Cricket Matches: tragic losses

• Multan Test vs Pakistan 2003
• Asia Cup ODI final vs Pakistan 2012
• ICC T20 vs India 2016
• England Tour ODI vs England 2016

KirK Edwards

‘লোকে যত বলে “আমি পারব না”, আমি ততই বলি “আমি পারব”। মানুষকে ভুল প্রমাণ করাতেই আমার আনন্দ।’ টেস্ট ক্রিকেটে পাঁচ ইনিংসে দ্বিতীয় সেঞ্চুরি—কার্ক এডওয়ার্ডস সেই পথেই আছেন।

I. L. Bula

Test player from Fiji with longest name: I._L._Bula

Brian Close does not think this English side is the best ever England team

Interview of Brian Close on BBC

Federer and Tendulkar

Federer and Tendulkar

Satisfaction is like engaging the handbrake and hoping a car moves forward: Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar has almost every batting record that is there to be made under his belt but the iconic Indian cricketer says he is still not satisfied with his career as he considers satisfaction the beginning of stagnation. "When you win something or score a century you say you are happy, but not satisfied. Satisfaction is like engaging the handbrake and hoping a car moves forward," Tendulkar told the latest issue of Sky Sports Magazine.

"I am not satisfied yet with my career and what I have done, not at all. I feel the moment you start to feel satisfied, then it is only natural that you begin to cool down and lose it," he explained. Tendulkar reiterated that he is not even thinking of retirement despite completing more than two decades in international cricket. "I still love cricket as much as ever. It is my job, but it is also my passion. Cricket remains in my heart, I don't need anything else to motivate me. I dreamed of playing for my country when I was young and it is still my dream, it is still fun for me," the 38-year-old right-hander said. "Life without cricket is unthinkable," he added.

Tendulkar attributed his longevity and recent success to a stricter fitness regime, not playing Twenty20 Internationals and bowling only sparingly. "I am still learning about the game. I figure something out about my batting all the time, you have to keep your mind open. I learn all the time, those small adjustments, with your footwork or bat swing can improve your game, I love doing that. You never know everything. Mentally that makes you feel so good. That is the best form of preparation," Tendulkar said.

Recalling India's recent World Cup triumph after a gap of 28 years, Tendulkar said when the defining moment of his career finally arrived, he wasn't in the middle of the field wielding his bat, nor was he even on the balcony watching his teammates.Instead, he was on his own in the dressing room, his hands clasped together, his eyes closed as he prayed in silence. He only knew India had won the World Cup when he heard that cathartic roar reverberate around the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as his captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the winning runs against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar described the experience as "a different kind of feeling, a high, like living on a different planet, it felt as though I was flying." He had waited 22 years for this moment.

For all his personal records - and he boasts the most Test runs and Test centuries, and the most One-Day runs and One-Day centuries - Tendulkar wanted something tangible, a trophy to lift, a medal to wear, and to win something as part of an Indian team. Tendulkar had played in the previous five World Cups, but had fallen short each time. The experience left him feeling "shattered beyond words."

His fellow players too laud the way Tendulkar has sustained himself at the top level.
"It has been fascinating watching the changes in his approach," said teammate Rahul Dravid. "From being a master blaster, he is now a mistake-proof batsman." While he can't control his body ageing, Tendulkar has increasingly sought to exert more control over his mind. "You have to be still in your mind, and keep it blank. It is also important to avoid any needless anger," he said.

"Growing up, I picked up a lot from my father, who never lost his temper, and I tried to follow that, so I don't lose my cool." This impenetrable mask doesn't slip away from the cameras either. "I have never seen him lose his temper in the dressing room, he has never thrown his bat around even when given out wrongly," said Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan.
"Maybe he will have an extra bowl of ice cream, and that is when you realise he is pretty upset."

Reference: i-am-not-satisfied-yet-tendulkar

Gayle's Retaliation

Everybody ignored him during IPL-4(Indian Premier League: Cricket) auction. He was considered one of the devastating batsmen of our age (besides Virender Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist, Tilkaratne Dilshan, Shane Watson). He retorted by hammering every opponent bowler around the park with utter disdain. Though I was a avid fan of his marauding batting, I personally not an admirer of his cricket ethics(in terms of prioritizing country vs club). But I have to say he is a champion.

Gayle's retaliation

Duckwork Lewis method

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ABOUT_CRICKET/RAIN_RULES/DUCKWORTH_LEWIS_2001.html

Retirement of Kumble following Ganguly's path

The spirit was willing but the flesh was 38 years old. Ultimately time, the sportsman's greatest enemy, claimed Anil Kumble. Pragmatic and inevitable it may be, but Kumble's decision will bring a lump to the throats of his fans, for he was not just a great bowler, he was a great inspiration. It has become a cliché to say that he was a great competitor; he fought hard without once compromising on dignity or integrity, and that is as important as the number of wickets he took.

The sight of Kumble emerging from the pavilion in Antigua six years ago, ready to bowl, his face bandaged, is one of cricket's most inspiring. He sent down 14 consecutive overs and became the first bowler to dismiss Brian Lara while bowling with a broken jaw. He was due to fly back to Bangalore the following day for surgery, and as he said, "At least I can now go home with the thought that I tried my best."


"It was one of the bravest things I've seen on the field of play," said Viv Richards.

There is something about sportsmen from Karnataka. The best are polite and gentle, supremely gifted but modest to a fault; they are old-fashioned gentlemen who respect what they do. Think Prakash Padukone or Gundappa Viswanath or BS Chandrasekhar or Rahul Dravid. Kumble fit into this category easily. He remains the same, unaffected soul who began his international career 19 years ago, slightly surprised at being elevated to the highest grade so early.

Every time I called him to wish him luck before a landmark, he would respond with, "Hope you'll be there." After claiming ten wickets in an innings in Delhi, he sent me a copy of the scoresheet signed by him.

He played 41 Tests fewer than Kapil Dev to go past Kapil's Indian record of 434 wickets; he bowled India to more victories than the entire spin quartet of the 1970s, yet he was condemned to being defined by negatives. The pundits told us he did not spin the ball, that he did not have the classic legspinner's loop, that he did not bowl slowly enough to get the ball to bite. Kumble was described by what he did not do rather than by what he did.

Why do we underrate Kumble, India's greatest match-winner? There are two reasons. One is the nature of the man himself. Kumble is undemonstrative and quietly confident rather than a noisy performer drawing attention to his deeds. The other is the nature of the aesthetics of cricket appreciation. This involves snobbery of a kind that is not associated with any other sport. It is more blessed to make a stirring 30 full of poetry-provoking strokes than a dogged half-century that might lead to a victory. This is the game's conceit - it is better to score a flamboyant 25 than to win, or to bowl that extravagant googly that has 50,000 spectators catching their breath than to get a batsman bowled with a straight delivery.

The Australian legspinner Arthur Mailey summed it up when he said, "I'd rather spin and see the ball hit for four than bowl a batsman out by a straight one." This is romantic but ridiculous. Neville Cardus gave this attitude a wide press. He famously wrote: "Who cares for the tussle for championship points if a Ranji be glancing to leg?" By equating the artistic with the beautiful Cardus divorced performance from result and ensured that in the mind of the "true" cricket lover the means would be more important than the ends.



As befits an engineering student, Kumble was comfortable with angles and understood that the difference between a good delivery and a bad one is only a matter of inches



The dramatic and the vivid can be artistic too, and if there is no great beauty in Kumble's bowling, there is certainly drama; and by being on the winning side in 43 Tests Kumble has displayed effectiveness too. Erapalli Prasanna once suggested uncharitably that Kumble would not have found a place in the Indian teams of his time. Yet, of the 98 Tests in which one or the other of Prasanna, Bishan Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkatraghavan played, India won only 23. This is not to show who was the better bowler but simply to lend some perspective. In the combined 231 Tests that the quartet played, they claimed 853 wickets. Had Kumble played that many he would have finished with 1083 wickets, for his strike-rate per Test, 4.69, is the best among that group. To look at it from another angle, Richie Benaud's is 3.93 and Shane Warne's 4.88.

Another way of looking at the figures is from the perspective of balls per wicket. Here too, among Indian spinners Kumble leads with a ball every 65.5 deliveries, just ahead of Chandrasekhar. Benaud needed 77 deliveries and Derek Underwood 74. Kumble is among the finest to have played the game.

He reduced bowling to its essentials, like an artist who simplifies but still retains the meaning of his work, or a dancer who cuts out unnecessary flourish.

There is no percentage in spinning across the face of the bat. The ball has to deviate only a couple of inches to miss the middle and take the edge instead. As befits an engineering student, Kumble was comfortable with angles and understood that the difference between a good delivery and a bad one is only a matter of inches. The amount of bounce he was able to generate often surprised batsmen; spin by itself is harmless unless accompanied by bounce. Above all he was able to create a doubt in the batsman's mind.

It is not necessary for beauty and effectiveness to work together. A Bishan Bedi is the exception rather than the rule. Beauty without cruelty is meaningless in sport. Dismissing batsmen is a cruel trade (from the batsman's point of view). You don't need beauty for that; just skill and a large heart. Anil Kumble had both. Let us celebrate that.

Sourav Ganguly

A 16th Test century in Mohali won't change Sourav Ganguly's plans to retire after the India-Australia Tests, he said on Saturday. Ganguly's 102 helped India to a formidable 469 on the second day of the second Test, but the innings hasn't forced a rethink for the former India captain.

"I think it's the right decision and I have no regrets," Ganguly said. "I just don't want to play any more, to be honest. I've been playing well for the last two years.

Ganguly has had a consistent run since returning to the team in December 2006, but was dropped from the Rest of India squad - primarily consisting of Test regulars - after a poor series in Sri Lanka. Ganguly, however, found a place in the Test squad picked by a new set of selectors and surprised all by announcing his retirement before the first Test in Bangalore.

"Except for the Sri Lanka series, I've had an outstanding two years," he said. "But it's just that I feel the time has come to go."

He said he was pleased with his effort in Mohali - Ganguly walked in at 163 for 4 and shared century stands with Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "I'm just happy to get runs," he said. "I still hopefully have five innings to go [before retirement]. I will try to do well and finish off well.

"I've tried to enjoy every single day because every day will be the last," he said. "I'm trying to do my best."

During his innings, Ganguly became the fourth Indian batsman to go past 7000 Test runs. Ganguly has 11,363 ODI runs at an average over 40 - similar to that in Tests - but he said it's the performance in the five-day format that would be remembered in spite of the emergence of Twenty20.

"You will be remembered in what you have done in test matches. First Test matches, then one-day cricket," he said. "When you talk about great players, you talk about a [Sunil] Gavaskar or [Steve] Waugh or Tendulkar or [Ricky] Ponting. It's because of their performances in Test matches. Not what they do in Twenty20."

India began the series with question marks over the future of their senior players, but Ganguly felt performance, and not age, should be considered. "It's going to be an individual decision for everyone. Age is no bar," he said. "It's the runs you get and people like [VVS] Laxman, Sachin and Rahul [Dravid] have been scoring runs. They should be judged on their performance."

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Relativity of minds

While watching fours rain from Sehwag's bat, I thought of that conversation. It is apparent that Sehwag sees what others are incapable of seeing. Hitting fours is not an indulgence for him. It is his lifeline, an utterly natural course for conducting his business, just as singles are for many others.

Four years ago, Wisden Asia Cricket magazine ran a cover story on India's "Fab Five" - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Sehwag. The feature had interviews with the five players, with each talking about one of the others. Ganguly made a fascinating revelation about Sehwag. "The best way to know how [Sehwag's] mind works is to sit next to him in the players' balcony when India are batting. Every few minutes he will clutch his head and yell, 'Chauka gaya' [missed out on a four] or 'Chakka gaya' [missed out on a six] ... That's how he thinks, in fours and sixes."