There was just one problem for Australia – five spare bowlers, no extra batsmen – which meant there was no one to cover for an injured batsman

Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town19-Mar-2009

Doug Bollinger, Brett Geeves, Bryce McGain, Steve Magoffin and Nathan
Hauritz were the Australian squad members who watched on from the
dressing room in Durban. There was plenty of variety in the group: a
left-arm fast bowler, two right-arm seamers, a legspinner and an
offspinner. There was just one problem – five spare bowlers, no extra
batsmen.It didn’t matter at the Wanderers or Kingsmead but on the first day at
Newlands it came back to bite Australia when Marcus North was struck
down with a bout of gastro and spent the night before the match in
hospital on a drip. A team that had spent the first two Tests looking
so well-balanced it was like it had been set with a spirit level was
suddenly off-centre.In one sense it gave the selectors an easy decision as they had spent
the past few days trying to work out how they could squeeze the
legspinner McGain into the side while causing minimum disruption to a
successful team. But what it really did was expose a big hole in what
was otherwise a strong squad.The selectors were widely praised for the solid touring party they
picked for this trip and their good judgment was borne out in the 2-0
scoreline leading in to this match. But there’s no avoiding the fact
that they’ve been caught out by the lack of a spare batsman. An
appropriate touring group isn’t just about the starting XI; there
needs to be balance in the back-up tier as well.As it turned out Australia replaced North, a man with a first-class
batting average of 44.09, with McGain, a genuine tailender whose
average is 11.50. Brad Haddin was forced to move up to No. 6, a
position that his magnificent predecessor Adam Gilchrist rarely
occupied in Tests, and Andrew McDonald found himself at No. 7.And what happened? They battled to 209, which was their lowest
first-innings total since the 2005 Ashes. South Africa bowled well and
were at their liveliest for the whole series so maybe an extra batsman
wouldn’t have made a difference. But when Australia found themselves
on similarly shaky ground in Johannesburg it was North at No. 6 who
anchored the comeback.”Obviously the balance of the team is slightly different,” the opener
Simon Katich said after a day when he top scored with 55 and two of
the top five made ducks. “[North] has played really well for us at six
this series so him not being available due to being in hospital last
night was a big loss.”So while Geeves, Hauritz and Bollinger huddled on the boundary – Magoffin has flown home – with
nothing to do but run drinks and maybe dash away for an occasional
trundle in the nets, prolific scorers like Brad Hodge, Michael Klinger
and Callum Ferguson were at home in Australia with their feet up after
the end of the domestic season. Had the series been alive, it could
have been a costly error in judgment.The problem stems from the fact that when they left Australia,
McDonald was the incumbent No. 6 having filled that role in Sydney. He
has been a valuable member of the team in South Africa, where his
stump-to-stump bowling has troubled the home side, but he has not
looked like a Test-quality batsman. In Cape Town, not for the first
time this trip, he was outshone in the lower order by Mitchell Johnson
and a familiar tentative prod was edged to slip for 13.The selectors made a mistake. It hasn’t cost them the series and it
will be forgotten as soon as they leave South Africa with trophy in
hand. But in a year when Australia are considering cutting back the
numbers in their Ashes squad, it’s a situation that should serve as a
cautionary tale. Five spare bowlers don’t equal one batsman.

S Badrinath has withstood the slings and arrows of fortune, and added to his game without shaking its base

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Sep-2008

In his first match, Badri saw India through a tricky chase © AFP
When the selectors did not pick him for last month’s ODI series in Sri Lanka, S Badrinath was in agony.”I was truly disappointed. I was devastated,” he recalled of the day he sat in front of the TV along with his wife, expecting his name to flash on the screen. Numbness invaded him minutes later when he realised he wasn’t in the side.The feeling was not alien for Badrinath, who had been there before; only, it was more intense this time. He had been sure his chance had come. So affected was he that he bared his emotions in public. “For God’s sake, allow me to fail,” he burst out in an interview, unable to understand what he needed to do to convince the five wise men on the national selection panel.Like in the past, the only pill for the pain was cricket. “That evening I turned up at the ground, did my training,” he said. “I had to continue playing the game. I love playing this game and whatever I have in my hand I will do to the best of my ability.”He found support from the likes of Sunil Gavaskar. “By saying what he did… he brought attention to the selectors’ wandering minds that here was a player who had done no wrong and needed to be given a chance,” Gavaskar wrote in one of his newspaper columns.Closer home, VB Chandrasekhar, the former national and Tamil Nadu selector, who first saw Badrinath as an upcoming youngster during his performances for Guru Nanak College in Chennai, knew where Badrinath was coming from. “He was pushed into a corner and he was left with no choice.”Badrinath doesn’t exactly have age on his side. He turned 28 on August 30. Athletes train all their life to be able to play at the top level, but as the years pass it gets difficult to keep the flame burning when the opportunities don’t come along. It’s even harder when, like in Badrinath’s case, your contemporaries or those younger than you get the breaks ahead of you.As fate had it, Badrinath was called into the Indian squad as a replacement for Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured. When he was last called up, during the ODI series at home against Australia in 2007, he didn’t get a game. This time, though, he made his debut, in challenging conditions against Sri Lanka, and he let his bat do the talking, getting India out of a tight situation and forcing people to sit up and take notice.Mahendra Singh Dhoni is generally averse to hyperbole, so his words was high praise indeed: “He’s very talented, and that’s why he is here,” Dhoni said.The man himself was modest about his contribution in his debut game. “I felt really good to be involved so much. I wasn’t actually under any sort of pressure. I was quietly confident about myself,” Badrinath said. “There is always uncertainty in sport. It is all about taking it as it comes and grabbing the opportunity and doing the job and being a good professional.”Your story, my story
During the IPL, Badrinath had the opportunity to spend time with an individual who had walked a similar path.As he approached the age of 30, with no sign that he would ever make it into the Australian line-up, Michael Hussey had reason to think he was going nowhere fast. He grew frustrated and distracted and his domestic cricket suffered as a result. But after a period of introspection where he made up his mind about exactly what he wanted, Hussey gathered himself together and started enjoying his game again, and eventually played his maiden Test.Badrinath developed a strong acquaintance with Hussey in the Chennai Super Kings dressing room and soaked up all the lessons born of experience on offer. “The way they [the Australians] prepare themselves, the amount of dedication they show, the amount of professionalism they have, is totally different,” Badrinath said during our first meeting, in Mumbai during the IPL. “I learnt a lot from [Matthew] Hayden and Hussey. I spoke to Hussey a lot, because I was amazed that he made his debut at 30. He helped me a lot.”Hearing from Hussey that he was a good player capable of doing a good job made a world of difference to Badrinath’s confidence. “That inspired me, that a player of that class had faith in me and confidence in me. It matter when someone compliments you or praises you or shows belief in you,” Badrinath said.Hearing from Hussey that I was a good player capable of doing a good job inspired me, that a player of that class had faith in me and confidence in me He justified that faith, producing important cameos for the Super Kings, batting in various positions, on their way to the runner-up spot. Importantly, he switched gears depending on the situation and the role he was asked to fulfill. Mostly he batted in the middle- and lower-middle order, so his job was that of a hustler or a finisher – which only the experienced or the gifted manage to accomplish consistently.In the very first game, where Hussey cracked a stupendous 115 not out, Badrinath adjusted quickly, coming in at No. 7 and giving strong support to the Australian with a patient 31 not out. In the middle stages of the tournament, where the Super Kings proved tentative, he calmed nerves more than once, most memorably in the last-ball thriller against Delhi. When he was promoted up the order after Hayden and Hussey had left on international duty, he made two consecutive half-centuries.Chandrasekhar remembered how eyes rolled when he recommended Badrinath as one of the first recruits for the Super Kings. “People wondered why I was picking a grafter for Twenty20. But I felt particularly good when he went out and won matches for us. Finishing ability is what makes a good cricketer.”Technique plus temperament equals versatility
There is nothing imposing about Badrinath in person or physically as a batsman. He is lean, not built to be a big-hitter. His strengths lie elsewhere.”He has a wonderful temperament,” Chandrasekhar said, “not something you associate often with Tamil Nadu cricketers. He transformed from a dour batsman to somebody who was willing to be more creative and allow himself to play shots which were within his framework.”Badrinath himself testified as much. “I’ve been trying to be more innovative and trying to work out a plan around my game that fits within my scheme of things,” he said, when asked if he had changed his technique. “In my domestic cricket I’ve become more aggressive and that has given me more confidence and I’ve started to believe I can make a difference.”He is a player in the mould of Rahul Dravid, who is still perhaps the most technically accomplished batsman in contemporary cricket. “Technique is my base and once the base is strong it is easy to work around. Now I’m playing more shots all around the park. I was a dominant batsman on the off side; I’ve now become strong on both sides of the wicket,” Badrinath said.Even if he does not say much about his expectations of a spot in the Test team in light of the anticipated upcoming middle-order vacancies, his supporters believe he has earned the right to stake his claim by virtue of having toiled for years on the unattractive domestic circuit. After a slow start, following which he was dropped in his second domestic season, Badrinath returned more determined, and soon began to reap rewards.
Not a one-dimensional player, even in the longer form © Cricinfo Ltd
A regular in the A team, Badrinath has been piling up big scores against various oppositions home and away. Before the series against Australia A started, he had four unbeaten hundreds in his last four appearances for India A, including a double-century against South Africa A in 2007. In the 2007-08 domestic season he scored 990 runs at an average of 66 in 12 matches. Recently, in the Emerging Players tournament in Australia last July, he led from the front, cracking 95 and 83 not out.WV Raman, Tamil Nadu’s coach for the last two seasons, wishes people would stop looking at Badrinath as a one-dimensional player fit only for the longer form of the game. By doing well in the IPL, Badrinath has demonstrated that he can play the shorter version, Raman said. “Not the other way round. People maintain that he is a duration game player, but if someone saw him against the South Africa A team last year he would see how he changed as a batsman.”Over the years Badrinath stood by and watched as the likes of Gautam Gambhir, and even younger players such as Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, got called up into the national squads. He looked doomed to be the good guy who finished last. Now that his chance seems to have arrived, he wants to enjoy the moment.In Dambulla he walked in with India at a precarious 75 for 5 chasing 143. It was left to him and Dhoni to hang around and make sure the job was done. From ball one he stuck to his captain’s brief of keeping it simple. “Dhoni was giving me small tips on how to go about my batting and how to play the likes of [Ajantha] Mendis,” Badrinath said. Working the singles and twos, the pair brought India to the brink of victory.When eight were needed Dhoni was out, and Harbhajan Singh fell quickly soon after. All it would have taken to knock India out cold were three unplayable deliveries from the dangerous Sri Lankan spinners. But Badrinath stayed calm and stuck to his strategy of nudging and steering the ball around, using his wrists to find the gaps for singles. The winning run duly came off a push to extra-cover.”It is mentally that I’ve improved,” Badrinath said. “Once the player starts to believe he can do it and it starts to happen his confidence level goes up.”

Sri Lanka are hungry and prepared for a win in India. Kumar Sangakkara looks ahead to what his side will need to do

Interview by Sa'adi Thawfeeq09-Nov-2009Steve Waugh’s Australians of 2000-01 deemed winning a Test series in India as the “final frontier” because it had been three decades since they had last won in that country. For the record, Waugh’s men failed in their attempt when they lost the three-Test series 1-2. The Sri Lanka team Kumar Sangakkara led to India on the weekend also has similar ambitions. Twenty-seven years and 14 Tests have gone by and Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test in India, let alone a series.”Not only India, but also Australia and South Africa, where we haven’t won Test matches. Those are the ones we should look forward to over the next years,” Sangakkara said before the team left for India on Saturday. “We can go as all our teams have done in the past and come back and say, ‘Well it’s still unchanged’, or we go out there and give everything we’ve got and win the last frontier and then take confidence from that and move on to the one-day series.”The determination to win a Test match in India has been foremost in the minds of the Sri Lankan cricketers, and they have gone about their preparations to achieve that goal diligently. One indicator of how serious they are is in how they brought in about 160 SG balls (which India uses for their home series) to use at practice. “That’s been an advantage going into the series,” said Sangakkara.”We tried to do a lot more skill work, specific training in the nets to play spin, specific shots for spin. That’s been working for us… developing a good defence with the fast bowlers and spinners, and making a solid base getting the guys to understand how we as a team can score 350-400 runs every time we go out. The bowlers – how they can reverse swing the ball and what you can do to make the ball swing late, and learning how the ball generally behaves. We tried to change our training.”We’ve just got to go there with a very strong mind, go all out. Not take a backward step but try to win. We know we are good enough to win and match India if we really want to. We’ve just got to be as tough as possibly as we can, both mentally and physically, if we are going to do well.”Sangakkara rated India as a very good side but mortal. “We beat them in Sri Lanka with the same side, with the exception of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. They are two extra challenges when we go there, but again those are the things you’ve got to accept in cricket.”We’ve got to go to India with no baggage, nothing in our heads, clear minds, no complaints, and the right attitude to enjoy that country for 55 days. It’s a tough country to be in for such a long time, and being away from home. We should enjoy playing ruthless, tough, competitive but fair cricket every single time – win or lose it doesn’t matter.”

“We can go as all our teams have done in the past and come back and say, ‘Well it’s still unchanged’, or we go out there and give everything we’ve got and win”

Sangakkara said that if his team is to perform well they have to excel all round. “These are the kind of series where you’ve got to be on the mark all the time – bowling, batting, fielding. You’ve got to make half-chances work, try and get run-outs. Those things change games, especially in the Test scenario. We’ve got to squeeze every little advantage we can.”But the key is to put ourselves at pressure at training and enjoy the game. If we don’t put ourselves under pressure when training, we just go to games under pressure, and I don’t think that’s going to work for us. We’ve just got to do all the hard things at training; challenge ourselves to go out of our comfort zones and go into a match fully prepared and confident and just go hard at them.”Sangakkara is confident that if his side can maintain pressure for long periods of time, they can make India crack. “If they get an advantage they are very good frontrunners. What we’ve got to do is try and put them under pressure right from the start and make them lag behind. If we can do that and keep the pressure on them consistently, I think we can make them crack. Pressure is something they don’t like. If you can be consistently aggressive, those things are going to be the difference that makes us win.”As far as mental strength goes, Sangakkara thinks Sri Lanka is right up there with the Australians. “When you look at the number of players who can do great things on the cricket field – we’ve got so many of them. The key is to believe in yourself and believe in the guy next to you as your team-mate and trust that guy to do the right job. That is why training is so important. The mental strength and belief you have with each other comes with the right preparation. Our guys have actually started realising it now.”The competitive streak has been a part of the Sri Lankan team from the time Arjuna Ranatunga was captain. “Our guys first understood it with Arjuna. He really made them understand that we are good enough to beat any side. One of the main reasons we won the ’96 World Cup was that belief.”When you are low on confidence you don’t really think you can win, but I think our guys have to understand that winning or losing depends on that particular day; that doesn’t make you a good or bad side. If you train consistently with the right attitude you will find yourself more and more becoming a side that consistently plays good cricket, cricket that’s good enough to beat any side in the world. You’ve got to be a good team every day and the key is to win matches even when you are struggling as a team. That’s the real test of the team’s character.”

Even their captain didn’t look rattled at the staggering reversal of fortune, this tendency has become so predictable

Sidharth Monga in Galle07-Jul-2009How dull international cricket would be if not for Pakistan and West Indies. With any other team we would have walked into the ground with hardly any concern, seen two batsmen get half-centuries, had lunch, seen them get the required 97 runs, and gone our way. Not with Pakistan, though, who collapsed so spectacularly they didn’t even come close.As entertainers they might take it as a compliment, but as an international team they ought to take this as a condescending remark. These collapses are no longer unpredictable either. For three days they played exceptional Test cricket, that too for a team that has been playing so infrequently, but in less than one session of madness they undid it all. Even their captain didn’t look rattled; this tendency has become so predictable.Rather Younis Khan seemed resigned, both to the reasons behind the collapse and the implications of it. He thought this inability to handle pressure was a bigger concern than the lack of proper openers for a long time. “The worry is that when we are in control, we don’t keep a tight hold on things,” Younis said. “I know, at least I believe, we will definitely catch up with them, but why does this always happen? This needs to be addressed. International cricket is all about handling pressure. Look at Kumar Sangakkara, his captaincy was very good under pressure.”We had 1-0 within our grasp, and now we are minus one. We have to come to zero from here, and then plus one.”But why does this always happen? Younis is ready to make allowance for the inexperience of his side – there were three debutants, and others while vastly experienced in ODIs were generally new to Tests – but added they were not kids either. “The captain can’t always keep telling you, nor can the coach or the manager. You can’t hold a stick and teach them.”It has to come from them. The boys also have to do something about it. I can’t keep reminding them every time. When I am under pressure, I go back to my basics. They need to go back to basics too. Break it down into small-small sessions, be it batting, be it bowling, be it fielding. It’s only a six-hour day, it shouldn’t be that difficult.”

We had 1-0 within our grasp, and now we are minus one. We have to come to zero from here, and then plus oneYounis Khan

More than what happened today, the failure to take a huge lead in the first innings annoyed Younis. A typically bother-free innings from Mohammad Yousuf had put Pakistan in the position to get a big lead and bat Sri Lanka out, but the last four added only 48. Sri Lanka’s last four in the first innings, in comparison, put together 98. “That was the moment. If at that time we had taken a lead of 150, we would have won easily,” Younis said. “Yousuf looked hungry for runs, Kamran was looking good, but both got run-out. In Test matches it’s still okay to have one run-out, but if you have two run-outs it becomes very difficult.”Younis didn’t take away the credit from Sri Lanka, though. He was full of praise for Sangakkara’s tactics – bowling a spinner early and not giving away easy boundaries – and Rangana Herath. He acknowledged Herath’s performance in Faisalabad 2004, too, when the left-arm spinner took seven wickets. He also conceded that Pakistan batsmen could have a weakness against left-arm spinners, in that they tend to go a bit across at times and expose the leg-before dismissal.But it was unmistakable that this match was theirs to lose. That no amount of terrific bowling should have taken eight wickets for 46 runs on this pitch. That they shouldn’t have been chasing 168 in the first place. Knowing Pakistan, as Younis said, they could come right back with a completely confounding performance. It will be a spectacle if they indeed do so.

There weren’t too many Australians around in the IPL this year, but they still made their presence felt in no uncertain terms, with Adam Gilchrist leading the way

S Rajesh28-May-2009There weren’t too many Australians around in the IPL this year, but they still made their presence felt in no uncertain terms. One of them, Matthew Hayden, finished as the highest run-getter, but the one who took away all the honours was his long-time opening partner in ODIs, Adam Gilchrist. As a leader, he inspired a bunch of players who were basement dwellers last season to aim for, and reach, the summit. And as a batsman, he led from the front again, forming a superb opening partnership with Herschelle Gibbs and getting the Deccan Chargers off to excellent starts more often than not.Gilchrist finished as the second-highest run-getter in the IPL, falling just five short of 500. He scored three half-centuries, but his high point came in a high-pressure, knockout game, against the team which was the favourite to win the tournament. There were two centuries in the IPL, but for many, the best innings was Gilchrist’s 85 in the semi-final against Delhi, a knock which made a potentially tricky chase a mere formality. Among batsmen who scored more than 100 runs, only Dwayne Smith finished with a strike rate higher than Gilchrist’s 152.30.Looking at his stats against each opponent, it’s clear he saved his best for Delhi Daredevils, averaging more than 52 at a strike rate of almost 13 runs per over. Against the other teams his aggregate was less than 100, but against each of them his strike rate was superb.

Like most batsmen in the IPL, though, Gilchrist was less comfortable against spin than he was against pace (though Virender Sehwag, who gave away 23 runs in an over to him in the semis, might disagree with that assessment). Anil Kumble showed the way to nail him in the final, taking the new ball and dismissing him in the first over, while Amit Mishra, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Ramesh Powar were some of the other spinners who dismissed him. Overall, Gilchrist averaged almost 46 against pace, scoring at more than ten an over. Against spin, though, he was far less destructive, averaging only 16, at a rate of slightly more than seven per over.

Among the bowlers who bowled more than ten balls to him, Kumble was easily the most effective, conceding only 18 from 22 balls, and dismissing him in the final. Yusuf Pathan was pretty tidy as well, but the same can’t be said of Delhi’s two left-arm fast bowlers: both Dirk Nannes, who was taken apart by Gilchrist in the semi-final, and Ashish Nehra suffered at his hands, going at more than 14 runs per over. Irfan Pathan, Mashrafe Mortaza and L Balaji went at more than two runs per ball as well.

Thanks largely to Gilchrist and Hayden, their teams were also on top of the chart in terms of opening partnerships. The numbers for them are very similar – an average stand in the early 30s and a run rate of slightly more than nine per over. None of the other teams managed either of these feats. The run rates for these two teams, especially, was significantly more than the others: Delhi, the next best side only managed a run rate of 7.53.

Australians contribution in IPL 2009The 18 Australians who played in the IPL scored about 17% of the total runs that came off the bat, at an average that was better than the overall tournament average. It helped that apart from Hayden and Gilchrist, they also had Brad Hodge, who scored 365 in 12 innings at an average of more than 40, and Andrew Symonds, whose late entry added plenty of weight to a shaky Deccan middle order.

The bowling, despite Nannes and Sharne Warne, took less than 10% of the total wickets taken by bowlers, while their average was slightly higher than the overall tournament average.

Two decades of highlights: we look back at the jewels in Tendulkar’s crown

Cricinfo staff14-Nov-2009119 not out v England, Old Trafford, 1990
England pile up 519 on a benign pitch, and India reply with 432. England stretch the lead to 407, and though the pitch is still good and the bowling (Devon Malcolm, Angus Fraser, Chris Lewis, Edie Hemmings) not terribly menacing, India find themselves in deep water at 127 for 5 with only one recognised batsman left. And he’s only 17 years old. Tendulkar battles for nearly four hours, grimly but never dourly, and ends the day with 119. India lose only one more wicket, finishing with 343. With one more session, they might even have won.114 v Australia, Perth, 1991-92
The fastest pitch in Australia has been reserved for the last Test. India have been beaten already, only humiliation awaits. Batting first, Australia score 346. Tendulkar enters at a relatively comfortable 100 for 3, but watches the next five wickets go down for 59. Tendulkar is the next man out… at 240. He has scored 118 of the 140 runs added while he is at the crease, and has made them in such an awe-inspiring manner that commentators ask themselves when they last saw an innings as good.169 v South Africa, Cape Town, 1996-97
Batting first, South Africa make a match-winning 529.
Playing only for honour, India find themselves grovelling before Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Brian McMillan and Lance Klusener. Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin get together at 58 for 5, and start spanking the bowling as if they were playing a club game. They add 222 for the sixth wicket in less than two sessions, and Tendulkar has 26 boundaries in his score of 169. Donald, by his own admission, felt like applauding.155 not out v Australia, Chennai, 1997-98
Seventy-one runs in arrears, India start the second innings and despite Navjot Singh Sidhu’s 64 find themselves only 44 in front when Tendulkar joins Rahul Dravid. The duo has to contend with Shane Warne bowling from round the wicket and into the rough. Tendulkar, who has practised against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and a few other bowlers on artificially created rough patches before the series, decides to take apart Warne. In a breathtaking assault, with the match hanging in the balance, he deploys his unique slog sweeps against the spin to steer India past Australia and snatch a match-winning 347-run lead.Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98
India are chasing Australia’s 284, but more importantly they need to score 254 to beat New Zealand on net run-rate and make their way to the final. Single-handedly Tendulkar takes India close to the cut-off when sandstorms disrupt play. Just when India’s prospects of making it to the final look bleak, Tendulkar not only takes them beyond the target, but for a brief while lets them entertain hopes of a win.Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98
It couldn’t have got better. It does. Two days later, at the same venue, chasing a similar total, 273, to win the final, Tendulkar decimates the Australian attack. By the time he is out in the 45th over, he has left India only 25 more to get. Shane Warne is so devastated he confesses Tendulkar hits him for sixes in his nightmares.141 and 4 for 38 v Australia, Dhaka, 1997-98
Six months after having destroyed the Aussie bowlers’ psyches, Tendulkar meets them again in a big-match environment: the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy.
And again, single-handedly he puts Australia out of the game with his third century against them in three matches. His 141 comes in 128 balls, and India are 280 in the 46th over when he gets out. To put the matter beyond doubt, Tendulkar kills an interesting contest by dismissing Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan, and Damien Martyn with 4 for 38.The first match-winning fourth-innings century, in Chennai against England in 2008•AFP136 v Pakistan, Chennai, 1998-99
Few Indian batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. Chasing 271 in the fourth innings of a low-scoring match, India experience a familiar top-order collapse, and are sinking fast at 82 for 5. Tendulkar finds an able ally in Nayan Mongia, and rebuilds the innings in a painstaking, un-Tendulkar-like manner. After helping add 136 for the sixth wicket, Mongia departs to an ungainly pull. Tendulkar, whose back is giving way, shifts up a gear or two and starts dealing in boundaries. But one error of judgment and it’s all over. Saqlain Mushtaq defeats the intended lofted on-drive with a magical ball that drifts the other way, catches the outer part of Tendulkar’s bat and balloons up to mid-off. The tail disgrace themselves, and India fall short by a gut-wrenching 13 runs.233 not out v Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, 1999-2000
It’s a Ranji semi-final against a strong Tamil Nadu, and Mumbai are looking down the barrel after their bowlers have given away 485 runs. A first-innings lead is crucial, and Mumbai look down for the count at 127 for 4 when old pal Vinod Kambli joins Tendulkar and they see Mumbai out of trouble. They are not anywhere near home when Kambli falls with the score on 266. Tendulkar then takes charge, and with the lower order, sees Mumbai just past Tamil Nadu’s total and into a final Mumbai go on to win. It is just the kind of against-the-odds match-winning knock that has eluded him at international level, which is perhaps why he ranks it among his best in all forms.155 v South Africa, Bloemfontein, 2001-02
On the first day of an overseas series, India’s plight is a familiar one – four down for 68, with all the wickets going just the way the South Africans planned – to rising balls. Tendulkar has a debutant for company, with another to follow. He takes 17 balls to score his first run, but 101 come off the next 97 deliveries. It isn’t the prettiest of Tendulkar’s Test tons, but it is one of the most savage, characterised by pulls and vicious upper-cuts. The South Africans have a plan for India, and Tendulkar makes a mockery of it. By the time his innings ends, India are reasonably well placed, though they go on to lose the Test.98 v Pakistan, Centurion, 2003
Tendulkar has been compelled to live this World Cup match against Pakistan for a year in advance. He does not sleep well for 12 nights going into the match. Faced with a target of 274, Tendulkar shows no anxiety whatsoever. Or is it that nervous energy? He finishes his hyped battle against Shoaib Akhtar in the latter’s first over with an uppercut for six, and then a flick and a straight block for two boundaries. Every bowler is dealt with with similar disdain. Tendulkar has not looked as pumped up before. And although he misses a century, he leaves the match sealed in the 28th over.117 not out v Australia, Sydney, 2007-08
Going into the first final of the CB Series, Tendulkar has not achieved many things: an ODI century in Australia, a century in 37 innings, a chase-winning century since 2001, a century in any chase since March 2004. In a 235-minute masterclass, he washes it all away, scoring 117 off 120 balls and leading India to the 240-run target on a difficult wicket just about solo. He dominates in the initial overs, shepherds the tentative middle order, and stays unbeaten to see the side home.37 and 103 not out v England, Chennai, 2008-09
Tendulkar has to his name every batting record worth having, except one perhaps: a fourth-innings century in an Indian win. Having struggled against the spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in the first innings of the Chennai Test, India are left to chase 387 on a deteriorating pitch. The explosive start is provided by Virender Sehwag, and the final touches by Yuvraj Singh, but in the middle Tendulkar nurtures the chase, hardly ever looking under pressure, scampering through for singles like a teenager, breaking the shackles every now and then with the odd boundary. The last of those fours finishes the chase, and brings up the elusive century. It works a treat that it has come at the venue that was the scene of heartbreak nine years before, against Pakistan, and weeks after one of India’s worst terror attacks. With Tendulkar, India smiles again.175 v Australia, Hyderabad, 2009-10
Australia have amassed a massive 350 on a flat pitch in Hyderabad, and Tendulkar almost chases it down single-handedly. He displays through the innings how he has mastered the art of scoring quick runs without taking any risks. The only support comes from Virender Sehwag (38) and Suresh Raina (59). Tendulkar, who scores 175 off 141 balls, gives hardly a chance through the classic. When he does take risks, it’s worth preserving the shots in an album: stepping out to spinners, lofting straight down the ground; the unbelievably late flicks and the even later late cuts. It all ends in heartbreak, though: in Chennai in 1999, Tendulkar, having played an innings just as incredible, left the last three wickets 17 to get; on this night he leaves them 19 off 17. The rest choke like they did in Chennai.

It was plain from the start of the ODI series that, for some reason, West Indies’ spirit of the Tests had evaporated in the interim. It reflected a general problem of attitude – the one common factor in their desperate decline of the past 15 years or so

Tony Cozier21-Feb-2010Much like his batting, Chris Gayle’s reputation has gone through several phases these past few months. He arrived in Australia in November for the series of three Tests castigated by the Australian media as a villain, a reinstated captain who had openly dissed Test cricket in favour of Twenty20 and a pivotal figure in the disruptive players’ strike that preceded the tour.By the end, he was being widely hailed as a champion, Man of the Series for leading a spirited West Indies revival with two high quality hundreds in the last two Tests and his general leadership.”Gayle has brought some muscle and pride back to West Indies cricket,” Peter Lalor, a previous doubter, wrote in the .Now, just over a month on, at the end of an ill-starred return series of ODIs, Gayle finds himself the butt of the kind of derision usually reserved for clairvoyants who prophesise the end of the world every other Friday.Never shy of expressing an opinion, he proclaimed that his team, even though hamstrung by injuries to several key players, would somehow defeat the most powerful exponents of the 50-overs game–and by 4-to-1, no less.It might just have been another of Gayle’s casual lines to wind up the media. Perhaps he felt it would have given comfort to the new players in his patched-up outfit.Surely he could not have believed his forecast for, through strained backs, damaged fingers, pulled hamstrings and wonky knees, he was without his two most experienced batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, his vice-captain and key allrounder Dwayne Bravo, left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, fast bowler Jerome Taylor and the talented young opener Adrian Barath.Possibly, Gayle expected that the same unity and commitment that was obvious in the last two Tests in December would carry them through, in spite of such handicaps.Had the ODIs immediately followed, as they used to, that might have given them the necessary state of mind to be competitive, if hardly earn a 4-1 triumph.Instead, there was a gap of three weeks between the two during which the players went their separate ways.In spite of contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Gayle and Bravo skipped the WICB’s own first-class tournament to remain in Australia for the Twenty20 Bash (during which both were injured).A few sought medical attention for the ailments that would prevent their return. Others went home for a couple of meaningless, sub-standard four-day matches.It was plain from the start of the ODI series that, for some inexplicable reason, the spirit of the Tests had evaporated in the interim.Even from the other side of the planet, the same ‘don’t care’ approach that prevailed during the shameful campaign in England last May was clear through the television coverage.Faces were sullen and shoulders quickly drooped. Straightforward catches were spilled, slack strokes cost wickets.Even David Williams, the always upbeat coach, was moved to say after Friday’s latest humiliation: “It is a blessing for us the ODIs are over. We played terrible in all three departments and to drop five catches in 50 overs tells a lot about our performance.”Reliable, long-standing colleagues in Australia reported that it reflected a general problem of attitude. It is nothing new. It is the one common factor in the West Indies’ desperate decline of the past 15 years or so.The reports of Gayle, Williams and manager Joel Garner, never one known to hold back, should make instructive reading for the WICB. If they correspond to the unofficial accounts out of Australia, it must act on them as it has failed to do in the past.For all Gayle’s braggadocio, no one expected the West Indies, No.8 in the ODI rankings, to win even one match against the No.1 opponents who had just thrashed Pakistan in nine successive matches (three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20).What was not expected was the pathetic capitulation. The margins were overwhelming – 113 runs, eight wickets with 141 balls remaining, 50 runs and 125 runs. In each of the last two matches, Australia amassed 324 (for seven and for five). The West Indies could not bat through 40 overs in three matches and only once raise more than 200.It was mystifying why Kieron Pollard languished down the list at No.6 and 7 until the last ODI•Getty ImagesAustralians once flocked in their hundreds of thousands to watch what was their favourite team. Now the smallest crowds on record turned up for the match.Gayle’s failure at the top (7, 0, 34 and 14), each time to his bogey-man, the strapping left-armer Doug Bollinger, was clearly a significant factor.Without Sarwan and Chanderpaul, it exposed Travis Dowlin, Runako Morton, Lendl Simmons and Narsingh Deonarine for the modest players they are at this level. None seemed interested in buckling down, as Dowlin and Deonarine had done when given the chance in the TestsIn the circumstances, it was mystifying why Kieron Pollard languished down the list at No.6 and 7 until the last match.While he has made his global reputation as Twenty20 hitter, the big Trinidadian has shown at regional level that he is more than just that. He compiled 174 against Barbados last year and averages 37 in first-class cricket, better than most of those previously preferred to him in the longer game.With his controlled batting, stiff medium-pace bowling and sharp fielding he has at least provided one bright spot from this series.Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards are already out of action with hip and spinal injuries. The sore ankle that eliminated Kemar Roach from the last three matches came as another major worry at a time when fast bowling stocks are in short supply.He is an outstanding prospect who has just started his career. A long layoff, such as both Taylor and Edwards had soon after they began, would be a setback for him personally and for the West Indies.There was apparently such a lack of confidence in Gavin Tonge, the third fast bowler in Australia, that he remained on the bench in all five matches, leaving Ravi Rampaul (another with a history of injuries) to carry the attack.That Dwayne Smith shared the new ball with his unthreatening medium-pace prompted disturbing memories of Clive Lloyd doing the same in the early 70s before the arrival of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding et al.A couple of Twenty20 matches remain in Australia until, as Williams might say, it’s a blessing it’s all over. Zimbabwe at home follow immediately. They are even further down the rankings than the West Indies but, if the attitude isn’t right for their Twenty20 and five ODIs, more embarrassment could be on the way.

Virender Sehwag is the only batsman to adapt to the bowler-friendly conditions in Dambulla, where 230 is worth 300

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla25-Aug-2010Paul the Octopus’ spot-on predictions during the football World Cup were a cinch compared to the challenge of foreseeing results during the tri-series in Sri Lanka, where the inability of batsmen to cope with bowler-friendly conditions has led to wild swings in team fortunes. Only one man has adapted in Dambulla, where 230 is worth 300.Virender Sehwag had ground out a watchful – by his standards – match-winning 99 against Sri Lanka last week and on Wednesday, against New Zealand, he made a more traditional Sehwagian century to carry India into the final. On a pitch where most of his team-mates struggled to get bat on ball, Sehwag appeared to be playing on a typical run-filled subcontinental one-day track.This isn’t the first time Sehwag has overshadowed his team-mates in a one-day series. In 2002-03, during the tour of New Zealand, when batsmen from neither side could make runs, Sehwag scored two centuries on his way to 299 runs in the series. The next highest tally for an Indian was 134. This time in Dambulla, the numbers are: Sehwag 240, next highest Indian 73.When asked what would have happened had he not performed today, Sehwag was typically blunt: “[We would be] catching tomorrow’s flight.” Did he play more responsibly since the others were struggling? “Since I was in form, I thought I will score more than the others. If I take more strike, then there is a smaller chance of others getting out.”Sehwag played the first few overs cautiously, and it wasn’t until the fifth that he opened out, smashing three consecutive boundaries off Kyle Mills. After that, he was collecting fours all around even while he was losing partners. When Yuvraj miscued a pull to the wicketkeeper, India were 61 for 3, with Sehwag having raced to 43 off 33.”The wicket was behaving better today than it did in the other matches and I knew in the first couple of overs that if I applied myself and batted cautiously, then it will be a good track to bat on,” he said. “So the first few overs, I was just watching how the wicket was behaving and after that I started playing my shots. I knew once I start playing my shots, the bowlers will be on the back foot and they will give me more loose balls.”Sehwag was tested by the short ball aimed at the body, especially by Tim Southee and Andy McKay, but he dealt with those deliveries by bending backwards to make room and then steered the ball towards third man or backward point. It was riveting stuff, though a bunch of school kids, who had been brought in to ensure the ground wasn’t empty, didn’t think so. They were content to play a game of tennis-ball cricket among themselves while Sehwag was crafting a masterclass.New Zealand’s task of containing Sehwag was made harder by their long injury list. With Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey out of action, they were a bowler short. At 69 for 4, with MS Dhoni and Sehwag at the crease, one more wicket would have turned the match completely in their favour. Instead, their fourth bowler was Scott Styris, who was taken for 14 runs in his first over by Sehwag. The Sehwag-Dhoni combination went on to notch up India’s first century partnership of the tournament, and by the time Sehwag got his hundred – with a calm nudge towards cover for a single – India were taking charge.By then, Sehwag’s back started to give him trouble and, after two delicately steered fours of Mills, he holed out to deep midwicket. “I felt a little bit of pain in my back [after the hundred], so I asked the umpire if I can call the physio,” he said. “The umpire asked if I can wait for another over since the drinks break was due. I tried to bat on for another over, but got out.”India were 173 for 5 when a disappointed Sehwag exited. “Had I batted for another 10 overs, we could have easily crossed 250, which would have been a safe target.” He needn’t have worried, though, because New Zealand’s batting faded under lights.Sehwag has troubled New Zealand right through his one-day career. From his brutal maiden century in 2001, which also knocked New Zealand out of a tri-series final in Sri Lanka, to the carnage in Hamilton last year, when he hammered the fastest one-day hundred by an Indian. Today’s solo will rank up there with his one-man efforts in 2002-03 as among his finest efforts against his favourite opposition.

Debutant David Miller played an important role in South Africa’s victory in the second Twenty20 against West Indies, but that didn’t surprise those who’ve been following his domestic progress

Firdose Moonda21-May-2010When David Miller hit his sixth ball on debut for South Africa for a smashing six, there would have been a few people nodding sagely and whispering, “I told you so.” The 20-year old was in the spotlight throughout the recently completed domestic season, ending as the Dolphins’ top run-scorer in both 40-over and 20-over competitions, and had many ex-players and administrators identifying him as a candidate for a national call up.Miller received that call last week, while he was playing for South Africa A in a tri-series in Bangladesh. “Andrew Hudson called me up and said congratulations, I had made the side,” he said. Miller admitted the chatter in the A camp at the time was about the inclusion of fresh faces in national squad, especially after South Africa’s World Twenty20 exit, but didn’t think he would be among those selected.”We were definitely talking about it, especially in terms of left-hand batsman being considered. The coach [Shafiek Abrahams] was telling us that we should use the tour of Bangladesh to put in good performances and show our faces.”Miller did exactly that, ending as South Africa A’s second-highest run scorer in the one-day series. He played five matches, scored 195 runs including a century, and averaged 65. That performance came after a domestic season where runs flowed despite a result drought for his franchise. Miller scored 366 in 11 MTN40 games, with an average of 40.66, and 159 in five Pro20s, with an average of 53.00.Form that good could not be ignored, according to prominent names in South African cricket. Hugh Page, a former selector, and HD Ackerman, a former Test batsman, both called for Miller’s inclusion in the national squad in the aftermath of South Africa’s second-round exit at the World Twenty20. They identified him as an explosive, clean-hitting batsman and someone who could add impetus to a batting order that lacked its usual forcefulness in the Caribbean.The chorus of calls for Miller’s inclusion was loud enough but that didn’t prevent the choristers from being surprised when their request was granted. Dolphins coach Graham Ford “didn’t expect it to happen as early as this” and Ackerman hoped Miller’s call up was not a “knee-jerk reaction.”The worry most have is that Miller would be treated as Juan Theron was. Theron, a death-bowling specialist, was included in the World Twenty20 side but did not get a game. Ford said he had discussed that with Miller because a lot of younger players, who were brought into the side simply to become accustomed to the feel of international cricket, ended up feeling like a spare tyre. “If that does happen, use it is an opportunity to learn, absorb information and see how the system works,” Ford told him.Ford’s fear was allayed when Miller made his debut earlier than expected in the second Twenty20 international against West Indies. That was the ideal place for Miller to be unveiled according to Ackerman, who believed there was less pressure on a player who made his first appearance in a Twenty20, compared to one introduced to international cricket in a one-dayer. “In an ODI if you hit two sixes and get out, people think you aren’t good enough, but if the same thing happens in a T20, people don’t really frown upon you.”Miller did hit two sixes but he didn’t get out immediately after, and ended up as South Africa’s highest run-scorer in the match. He made 33 off 26 balls and rescued the innings from a shaky 59 for 5 to a competitive 120 for 7. In doing so he achieved what he described as his ultimate goal, albeit for now. “It’s my dream to play a game and if I am given the opportunity, I will give it everything,” Miller had told Cricinfo on the night that he left for the West Indies.Miller also said he saw himself slotting in best in the middle order, which is where he was used, but that he was given no indication of what was expected of him until he arrived. He appeared to have no problems fitting into the set up, something experts would have told you they suspected would happen all along.Ford sees a long-term role for Miller in both forms of the limited-overs game. “He is very effective in the Powerplays and we also used him for some big hitting towards the end of the forty-over game. In T20s, I think he will be a real force upfront.”Ackerman hoped Miller would be managed properly, because he believed including him in the team is a long-term investment. “He has what it takes to make it at the highest level. He is a natural stroke player and I hope that never gets taken away from him.”

England’s Mr Dependable, Mike Hendrick, on the 1979 World Cup final and other career highlights

Duncan Steer06-Mar-2011Mike Hendrick, arguably the most reliable seam bowler of his generation, was around for plenty of English cricket’s most iconic moments: the 1974-75 Ashes thrashing by Lillee and Thomson and the 5-1 Ashes win under Mike Brearley four years later. He played in the 1981 Ashes side and, the following year, was one of Graham Gooch’s South African rebels. These days, he’s bowling coach to county champions Nottinghamshire.
But when SPIN speaks to him in early February, it’s his part in the 1979 World Cup final – one of the three times England have fallen at the final hurdle – that seems the best place to start to discuss his glittering if slightly unsung career. That day England were beaten by 92 runs by Clive Lloyd’s West Indians at Lord’s. But, as Hendrick recalls, it could all have been very different.”We were confident,” he says. “We had them 90-odd for 4. I’d just bowled Alvin Kallicharran and Viv [Richards] comes in. I nip one back at him first ball and it hits him in front of all three. Huge appeal. Umpire says not out. I could not believe it and neither could Viv. And Viv looked at me and I looked at him and he just pursed his lips. And as I walked back to my mark, the lads on the balcony have seen a replay and they’re all giving me the thumbs up. So he should have been out first ball. And then of course he got 138 and Collis King joined him and smacked it all over the place…”When England batted, chasing 287 off 60 overs, they started steadily. Very steadily. Geoff Boycott and captain Mike Brearley batted for 38 overs, the score ticking over to 129 for 0. Was there confidence in the dressing room at this point? “Yes, there was, up to a point,” says Hendrick. “But then as the overs went on we were saying, ‘Shouldn’t they be starting to knock it around a little bit more’ because we were slipping further and further behind the rate. Then they tried to up the ante and both got out… and, as so often happens, the batsmen further down had to force the pace and got themselves out. But you can’t take it away from the West Indies – they bowled really well.”With his easy, high action, the 6ft 3in Hendrick extracted extra bounce from a good length and was a byword for accuracy and economy in the 1970s England attack. He had an economy rate of 2.17 in 30 Tests and says that his action really was as natural as it looked. “I had absolutely no coaching at all. I had to learn on the hoof. I had one or two bits of advice from senior bowlers. Stuff like, ‘If you want to make it as a bowler, you want to cut the four-balls out’.” Sensible advice.”Nobody seems bothered about how many runs you give away now. It used to be a battle of wits between an opening batter and an opening bowler. A game of chess. Now both are trying to dominate the other and batters are playing big shots at balls they shouldn’t be hitting, and the bowlers pick up wickets with complete rank deliveries.”Turned down after a spell with Leicestershire, Hendrick made his county debut for Derbyshire at 20. “When I started I was like a matchstick with the wood scraped off,” he laughs. Winters working on sites helped build him up, and dedication perfected his craft: “I’d go in the nets on my own and try and bowl off stump out of the ground, until I could do it consistently.”Sixty-six wickets at 20 each in 1973 earned him an England tour spot and, in 1974, a Test debut, on which he took a wicket with his first legitimate ball. Hendrick would play 30 Tests over the next seven years, interrupted chiefly by a hamstring injury picked up on the 1974-75 Ashes tour. Given the destruction wreaked by the Australian fast bowlers Lillee and Thomson, he possibly got off lightly.”Thomson said he wanted to see English blood on the pitch, but to be honest the first innings of the first Test wasn’t anything startling. But the second innings – blimey, it was a different story. Thomson broke Tony Greig’s toe, Dennis Amiss’ thumb. There were loads of lads getting hit and I’m thinking: ‘Hang on.’ My pads were like a pair of Ryvitas and I didn’t have a thigh pad, so I’m scrapping round for extra protection. So I put a towel down my trousers and a handkerchief in my pocket. No helmets, no arm guard, nothing. When I got out there, Thomson’s first ball knocked my bat out of my hands! I was thinking: ‘I’ve got a wife and kids at home. What am I doing?’ After the second one, I went and shook his hand and said, ‘Thanks for the game’ and walked off.”

“So I put a towel down my trousers and a handerchief in my pocket. No helmets, no arm guard, nothing. When I got out there, Thomson’s first ball knocked my bat out of my hands! I was thinking: ‘I’ve got a wife and kids at home. What am I doing?’ After the second one, I went and shook his hand and said, ‘Thanks for the game’ and walked off.”

Four years later England and Hendrick had a happier tour – Hendrick took 19 wickets at 15 each and England ran out 5-1 winners. “I was physically stronger and probably mentally too. I knew what I was doing by then.”Hendrick was selected for Headingley 81 but when the selectors found out Bob Willis was fit after all, the invitation was withdrawn. Hendrick returned for the final Test, at The Oval but it proved to be his last.After retirement there was an abortive move into umpiring, where opportunities proved limited, forcing Hendrick to find his way in the real world. “I got a proper job. I sold cars – not very successfully. Other bits and pieces. Eventually I worked for Radio Trent, selling advertising, which was great fun. And they got me doing reports from grounds on Saturdays and I ended up doing some stuff for , which was fun.”Finally Hendrick found himself back in cricket full time, coaching Ireland, then Scotland, before working with Derbyshire, Zimbabwe’s new Twenty20 franchises and, now, county champions Nottinghamshire.Hendrick obviously loves working with one of the strongest rosters of seam bowlers in the country, at Trent Bridge. “I’ve been focusing on the lads in the wings, working with the Academy this winter: And we have Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter, who are both in the ECB fast-bowling set-up, and Jake Ball. I’m excited to be working with them; there’s some real talent there.”Hendrick sees the modern game close up and is well placed to compare it to his own playing days. “If I had a choice, I would play now – for the money. But for fun I don’t think it compares. We always had a lot of fun. Both teams would go for a drink at close of play. But as long as you performed on the field next day, no one was bothered…”I remember one pre-season as an 18-year-old I’d bowled for two and half hours in the nets and I was standing outside the dressing room with a pint of orange squash. And this senior fast bowler who’d never spoken to me before looked at me and said: “If you want to be a fast bowler, lad, get some ale down you.”He laughs at the memory. “Wise words,” he says.