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

Innings of his life by Yashpal Sharma as India shocked the West Indies. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘The Big Book of World Cup Cricket’

 The champions slump to first World Cup defeat

INDIA v WEST INDIES  •  OLD TRAFFORD, 

MANCHESTER, 9 & 10 JUNE 1983

Yashpal Sharma was the hero of India's shock win over reigning champions West Indies
in their opening encounter in the World Cup 1983.

Twice-champions West Indies had never lost a match in the World Cup. That added up to nine wins in ten matches, with one being washed out. India had won only one of their six matches - against non-descript East Africa eight years earlier - and had finished last in their group in the previous World Cup. The other known parameter was the wet Manchester weather and, true to form, early morning rain delayed the start.

It would have taken a brave man, or a lunatic, to predict anything other than a one-sided contest in favour of the West Indies. The Indian openers Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikanth were confronted by the same Caribbean attack as in the previous World Cup except that Colin Croft had made way for Malcolm Marshall. That would have provided no succour to the batsmen, for Marshall was just as menacing as his predecessor, and approaching his peak at that point.

Predictably, the West Indies had India in trouble. Sandeep Patil played some typically belligerent strokes but he perished to the gentle off-spin of Larry Gomes, as did Kapil Dev. At 141 for five it seemed like a familiar story. 

Yashpal Sharma may not have been the most graceful batsman in the world but he was as gritty, and cheeky, as they come. He batted with tremendous application, and in the company of Roger Binny put on 73 priceless runs for the sixth wicket. His 89 off 120 deliveries inclusive of 9 fours was perhaps the innings of his life. At 262 for eight in their 60 overs, India had a total good enough to stretch the champions.

A customary rousing start was but a mirage on this occasion. Both Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes fell on either side of the half-century mark. At stumps the score read 67 for two, with 22 overs already bowled. 

When play resumed next morning, the asking-rate was well above five-an-over. A sense of urgency was the order of the day. With a keen tussle on, India were jubilant as the mighty Vivian Richards was taken behind by Syed Kirmani off Binny in the second over of the day. The West Indies were already on the back foot and their cause was not helped as wickets tumbled regularly in the run-chase. Amazingly, India were tightening their grip on the match. At 157 for nine, the West Indies found themselves in dire straits with 106 runs still required.

Andy Roberts had been in such situations before. He could make a few hefty swipes, and also defend resolutely when the occasion demanded. With him was Joel Garner, in whose hands the bat looked undersized. They dug in and, as the score mounted, there were murmurs all around about the hair-raising last-wicket stand between Roberts and Deryck Murray eight years earlier, almost to the day, which clinched victory against Pakistan. Roberts and Garner raised 71 runs but the Indians kept their heads. Ravi Shastri enticed Garner out of the crease and Kirmani removed the bails. The West Indies fell short by 34 runs with almost six overs remaining. 

A disappointed Clive Lloyd recounted: "I said before the competition began that it could be more open than in the past and this has proved to be true." It was another shocking result in this exciting World Cup.

India: 262 for 8 wickets (60 overs)

West Indies: 228 all out (54.1 overs)

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

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket

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

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

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.in/sk=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

Steve Waugh, legendary warrior. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

Steve Waugh was different; cool of mind and stout of spirit, he was a fighter to the core. He left arguably the biggest impact on the game in Australia since Bradman. His predecessor Allan Border was also a gritty batsman, and became the highest run-getter in Test cricket. But Border would grind the opposition, rather than dominate them, and the one feature that characterised his batting was his propensity to sweep. When the chips were down Border would be an immovable object for the opposition, but there was nothing endearing about him.

That was not the case with Steve Waugh. He was forever proving his critics wrong through sheer strength of character. His twin Mark was far more talented with the bat as well as a fielder, and more elegant by miles. But it was Steve who first broke into the Australian team and stayed in longer. He played a key role in Australia’s first World Cup triumph in 1987 as a bowler sans nerves, and a lower middle-order batsman with an abundance of commonsense. His stock as a batsman continued to rise, and he became a reliable rungetter by the late eighties.

It was under Border’s captaincy, and with the guiding hand of Bobby Simpson, that Australia won the 1987 World Cup, but try as he might he could not turn Australia into the best in the world in either form of the game. That changed when the more genial and composed Mark Taylor took over. Steve Waugh, helped by twin Mark, stood up to the West Indies pacemen in a titanic battle at Kingston in 1994-95, which was crucial for wresting the Test series 2-1, amazingly for the first time against these rivals in nine attempts since the heady days of 1975-76. In that Test Steve Waugh scored 200 and Mark Waugh 126. 

Then Australia were runners-up in the 1996 World Cup, with Mark Waugh in delightful form, but Steve not too far behind with bat and ball. Steve Waugh first took over the One-day captaincy, and then the top job in Tests as well. The start belied what lay ahead as Brian Lara’s genius denied Australia a Test series win in the Caribbean in 1998-99, and then Steve Waugh’s team faltered in the early stages of the 1999 World Cup. But Australia were unstoppable once Waugh’s fighting hundred, aided by a gaffe in the field by Herschelle Gibbs, in their last super-six match, and subsequent tie in the semi-final, also against South Africa, breathed life into the team.          

They went on to lift the 1999 World Cup, and then carve an unprecedented 16 consecutive Test victories. Steve Waugh built one of the greatest teams in history, and his own batting continued to rise to greater heights. He scored an exhilarating century at Sydney in the 2002-03 Ashes series as a scathing riposte to his critics who wanted him out of the side. When he took his final bow a year later, he was given a touching farewell.

By then he was the most capped player ever at 168 Tests, Australia’s second-highest rungetter with 10,927 runs at an average of 51.06, and their top century maker with 32, surpassing Bradman’s tally. Steve Waugh never gave in, or gave up, the quintessential warrior always searching for new frontiers. He was strong on the back foot through the off-side, and played the slog sweep better than most. More admired than loved, he had no shot that would delight the connoisseur, but he was effective. He never learnt to deal with the rising delivery, but coped well enough. If ever there was a player with little natural ability, but achieved super success by dint of hard work, resilience and determination, it would have to be Steve Waugh.

(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

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s Test debut on this day 50 years ago. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

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.

(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

Martin Crowe…..classy strokeplayer, one of New Zealand’s best. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century

Perhaps the best batsman New Zealand produced is Martin Crowe. A classical strokeplayer, Crowe offered a straight bat and a still head, and his exquisite timing enabled him to caress the ball to the boundary. He was fluent and very easy on the eye. 

One rates him so high not just because he became the highest rungetter with the best average, and notched the most centuries and top score, for his country in the 77 Tests that he played. He logged up 5444 runs at an average of 45.36 with 17 hundreds and a highest score of 299 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91. These are fine figures, particularly for a batsman from New Zealand where the ball darts around. But Crowe’s batting transcended these numbers.

Stephen Fleming scored many more runs later, though at a significantly lower average, but he was nowhere as elegant or dominant as Crowe, nor so reliable. Fleming did not have a left-hander’s inherent grace, and his shot-selection invariably left a lot to be desired as he often lost his wicket after playing far too many cameos. Crowe had a touch of class and rarely gave the impression of being troubled by the bowling.

In One-day Internationals he scored 4704 runs at an average of 38.55, and his finest hour in this form came in the 1992 World Cup at home when he was captain. He inspired his team to seven consecutive wins before losing in the last round-robin match, and then the semi-final as well, to Pakistan each time. 

With the bat he was in brilliant touch, beginning with a superb 100 not out as New Zealand upset holders Australia, and then played more unbeaten innings of 74, 81 and 73, before being run out for 91 in the semi-final. Crowe hit 456 runs at an average of 114, to win the player-of-the-tournament award. Knee injury curtailed his career, but Martin Crowe shall remain one of the most classy strokeplayers the game has seen.

(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