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Showing posts from March, 2017

Birth of Captain Cool : MS Dhoni

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Dhoni made his international debut on 23 December 2004 vs Bangladesh, in just 42 innings he became the number one ODI batsman in ICC ranking which is fastest till date. Dhoni as a batsman was known to all till 2007 T20 world cup but no one could ever think that this boy from  # Ranchi  can do wonders as a captain.  He was appointed as a captain where no senior player took part and he had to lead a bunch of young guys in the first ever T20 world cup. Remember India just played one T20 match before going to South Africa. India could not even qualify the group stage in the 50 over format in the same year and that added more pressure for the players, but talents and dedication took the young Indian to the final against their age old rival  # Pakistan  and everyone will remember the last over gamble by Dhoni opting for Jogindar Sharma and not going for  Harbhajan Singh , India won the world cup by 5 runs . That was the day when Indian cricket got a Captain who took India to much higher

Achieving the Impossible : Sachin Tendulkar

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24 th of Feb 2010 at   Gwalior  vs South Africa , India was taking on against the best bowling attack of the world , who might have thought that a new world record was about to be created in Gwalior. If you remember only two players before that day scored 194 runs in ODI cricket one was Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar  in 1997 and other was Zimbabwe’s Charles Conventry in 2009. But the little master had some other plans that day, he played his normal game and kept on playing till he passed his previous best of 186.Then suddenly people started expecting that will the master blaster do what no other player could achieve in ODI and certainly Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar ended his innings by scoring first ever double century in ODI history.   Four batsmen have gone past 200 in ODIs after Sachin. Virender Sehwag, Martin Guptill, Rohit Sharma (twice), and Chris Gayle but one will never forget the first ever 200 in ODI.  Maybe this was the ODI where other players started believing that 2

Amit Rana : Spin Magician in Making

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Cricket these days has reached in such a place where the level of competition has no definition. A player needs to do every possible thing in the field to make himself unique from the other. Meet Amit Rana a small town young lad from Rothak Haryana, he is a right arm off spinner and middle order batsman of the Haryana cricket team. His performance in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare trophy was eye catching, not only economical but this bowler is also known for his wicket taking ability in any surface. He is a big fan of the little master Sachin Tendulkar and wants to contribute for his nation by playing the gentlemen’s game.  His dream is to make his debut against Pakistan. In last 10 to 15 years these small town boys came and represented the nation, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina Ravindra Jadeja are a living example, How far will Amit Rana the young promising talent go? Are you ready to see another young off spin magician in the future? 

When the young guns gave Dada a chance to wave off his shirts in Lords

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13th July 2002 Lords, That day was the birth of a young team India. India chasing a mammoth total of 325 vs England in the  # NatWest  Final.   Not many team chased over 300 in those days. India started well but soon they were no where when they lost 5 wicket and was left out with last recognized batting pair Kaif-Yuvraj. They put on 121 runs for the sixth wicket, which gave Saurav Ganguly the then Indian captain a chance to wave off his shirt in the air form the lords balcony creating an iconic moment in Indian History.   I believe from that particular day India felt that they can even win matches away from home and even the young guns can come and spoil the party for the opposition. That match according to me was the birth of an new team India.

Test match worth Remembering forever

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Mar 11-15, 2001,  # Kolkata  : If I am taking you back to 2001 I have got a valid reason to do so. In one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of cricket, VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for one whole day to not only save the test match, but also build a huge lead over Australia. India were following on by 274.They ended up setting a target of 384.  That wasn't enough to demolish the Aussies, the birth of a spin wizard to ok place that day,Harbhajan Singh took 6 wicket in second innings, Harbhajan became the first ever Indian to take a test hat trick, India won the match by 171 runs and became the second team to win a test match after following on. India had chased and snatched the victory from mouth of the mighty Kangaroos, hence breaking their record of 16 consecutive test wins.This possibly is the greatest Test ever played.

When Nawab became the Sultan of Multan

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30th March 2004, who can forget the day when  # India  was taking on  # Pakistan  in Multan in one of the three test matches. Viru showed the world what damage he can do with his style of cricket in the longer format. He became the first Indian to score a triple ton in cricket history when he blasted a 309 against the most destructive bowling attack of the world in those days.  The Nawab of Najafgarh demolished the  # Pakistani  bowling attack and helped India to post a mammoth total of 675/5. Not many people in those days used to take test match in an attacking approach but  Virender Sehwag  had some other things in his mind and he changed the stereotypical approach of batting in a test match. That was a day when people realized that something new was coming to save the glory of  # TestCricket  and hence the Nawab became the undisputed Sultan of Multan.