WHY TEST CRICKET IS SPECIAL

 Test match Cricket is all about patience,Resilience,Grit and Tenacity. Test match cricket is about surviving and countering the tough times. 

         Test match cricket resembles life. There will be ups and downs in life and test cricket is the same. In test match cricket you have to go through all the ups and downs. Life always gives you a second chance, In the same manner test match always gives you the second chance. One team might dominate the majority of the sessions, but one good session can complete change the fate of the match.Test cricket seperates Gentleman from Boys. Imagine a fast bowler steaming in all day long and batsman shouldering his arms and leaving the ball to the keeper. Imagine a slip fielder fileding in the same position for 90 overs expecting an edge from the batsman. 

                 Test cricket is like the game of chess. You have to make the bravest decisions. When do you declare? Will you enforce a follow on? What is the minimum time required to take ten wickets?How much longer can you survive on the 4th and 5th day pitch, assessing the pitch condition? Assessing the overcast conditions?. Test match cricket is a team sport. You play as a team, yoy win as a team.

         The Dog who blinks first in a Dog fight is the one that losses. There is a reason why it is called test cricket. It is the ultimate test of character, technique, courage, skill. Each session is a mini battle in itself. In sport one team will win and the other will loose, but Test matches gives you a draw. Two good teams, toiling hard all the 5 days and you cannot seperate them, then comes the real magic of test cricket "A DRAW"

      Test match cricket is the challenging format. In which format of the game you will applaud when a batsman scores 1 run of 40 balls, In which format of the game you will praise a bowler steaming in all day long and deliberately bowling outside off stump testing the patience of the batsman.

  As Harsha bhogle said Test matches are won by what doesnot happen in the highlights. When you have no chance of winning, but you are denying the opposition a win, it is a win itself.

    *LONG LIVE TEST CRICKET*

      JANUARY 19 - A DAY TO REMEMBER 

                                                   19th of January, 2008 and 19th of January, 2021 will be remembered in the History Books of Cricket for the greatest come back wins .If Perth in 2008 after all that happened in Sydney is special, then Brisbane 2021 is what you dream as a fan. The team that is bruised, battered and abused had achieved some thing in Brisbane that no away team could do since 1988. After 20-30 years, they might look on the history book one day and they see the score of the 4th innings in Brisbane and it may seems nothing special, after all records are meant to be broken. But what they might not understand is the context. This is by far the greatest performance by an Indian test team.

                                Test cricket is all about Patience, Resilience, Grit, Determination and Tenacity.

This Indian team gave a new definition to test cricket the way they played on 5th day Gabba track which is stated as a night mare for touring teams. Shubman gilll who is 21 years old square cuts Mitchell starc for a six the final over before lunch, Rishabh pant comes down the track and launches Nathan lyon way over long on for a maximum when the previous delivery left him and spun a mile towards the first slip, Washington sundar playing his first match hooks one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket Patrick cummins for a six. well, This is new generation INDIA who don't understand fear.         

                                      India went into this test match with 13 wickets and the most experienced bowler in the team had an experience of playing 2 test matches against the Australian Quatret of 1000 plus test wickets to their name.  India could have easily played for a draw and retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, but from the very first ball they went for a win. Sport is always a team effort, individuals may win you matches but team effort wins you cups and tournaments and you could see that in this Indian team. This team has pujara who could play an innings like that after all the body blows he took and made sure that the australian bowlers ran out of gas and they could not use the second new ball to their advantage and allowed the gill's, pant's and sundar's who could attack from the very first ball and could do what they are very best at because every player in the team played for the team and the captain played a cameo making sure the intentions of the team that they want a win rather than a draw.

                                In the History of Indian cricket there has not been a turn around like this. Every time India looked like they were beaten, they hit back harder than they were hit. They played as a team, won as a team and celebrated as a team. Every individual in the team contributed his very best in his very own way. They walked around the ground altogether like a team, as a collective team and the tradition of handing over the trophy to the debutant in the team and presenting a signed t-shirt to an opposition player Nathan lyon for his 100th test. These are the things which you dream of. These are the things which make you fall in love with the sport. 19th of January will always be remembered................

281 - A MAGIC

THE YEAR WAS 2001 AND AUSTRALIA TOURED INDIA FOR A 3 MATCH TEST SERIES. STEVE WAUGH SAID THAT IT IS FINAL FRONTIER AND CAME WITH  A FORMIDABLE TEAM TO WIN A TEST SERIES IN INDIA WHICH NO OTHER TEAM COULD DO AFTER 1970. THEY WERE THE TEAM TO BEAT. THEY WON 15 TESTS IN A ROW AND WITH THE FIRST TEST WIN IN MUMBAI, IT BECAME 16. THE SECOND TEST MATCH  IN KOLKATA ON THE 15th OF MARCH SIGNIFIED THE ARRIVAL OF THE TEAM THAT REALLY DEFINED THE PHRASE "NEVER GIVE UP". THE INDIAN TEAM SNATCHED THE VICTORY FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT AND ALSO PUT AN END TO STEVE WAUGH'S WINNING STREAK OF 16 MATCHES IN A ROW. ONE OF THE MAJOR REASON FOR THAT WIN WAS "THE VERY VERY SPECIAL 281"FROM A VERY VERY SPECIAL BATSMAN.

                                  AUSTARLIA BATTED FIRST AND SCORED 445, AND IN REPLY INDIA SCORED 171 WITH A TRAIL OF 274 RUNS. AUSTRALIA ENFORCED FOLLOW ON. 

THE INDIANS STARTED THEIR SECOND INNINGS WITH MUCH MORE DETERMINATION. VVS LAXMAN CAME TO BAT AT NUMBER 3. LAXMAN FORMED MINI PARTNERSHIPS WITH SHIV SUNDAR DAS, SACHIN TENDULKAR AND SOURAV GANGULY. THEN CAME HIS BEST FRIEND AND A LIKE TO LIKE MAN "THE WALL" RAHUL DRAVID. THE 4th DAY OF THE TEST MATCH IS GENERALLY CONSIDERD THE MOVING DAY OF THE TEST MATCH, THE PARTNERSHIP OF 376 RUNS MADE SURE THAT INDIA WENT AHEAD OF THE AUSSIES AND FROM THAT POINT ONLY ONE TEAM CAN WIN THE MATCH. LAXMAN GOT OUT ON 281 AND DRAVID SCORED A GRITTY 180.

                                 VVS LAXMAN 281 WAS ONCE IN A LIFE TIME INNINGS, A REWARD FOR A MAN OF EXTRA ORDINARY SKILL AND  ONE OF THE FINEST TEAM PLAYERS YOU WILL SEE.AS MURALI KARTIK ONCE FAMOUSLY SAID " IF SACHIN IS THE GOD OF CRICKET, THEN VVS IS THE ANGEL WE ALL STRIVE TO BE". LAXMAN'S BATTING IS ALL ABOUT HAPPINESS, JOY, DIGNITY. HE NEVER BATS IN ANGER. THE SHOTS THAT HE PLAYED TO SCORE 281 RUNS CAN ONLY BE PLAYED BY THE VERY SPECIAL VVS.

 HE PLAYED PULL SHOT, HOOK SHOT, ON DRIVE, OFF DRIVE, SQUARE DRIVE, COVER DRIVE, STRAIGHT DRIVE, LEG GLANCE, WHIP THROUGH MID WICKET, FRONT FOOT COVER DRIVE AGAINST LEG SPIN AND FRONT FOOT ON DRIVE AGAINST LEG SPIN. YOU NAME THEM AND HE PLAYED THEM ALL. IT WAS AN EXHIBITION OF CRICKETING SHOTS.

VVS CAN DITCATE TERMS. HE CAN DRIVE THE SAME BALL TO COVERS AND WHIP IT TO MID WICKET THE VERY NEXT BALL.

THE COVER DRIVE AGAINST GLENN MCGRATH, THE SQUARE CUT AGAINST JASON GILLESPIE, THE ON DRIVE AGAINST MICHAEL KAPROWICZ, THE BARRAGE OF SHOTS AGAINST SHANE WARNE WERE A SIGHT TO WATCH. AUSTRALIA TRIED 9 DIFFERENT BOWLERS TO DISMISS HIM ON THE DAY 4 BUT WITH NO SUCCESS. 

                            VVS LAXMAN WAS THE CRICKET LOVER'S CRICKETER. THE PERSON HE IS GET DEFLECTED IN THE WAY LAXMAN BATTED. ONE OF THE FINEST HUMAN BEINGS TO PLAY THE GAME OF CRICKET. ONCE HARSHA BHOGLE SAID "VVS IS ALWAYS THE ARTSIT AND NEVER A SUPERSTAR".

                          INDIA WON THE MATCH BY A MARGIN OF 171 RUNS, WITH 6.3 OVERS TO SPARE. IT WAS A HISTORIC WIN. IT WAS THE THIRD INSTANCE IN THE HISTORY OF TEST CRICKET THAT A TEAM WON THE MATCH AFTER ASKED TO FOLLOW ON. INDIA WON THE THIRD TEST IN CHENNAI AND WON THE SERIES 2-1.

A VERY VERY SPECIAL INNINGS FROM A VERY VERY SPECIAL PLAYER.

MS DHONI - A CHAMPION

A leader, a Champion and an enigma. Mahendra Singh Dhoni taught us many things through out his career.

*You may come from a small town, but you can become the captain of the Indian cricket team.

*You may not be technically sound and correct, but you can become one of the greatest limited overs batsman of all time.

* You may not have all the cricketing shots in the book, but you can become one of the best finisher the game has seen.

*You may not have text book wicket keeping skills, but you can do magic with gloves. Indeed he had changed the definition of a wicket keeper batsman. If, Being a wicket keeper is tough, Then being a captain, a wicket keeper and a finisher is another level.

*He made us believe that, we may fail at the beginning, but if we are determined to be successful, we will achieve the highest of heights of success.

                                   One of the all time greats of the white ball. 10000+ runs coming at middle and lower middle order with a strike rate of 90+ and an average of 50+ is diiferent level alltogether.

                            The captain MSD achieved what many captains strive for. A T20 world cup, 50 over world cup and champions trophy. The phase of 2008-2010 was one of the golden periods of Test cricket for India.

Numero uno team in test and odi formats.

                              Many nay sayers say that luck supported him through out his career, but as they say luck always favours the brave.

Dhoni has the fantastic ability to be the captain on the field and once the job was done, He was never in the picture. Look at the photo frames of 2007, 2011 and 2013

You will notice one common thing. Dhoni standing at the far right or far left.

                            His legacy when he finally finishes the game would be to tell all the youngsters to just go out and express yourself on the biggest of stages.

                        The greatness of Mahendra singh dhoni lies in the belief of each and every Indian cricket fan that if Dhoni is their till the end, no matter what the situation is India will win the match. This reputation can be earned only if you do what Dhoni had done through out his career. finishing the match.

      

RAHUL DRAVID - MY FAVOURITE PLAYER

The Dark knight of Indian Cricket, The wolf who lived for the pack, A silent warrior who guarded our fortress match after match, day after day, till he played the last match.

20th of june 1996, when he made debut at the mecca of cricket he scored 95 runs and missed the name on the LORD'S HONOUR BOARD by a mere 5 runs which he later achieved in 2011.

Generally in test cricket, number 3 position or one down is considered the crucial position. When an opener gets out early, he should start buliding the foundation. If the tone and tempo of the innings is set up by the opener, he should make sure that the flow of runs don't dry up. Rahul Dravid in his career donned the role in the perfect way. Many famous test match wins of INDIA in the early 20th century, the score board highlights a name. May it be the eden gardens of 2001, Leeds of 2002, Adelaide of 2003, Rawalpindi of 2004,kingston of 2006, perth of 2008. He is the main stay of all these test matches. When Ganguly scored his maiden test century, laxman scored 281, sehwag's 2 triple centuries , sachin 186* in hyderabad odi, the common partner was Rahul dravid. His front foot stride and rock solid back foot defence is one of the nicest things in the game of cricket.

                             An outstanding catcher at short leg, an extra ordinary slip fielder. Most catches in test matches by a non- wicket keeper.

When team asked him to open, he said yes

When team required a wicket keeper, he said yes

When team asked him to bowl, he said yes.

He is always remembered for his heroics in test cricket, but he is one of the few players to score 10000 plus runs both in ODI'S AND TEST MATCHES.  At one point of time, he has the record of fastest half century by an Indian when he scored 50 of 22 balls against Newzealand. He also has the record of hatrick sixes in t20's against england in 2011.

I admire him a lot because he is  always a team man. How many legends of the game would like to coach the u-19's when you get the chance to coach the strongest cricket team in the world. The u-19 world cup win of 2018 is a perfect example. The prithvi shaw's, shubman Gill's, kamlesh Nagarkoti's, shivam mavi's, rishabh pant's, hanuma vihari's, rahane's, pandya's say about their coach a lot because at Heart Rahul Dravid is a giver. He is a perfect role model for the young stars.

To conclude Harsha bhogle once said,

For a career full of grace, charm, timing and poise, it was said that it had to end with a slog. But that was once again , what the team just needed.