“One should retire when people ask why, not when they ask why not.” These wise words from Vijay Merchant, a brilliant Test batsman and a keen reader of the game, still ring true today. Ravichandran Ashwinโs decision to hang up his boots suddenly and fly back to Chennai has left everyone in shock. Why did …
Cricket
One should retire, when
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป has decided to hang up his boots today. Itโs a bittersweet moment. I still vividly remember his debut Test against the West Indies. Wasnโt it in 2011? He got out for a duck in his first inning, but it didnโt take long for him to prove he was no ordinary cricketer. Six wickets …
Surprise and Sentiment: Mr. SR Halbe’s Memorable 76th Birthday
On May 10, an unknown number flashed on my phone. A few minutes earlier, I had received a message from the same number, introducing the sender as Mr. Halbeโs student and current colleague, requesting to speak with me about a surprise event for Mr. Halbeโs 76th birthday. The caller was Mr. Shrirang Padhye, a Mumbai-based …
England vs. Austrlia
I vividly remember ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ตโ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ match in 1981 against England in Mumbai. We saw the most unusual runout in a test match that day. Srikkanth ran himself out by performing an unexpected and nonchalant act. The ball was still in play when he casually strolled outside the crease, unaware of the consequences. John …
Sportsmanship in Cricket
Australia could certainly benefit from emulating Courtney Walsh. In the 1987 World Cup, he had the opportunity to run out the Pakistan non-striker on the last ball. By doing so, he could’ve won the match for his team- the West Indies. He didn’t. He chose integrity over victoryโa remarkable act of sportsman spirit. West Indies …
The Mighty West Indies: A Tale of Glory and Decline
Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Viv Richards and Michael Holding In the eighties, the West Indies was the emperor, the ultimate king In 1983, the slender David faced the mighty Goliath And West Indies lost, thanks to Mohinder Amarnath 1987 arrived, with Haynes, Best, and Carl Hooper’s flair, Yet the team’s decline began, sinking deeper in …
Dilip Vengsarkar arrives
In the winter of 1969, I was only a teenager, aged 13, and had just transferred from Craddock High School to Swavalambi Vidyalaya, Wardha. Television sets were as rare as a hat-trick in cricket back then, so my knowledge of cricket was limited to radio broadcasts and newspapers. However, I was a huge cricket fan, …
Bevan Congdon
Bevan Congdon died today. I remember his two towering sixes in the 1969 Nagpur test (India vs. New Zealand) โ incidentally, the first cricket match that I saw live at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur. A connoisseur’s dream, he scored match-winning sixty-plus in the first inning and had no problems reading the variations in …
Vidarbha wins Ranji trophy
Vidarbha did it! What a victory! This day reminds me of Kapil Dev lifting the 1983 World cup in England: the Vidarbha team was as much an underdog as the Indian team was in 1983. Thirty-five years ago, a bunch of Indian players took over the mighty West Indian team and made history by defeating …
Vidarbha inching towards a victory
Rajneesh Gurbani seems to be in sublime form! This morning, he scythed through Delhi’s middle and tail for a hat-trick against Delhiโ no mean achievement in a Ranji Trophy finalโ and went on to claim four wickets in just six balls. He bowled intelligently today: neither Mishra, nor Saini, nor Shorey could read his incredible …