As Bradman wound up his first Test series with a second hundred, critics failed to realise that a legend had arrived. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

Since the First World War, the Australians preferred eight-ball overs. But during this 1928-29 home Ashes series, and the next in 1932-33, six-ball overs were bowled. Thereafter again eight-ball overs were in force in Australia until 1979. South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand also tried this at various times. It was now 4-0, and as they say, there was little more than pride to play for in the final Test.

This Test, also at Melbourne, was a triumph for Bradman in more ways than one. Mercifully, Hammond’s run spree was over for the series, but Hobbs and Maurice Leyland got hundreds, and Hendren 95. The result was again a 500-plus total. Woodfull ground out another hundred for Australia, and Bradman came in at no. 5, only to see the opener depart immediately. But Alan Fairfax gave him valuable support in a 183-run partnership. Bradman raised his second Test hundred, a fine 123, this time batting for 217 minutes, having played 247 deliveries and hit 8 boundaries. Australia, though, finished 28 runs in arrears.

Some fine bowling by paceman Tim Wall (five for 66), helped restrict England to 257. The target was 286 runs, but there were only a few minutes left in the 6^th day’s play. So instead of the regular opening pair of Woodfull and Jackson, a duo of nightwatchmen in the form of wicketkeeper Oldfield and no. 11 Percival Hornibrook went in to face the top-class new-ball pair of Larwood and Tate. The makeshift twosome not only did a commendable job of guarding their wickets till stumps were drawn, but also laid a strong foundation on the morrow by posting 51 runs on the board. Hammond was commissioned to break the stubborn stand, and he finally breached Hornibrook’s defence. The newly-hoisted top-order bat had eked out 18 priceless runs off 116 balls in a stay of 97 minutes.

Oldfield made a bigger point, holding on to score 48 in a stay of more than two-and-a-half-hours. Then it was the turn of the real openers Woodfull and Jackson to get together in a stand of 49, after which Kippax and Ryder added 46. Finally, Bradman appeared at 204 for five on the 8^th day of the Test. Carefully, in harness with the captain, he carried Australia to victory. It had taken 134 overs and one delivery to eventually hand a defeat to the imperial power. Bradman returned unbeaten with 37, just a tiny portent of things to come.

Wally Hammond piled up 905 runs at an average of 113.12. This was the highest aggregate in a Test series by a long way, surpassing the brilliant South African allrounder Aubrey Faulkner’s tally of 732 in 1910-11, and Herbert Sutcliffe’s 734 in 1924-25, both against Australia. For Bradman it was a highly satisfying, if not exhilarating, initiation to Test cricket. He notched up 468 runs in his first four Tests, second in the team’s averages at 66.85 per innings. This was the only rubber that Australia lost, apart from the controversial Bodyline series of 1932-33, during the Bradman years. The 1938 face-off in England was drawn, while the other eight series ended on a victorious note.

Not all Englishmen, though, were convinced by Bradman’s methods. Concluding that the hard, bouncy Australian tracks enabled Bradman to get away with the pull shot he so favoured, Alfred ‘Tich’ Freeman told him, “You won’t be able to use those cross-batted shots of yours in England,” before he stepped on the boat headed home. As events were to prove later, the Kent leg-spinner had spoken a bit too soon. Surrey captain Percy Fender, who wrote a book on that 1928-29 tour, was also sceptical about Bradman’s technique, and there was a widely held view that this tendency to play across the line would cost him dear in England. Even the great medium-pacer Maurice Tate remarked, “You’ll be found out when you come to England if you play like that.” How utterly mistaken ‘experts’ can be in cricket was apparent even in the late 1920s. Bradman went on to register three of his best Test innings in England, the two triple centuries at Leeds, and 254 at Lord’s, which he himself rated as his finest. He averaged over 102 in Tests in England, and in all his four tours topped the all-comers first-class averages. Even in 1948, the English were still trying to figure out how to get rid of The Don.

Decades later, and in retrospect, former England batsman Doug Insole summed up Bradman’s game: “Don was completely different from Lara. He did not use many shots. He got into position so quickly that he could pull anything short and he made balls short that other men would have had to play defensively. He had a late cut and a hit through the off-side. But mostly his runs came from the pull.” This is what Freeman had seen during Bradman’s maiden Test series, and made a hasty judgement.

It was an extraordinary first-class season for Bradman. He hit the first of his six triple centuries, an unbeaten 340 in 488 minutes for New South Wales against Victoria at Sydney. In 13 matches he scored 1690 runs, still a record for an Australian season, at an average of 93.88 with 7 hundreds. It was a season that launched the Bradman legend. For the next two decades he was to dominate the cricket world like few sportspersons have the arenas of their great triumphs. Kenneth Farmer reflected, “He was Legend by the time the world realized he was news.”

(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 Bradman’s first Test century and the saga of timeless Tests. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

It was a disastrous Test debut for Don Bradman. England piled up 521, with Patsy Hendren hitting 169. Bradman walked in at no. 7, with Australia in deep trouble at 71 for five. Maurice Tate trapped him leg-before-wicket for 18. Harold Larwood snapped up six wickets for 32 runs, as Australia folded up for 122. Bradman fared worse in the second innings, dismissed for 1. Australia were humiliated, bowled out for 66 and beaten by 675 runs, the biggest margin in history. Very quickly had Bradman learnt what a tough life it is at the Test level. He was dropped from the playing eleven in the second Test.

Having to carry the drinks as 12^th man at the exquisite Sydney Cricket Ground must have rankled the aspiring batsman. Wally Hammond pulverized the Aussies with his 251 after Bill Ponsford had his left hand fractured by a nasty one from Larwood. Australia lost again, this time by eight wickets. The bitter experience, instead of demoralising Bradman, only strengthened his resolve. He was determined to make his mark. He did very soon, and this was the only time that he was ever dropped from the team. Picked for the third Test to replace the injured Ponsford, Bradman never looked back thereafter.

After the early damage caused by Larwood and Tate, Alan Kippax and skipper Jack Ryder put on 161 for the fourth wicket. Bradman consolidated the position with two useful stands with Ryder and Edward a’Beckett, scoring 79. But Hammond was awesome, bringing up his second successive Test double century, a round 200. After wiping out a first-innings deficit of 20 runs, Australia again battled hard. Bradman joined Bill Woodfull with four wickets down for 143, and helped the ever-determined opener carry the score to 201. Woodfull scored 107, and then Bradman staged a wonderful rearguard action, adding 93 for the eighth wicket with Ronald Oxenham. On the way young Don brought up his maiden Test hundred.

The crowd at the historic MCG hailed the coming of a new hero, giving him a standing ovation. All of Australia was agog. As Ken Piesse wrote in The Cricketer International: “Hats were thrown in the air, women waved their handkerchiefs and umbrellas. Motor cars hooted, tram bells clanged and passengers cheered and clapped.” Bradman was eventually caught behind for 112. He was in for six minutes over four hours and faced 281 balls, striking 7 fours. Cricket’s most famous saga had begun.

England needed 332 to win, and got them with three wickets to spare on the seventh day. Even today there is a misconception in some quarters about timeless Tests. It is believed that there is only one instance of a timeless Test ever played - the final game between South Africa and England at Durban in 1938-39. That, in fact, is the longest Test ever played, spread over eleven days, with nine days of actual play. As is well known, it was abandoned as a draw since the English team had to catch the ship leaving for home. Up to the Second World War, Test matches in Australia were timeless, after which a six-day limit was imposed. In England, Test matches were initially of three-day duration, but from 1912 onwards there was a provision that should a series be undecided at the commencement of the final Test, then that Test would be played to a finish. From 1930, Test matches in England were extended to four days, with the stipulation of a final deciding Test being timeless still in place. From 1948 onwards, duration of Tests in England were extended, and limited, to five days.

(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

Matthew Hayden, one of the hardest hitting opening batsmen in history. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

For long his colleague Matthew Hayden sizzled in the first-class game, but fizzled at the highest level. His successes for Queensland did not translate into performances of any note for Australia. His first stint was mediocre and he was dropped. The big man continued to persevere, scoring heavily in domestic cricket, finally making his breakthrough at the age of 29 in the 2000-01 series in India. It has been forgotten that in that big turnaround in the Kolkata Test, engineered by the Herculean partnership between V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid, Hayden was a star performer for Australia with scores of 97 and 67. Since then the southpaw did not look back. Each year from 2001 to 2005 he hit up 1000 Test runs. Forging highly successful left-handed opening partnerships, with Adam Gilchrist in the One-dayers and Justin Langer in Tests, Hayden played a key role in Australia’s golden run.

The big bully advanced menacingly down the pitch, almost intimidating the bowlers like a giant caveman brandishing a chunky club. He did actually club the ball with his booming drives, rasping cuts and thundering pulls. The most menacing hitter since Ian Botham, Hayden slammed pacemen and spinners alike. His one weakness was his tendency to play a shot too many in his quest to dominate the bowling, thereby often giving his wicket away.

In their heyday this century, the Australians came to be hailed for their quick scoring. This was mainly courtesy the rousing starts Hayden gave with his partners. In the Tests they would hammer the new ball around and Australia invariably clocked four runs an over. In the shorter version, Hayden and Gilchrist would knock up six to seven runs an over in the first fifteen overs with the field in. That was the foundation for the incredible success Australia achieved during his fruitful days at the top of the order.

Hayden’s moment of euphoria, of course, was when he broke Lara’s Test record, blasting 380 against Zimbabwe at Perth on October 10, 2003. The bowling may have been ordinary, but it was a terrific display of hitting. Hayden struck 38 fours and 11 sixes - 218 in boundaries alone - off just 437 balls in 10 hours and 22 minutes. He took 208 deliveries to reach his hundred, and then just 229 more for the rest of his 280 runs. The Perth wicket was not as fast and bouncy as of yore, and with the ball coming nicely on to the bat, Hayden made merry. India’s former captain S. Venkataraghavan, who was umpiring that match told The Times of India, “He’s just so uninhibited. Nothing seemed to bother him.”

Just over six months later on April 12, 2004 Lara snatched the record back. Hayden bludgeoned his way through to 8625 runs at an average of 50.73 with 30 hundreds in his 103 Tests. In the One-dayers Hayden slammed 6133 runs at an average of 43.80, and a strike-rate of 78.96. An essential part of Ponting’s all-conquering World Cup team, Hayden hit the then fastest century in the competition off 66 balls against South Africa at St. Kitts in 2007. He also had the highest aggregate in that tournament with 659 runs at an average of 73.22 with three hundreds in 11 matches. One of the hardest hitting opening batsmen in history, Hayden’s contribution to Australian cricket has been matched by few.

(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

What made Don Bradman such a champion? Remembering him on his birth anniversary 27th August. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

At the end of the day, when the stumps are drawn, every cap around the arena has to be doffed at this billionaire among millionaires, emperor among kings. He shall remain that one guiding light for all succeeding batsmen to follow, the ultimate benchmark against whom all great champions of the willow will be judged.

One of them, Sir Garfield Sobers made a telling observation: “A great player will get the bowler to do what he wants him to do by his genius. He will improvise and play unorthodox shots to defeat the field. Don Bradman did that and he was the greatest of them all.” It was sometimes said of Bradman that he knew what kind of delivery the bowler was going to send down. That was because he was dictating to the bowler just what he wanted by the way he had dealt with the deliveries before. 

Jack Fingleton said exactly that: “I heard prominent batsmen of his era, cast deep into the shadows that Bradman got more full tosses and long hops than anyone else. They were trying to suggest that Bradman was fortunate. He wasn’t. The point was that bowlers were made by Bradman to bowl to him as he wanted. He dictated that. His footwork, his abounding confidence, his skill pulverised the bowlers and mesmerized them. They just didn’t know where to bowl to him to keep him quiet.”

“He towered above his fellows,” wrote Fingleton in his book Cricket Crisis on the Bodyline series, “he dominated the stage so much that at one period it almost seemed that the game of cricket was subservient to the individual Bradman…..”

What was that one quality that made Don Bradman such a champion? Perhaps the one most qualified to shed light was his wife Jessie, who once told the celebrated writer and former editor of Wisden, John Woodcock: “More than anything, it was his single-mindedness; the ability to concentrate on any innings from the moment he woke up in the morning.” The key word here is focus, and who better to emphasise it than his own spouse. Let that remain the last word as well.

(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

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