A Maharaja's Turf

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6

Fully Illustrated

Hardcover with jacket 8.75 x 11.5 x 0.6 inches (landscape)

Weight 500 grams

140 Pages

Available at an attractive price on Amazon  https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166832

This is the story of the exhilarating victory of Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla in the Epsom Derby of England in 1934, the only Indian owner to win the blue riband of the turf in its history dating back to 1780. The dapper Indian prince’s horse Windsor Lad left the hitherto undefeated favourite Colombo trailing in third place in the presence of royalty led by King George V and Queen Mary, and a multitude of an estimated quarter to half a million people on that damp afternoon of 6th June. The triumph earned the Maharaja a unique hat-trick of Derby victories as he had already clinched the first Indian Derby at Calcutta in 1919 with his horse Tipster, and the Irish Derby at Curragh in 1926 with Embargo.

The enthralling tale recounted by the Maharaja’s grandson Indra Vikram Singh offers an insider's insight, and is embellished with rare media photographs of the race and from the Rajpipla royal family collection over many generations. It has been extensively researched from about 80 newspapers and magazines of 1934, five books and websites, and carries articles by the Maharaja himself. There are news reports, cartoons and caricatures which open out a whole new world. Featured are the British royal family, the Aga Khan, Maharaja Man Singh II of Jaipur and the leading racehorses, owners, trainers and jockeys of the day, among other eminent personalities. 

The book captures the era between the two World Wars, of imperial times and a royal lifestyle, also going back centuries into history, connecting the past and the present and depicting the march of time, even as the thrilling race remains the central theme. It unfolds the tale of the uncanny prophesy of Gipsy Lee, the several coincidences around the number 13, the defeat of a 'super-horse', and the unrelenting quest of a prince to realise his dream that is bound to keep the reader transfixed.

(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 :

Chapter 1 : Chasing a dream

Chapter 2 : Thoroughbred with great potential

Chapter 3 : Captivating prelude

Chapter 4 : Day of glory

Chapter 5 : "Good old Pip"

Chapter 6 : A time to celebrate

Chapter 7 : Media carnival

Chapter 8 : Windsor Lad: gallant and endearing

Chapter 9 : Marcus Marsh: chip off the old block

Chapter 10 : Charlie Smirke: dashing rider with a point to prove

Chapter 11 : An uncanny forecast..... and the lucky number 13

Chapter 12 : Was 'super horse' Colombo unlucky?

Chapter 13 : Experts and bookmakers bite the dust

Chapter 14 : Poignant moments

Chapter 15 : 'I didn't think I would win the Derby - I knew'

Chapter 16 : "My Three Derbys"

Chapter 17 : A life blessed

Chapter 18 : The family's cherished memories

Chapter 19 : Special postal cover to commemorate the platinum jubilee of the Derby triumph

Chapter 20 : Rajpipla State post

Chapter 21 : The Gohil Rajput clan

Epilogue

Bibliography

Colour photo feature / Royal family of Rajpipla in modern times

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

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

 

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket by Indra Vikram Singh: A definitive coffee-table collector’s edition on the ICC World Cups 1975 to 2011

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3

Fully illustrated

Hardcover with jacket 11.5 x 8.75 x 1 inches

544 pages

Weight 2 Kg 20 gms

Available at an attractive price on Amazon https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166840

 

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket is a definitive, fully-illustrated all-colour collector’s edition that contains virtually everything about all the cricket World Cups from 1975 to 2011.

Beginning with a story of every tournament from 1975 to 2007, including the commercial facet, sponsorship and prize money, logos and mascots, it carries a preview of the 2011 event as well. There are highlights and sidelights, drama and controversy, and the stars of the biggest event in One-day cricket.

Featured are 49 classic matches, those nail-biting encounters and stunning upsets, and 51 memorable individual performances by players in different matches. The Hall of Fame section showcases 93 top players in the World Cup and also comprises interviews with Cup-winning captains Kapil Dev, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

The statistics sections comprise a wide range of records, and performances of all the 19 teams that have appeared in the first nine editions of the World Cup, detailed scorecards of all the 303 matches played from 1975 to 2007, and batting averages, bowling averages and fielding data of all the 823 players who turned out in the premier event.

The tailenders bring forth the lighter moments and trivia. As many as 250 photographs, mostly in colour, from the world's leading photographers and agencies Patrick Eagar, Getty Images and Pradeep Mandhani embellish this mammoth effort.

The piece-de-resistance is a handwritten letter of Sir Donald Bradman received by the author in 1999, which led him to dedicate the book to The Don.

(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

Letter from Sir Donald Bradman

Section 1 : The Cricket World Cup: A Great Spectacle

Section 2 : Classic Matches

Section 3 : Memorable Performances

Section 4 : Hall of Fame

Section 5 : Statistics

Section 6 : Records

Section 7 : Scorecards

Section 8 : Averages

Section 9 : Tailenders

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

 

The elegant and consistent Greg Chappell. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

Greg Chappell had class stamped all over him. Tall, upright, elegant with a high backlift, he was one of the finest on-drivers the game has seen. Consistent and unyielding, he has been a serious student of the game. Chappell scored a hundred on Test debut at Perth. He impressed with the amount of time he had to play his strokes even on that fast track against a hostile English pace attack of John Snow, Peter Lever and Ken Shuttleworth. He reached his century amid a flurry of strokes before he was dismissed for 108.

A decade-and-a-half later, in his final Test against Pakistan at Sydney, Greg Chappell needed 68 runs to equal Bradman’s Australian record aggregate of 6996 runs. Chappell passed The Don’s mark, became the first from his country to log up 7000 Test runs, and notched up a century, the only batsman to score hundreds in his first and last innings. He bid adieu to the game with a magnificent 182. Two other greats retired along with him after this Test - Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh. They came together and they went together. Call it destiny if you will, but things have a way of unfolding in amazing fashion. Nobody could have planned it that way. The plot is always scripted elsewhere.

When the Rest of the World, replacing South Africa, visited Australia in 1971-72, Greg Chappell was in commanding form, hitting up 425 runs in three matches at an average of 106.25. In the Wellington Test of 1973-74 against New Zealand, Greg Chappell emulated compatriot Doug Walters, Lawrence Rowe and Sunil Gavaskar by scoring a double century and century. Brian Lara emulated the feat in 2001-02. Chappell’s 247 not out and 133, totalling 380 runs, was the highest scored in a Test match until Graham Gooch hit up 333 and 123 against India at Lord’s in 1990. In that Wellington game, elder brother Ian Chappell scored 145 and 121.   

In 1975-76 Greg Chappell took over the Australian captaincy from Ian. It was a keenly-awaited six-Test series between the 1975 One-day World Cup champions West Indies and runners-up Australia, a terrific match-up between classy batting line-ups and fearsome pace attacks. The Aussies prevailed and how; they walloped Clive Lloyd’s side 5-1, the only defeat being at Perth where Roy Fredericks blazed to that scintillating 169. Greg Chappell hit a hundred in each innings again, 123 and 109 not out at Brisbane. In the Sydney Test he hit up an unbeaten 182. 

Kerry Packer intervened for two seasons between 1977-79 and Chappell was lost to the international game, like so many other stalwarts. He returned to captain Australia, later only in home series. A useful medium-pace change bowler, Chappell was a composed fielder, particularly in the slips. If his grandfather, former Australian captain and Bradman contemporary, Victor Richardson, was the first fielder to take five catches in a Test, against South Africa at Durban in 1935-36, Greg Chappell was the first to pouch seven in the same Test, against England at Perth in 1974-75. He finished with 122 Test catches, surpassing Colin Cowdrey’s record of 120. Later several others held more, with Rahul Dravid being the current record-holder with 207 catches in 157 Tests. 

The one faux pas in his career was when as captain he asked the bowler, his younger brother Trevor, to underarm the last delivery of the third One-day final of the World Series Cup against New Zealand on February 1, 1981. There was massive public outrage and the New Zealand prime minister shot off a telegram to his Australian counterpart, accusing the Aussie team of cowardice. The fallout was that underarm bowling, eclipsed since the days of a young W.G. Grace, was finally consigned to the pages of history. Chappell was crucified. This singular mindless act has sometimes returned to haunt Greg Chappell, but was really an aberration in the career of a dignified batsman. He finished with 7110 runs in 87 Tests, 24 hundreds and an average of 53.86. Greg Chappell was a class act.

(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

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price  

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859

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/

True greats of South African batting, Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards…..what might have been. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

Graeme Pollock

Barry Richards

The South African Graeme Pollock was also a top-class left-handed stroke-player like Sobers, but that is where the comparison ended. In almost every other way Pollock was different. Tall, strongly built and seemingly laboured, he was not athletic, unlike Sobers, and it showed in his running between wickets, and fielding, where he was at best a safe catcher. Stooping low into his stance, with legs spread apart, the power in his shots came from timing, quite the anti-thesis of Sobers who had a big backlift and played his shots with a flourish.

Pollock was also considered primarily an off-side player, like another big man Wally Hammond, but could get the ball away on the on-side, particularly with his short-arm pull shots. His 3 lb bat, very heavy for those times, was like a club as he drove and cut in awesome fashion. Inzamam-ul-Haq was perhaps, in some ways, a mirror image of Graeme Pollock for their laidback style, but that was an illusion because they spotted the ball early and had plenty of time to play their strokes. That explained their unhurried movements. The Pakistani batsman though was more aesthetic, with footwork quite nimble for a burly physique, and apt to hit straighter.    

Prodigiously talented, one of Pollock’s finest innings was at Nottingham in 1965. With the ball seaming around, South Africa were reduced to 80 for five. He put on 98 with skipper Peter van der Merwe, whose contribution was 10. Pollock slammed the English bowlers for 21 boundaries all over Trent Bridge, clocking up 125 runs off 145 balls.

His finest hour came at Durban in 1970. In the company of Barry Richards, he flayed the Australian attack. Pollock went on record the highest Test score for South Africa, a tremendous 274 that demoralised the opposition. At 26 years he was at the height of his powers when, soon after, South Africa were banished from Test cricket for their policy of apartheid. It was a cruel blow, for Pollock had aggregated 2256 runs in only 23 Tests for an average of 60.97, the best-ever barring Bradman, among those who have played at least 20 innings.

Barry Richards suffered an even worse fate. That was the only Test series he got to play. In those four games he scored 508 runs, averaging 72.57, with two hundreds. His highest of 140 was in that scintillating stand with Graeme Pollock at Durban when they blasted 103 runs in an hour after lunch on the first day. Richards reached his century in the first over after lunch off just 116 deliveries. Several observers have rated him among the best batsmen ever. Brian Johnston watched him at close quarters, not only in that 1969-70 home series against Australia, but for long years in county cricket for Hampshire, where his opening partner was a West Indian named Gordon Greenidge.

Johnston wrote in It’s Been a Piece of Cake: “He had, and played, every stroke off the front foot and the back. With a high backlift he played beautifully straight, and used his feet far more than the others I have mentioned (Sobers, Hutton, May, Cowdrey, Greg Chappell and Viv Richards), with the exception of Bradman, Hammond and Compton. He would even dance down the wicket to the fast bowlers. Barry’s technique was backed by his supreme confidence in his own ability, and an insolent contempt for all bowlers.”

The little master himself, Sunil Gavaskar, made a telling observation in The Times of India in 1995: “Barry Richards was the first batsman I saw playing the lofted shot over extra-cover. This was in the Sunday League in England in 1971. Till he demonstrated how to do it, batsmen tended to hit the ball over the infield on the leg-side if they wanted quick runs. The inside-out shot over extra-cover is more difficult, for one has to really get to the pitch of the ball to be able to hit it away from the fielders. Since there used to be no fielders posted on the extra-cover boundary, it was easy to pick up boundaries there and soon this shot was being copied by other batsmen effectively and is now a normal shot in all kinds of cricket.” That is a stamp of genius.  

In his very first season for Hampshire in 1968, Richards topped their run chart with 2395 runs. The next highest for the county was by Barry Reed with a tally of 990. He scored heavily each year in county cricket, though he had moderate success for the Rest of the World, who replaced the banned South African team, for the 1970 tour of England. Richards went Down Under to play in the Sheffield Shield, and he was sensational. In 1970-71, he hit up 356 for South Australia against Western Australia, 325 of which were scored on the first day of the match. In 1977 he signed up for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. Even though he was past his prime, Richards performed exceedingly well, confronted as he was with quality opposition once again.

It is, therefore, not altogether a surprise that Bradman chose him to partner Arthur Morris in his All Time XI. For a man of Richards’ calibre it became increasingly difficult to motivate himself to continue playing the inferior trundlers at the first-class level. He walked away from it all, frustrated at being kept out of Test cricket.

Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards were part of a brilliant South African team that continued the process begun by the supremely talented West Indies teams led by Frank Worrell and Gary Sobers, and finally and emphatically did away with the supremacy of England and Australia for the first time in the 90-year history of Test cricket. Under Peter van der Merwe and Ali Bacher, South Africa defeated England 1-0 in 1965 in an away series, and then trounced Australia twice at home, 3-1 in a five-Test series in 1966-67, and a 4-0 whitewash in 1969-70.

Coming off a comfortable 3-1 triumph in India, Bill Lawry’s Australian side was handed a mauling of frightening proportions by the South Africans. The margins of defeat were 170 runs, innings and 127 runs, 307 runs, and 323 runs. It was humiliating, to put in kindly, and a far cry from the heady days of Bradman. South Africa could now justifiably claim to being the no. 1 Test team in the world, even as their apartheid regime resulted in prevention of face-offs with the ‘coloured’ nations.

The nucleus of the 1965-70 South African teams comprised the allrounders, former skipper Trevor Goddard and Eddie Barlow, arguably the greatest-ever cover fielder Colin Bland, wicketkeeper-batsman Dennis Lindsay, pace duo of Graeme’s elder brother Peter Pollock and the wrong-footed in-swinger Mike Procter, who was also a tremendous batsman, and two star run-getters Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards. It is such a pity that their Test careers had to be halted abruptly in their prime.

(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

188 pages