My cricket days!

Just read that Team India left for UK. This reminded me of 'my cricket days'. I mean, when I was an avid fan of cricket few years ago. Back then, more cricket was played by our team. Here are some of the matches/series still in memory.

  • India-Pakistan match in Bangladesh in which Kanetkar hit the winning runs when India needed 314 to win the match. In this match, Ganguly had batted superbly to keep the run chase possible. The floodlights were poor and India had lost most of their batsmen. Kanetkar and Srinath were at crease when the winning runs were hit!

  • India vs England in England – Kaif and Yuvraj did a great run chase to win the match. India were 5 wickets down for 100-odd. During this match, myself and my friend were on a visit to Kochi on work. We were watching the match in our hotel room and after loosing 5 wickets, we switched off the TV to go for a walk. When we came back, India was winning!

  • India and Pakistan test match in Delhi – Kumble took 10 wickets. Umpire was Jayaprakash. What a match it was!

  • India and Australia fights in Sharjah – Tendulkar was always in the limelight against Shane Warne. One match to remember is the qualifying match when India needed 270-odd runs to hit to reach the finals based on better run-rate. Tendulkar and Laxman had a good partnership with Laxman playing a fine supporting role. India did qualify to play the finals and beat Australia in the finals.

  • India vs Zimbabwe at Benoni – arreee wah. Where did this come from? This is the match when Robin Singh had a great knock with the bat to come at 1-down. India needed 240-runs to cross in 40 overs to make it to the finals against South Africa. We didn't have ESPN/Star in our house, but were following news in the radio/TV. It was a great moment to see India winning the match.

  • Wasn't there a time when India and Sri Lanka played against each other every season? It was a 50-50 win chance for both teams. Jayasuriya, Atapattu, De Silva, Ranatunga was a strong batting line-up to crack. We had Kalu too in that ;).

  • Why are we not seeing any triangular series now-a-days? No sponsors? Before, come April-May or Nov-Dec, we used to have visiting teams playing the tri-series. FYI, neutral venues can no more host International matches! Places like – Sharjah, Singapore, Toronto which once used to host International games, have lost their chance as ICC has put a stop to that.

  • Cricket matches always reminds me of the Ads on TV – Pepsi, Coca Cola, etc etc... The Ads were such a menace that we missed some of the vital moments of the game :( . Did I forget to mention the craze to watch highlights in the night even though I watched every ball of the match during the day??? Also, how can I forget the long discussions with my friends/family/everyone prematch and post match – whether India wins or not, there was always scope for match discussions.

Comments

Satish said…
Thanks for taking us back on the memory lane...Nice to read about those matches..
12:58 PM, June 20, 2007
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