India, number 1 in Tests and ODIs rankings, first team to win all three ICC Championships (ODI World Cup, T-20 World Cup and Champions Trophy) has never won a series down under in last two decades and past overseas records are too sensitive to talk about. Being an Indian Cricket fan, I question whether it is an Agony or A Bliss !!!
Growing up in India and love for cricket is like icing on the cake, you would find a bunch of people playing, talking, and watching this game. As with most sports, cricket was played in a primitive form for many years before rules were drawn up and some of the most enjoyable cricket is still played in the streets of India. I have been watching Cricket since childhood (well just like you) and can say it runs in my blood. I have played a lot of cricket in my life. Indeed, those are one of my precious memories of late. I still remember playing for my school team and taking them to the qualifiers in Inter-school competition. Cricket was/is my life however much to my regret; I never became a serious cricketer. Cricket was certainly good to me, filling my life with pleasure, excitement, challenges and reasonable achievements, it was a game that introduced me to many lifelong friends and taught me many lessons. No other sport compares in terms of the number of skills displayed, and the blend of subtlety, entertainment, sudden thrill and sustained intellectual interest on offer.
I still remember my school days; waiting for Sundays to play a cricket match & how my mom dad would scold me every Sunday “School ke liye kabhi utha nahi tu jaldi but Sunday, you just get up without any alarm”. Days have gone by but it hasn’t changed a bit even today, if someone asks me to get up at 06:00 am for a cricket match, I might not sleep from the excitement that I have a match tomorrow.
Passion to support Team India and wanting them to win in every situation is “a given” for every Cricket fan in India. Today, when we see our Indian Team, we are really lucky to have batsmen like Kohli, Dhoni, Rohit, Rahane , all-rounders like Pandya, Jadeja, Ashwin and bowlers like Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Yadav, Shami, Chahal, and list just goes on in each category; even the Under 19 players are amazing and can give any team a run for their money.
But this wasn’t the case in 90s, anyone who has watched cricket in the 90s and the early parts of 2000s will agree with what I am saying. Back in the day, victory wasn’t the norm, heartbreak was. We only had Sachin to rely on and if he gets out, majority of the Indians would switch off the TV and I’m sure the same thing would have happened in the famous 2002 Lords Final. Opposition Team would make strategy to get Sachin out rather than beating India because they knew if they get “him” out, “India” would collapse.
In early 90s, seeing selectors choosing Indian team was like watching Musical Chairs without any music and Admin can ask anyone to sit. The moderate consistency that we have come to associate with today’s Indian team, was a distant dream two decades ago. Selection to the team was absolutely chaos, many made their way to the team and vanished equally soon.
In 1997, Tendulkar famously asked “Noel who????? When asked about the off spinner Noel David (burst into the side with comparisons to Jonty Rhodes) who replaced Javagal Srinath in the tour of West Indies. One wonders if Tendulkar is really to be blamed ? It was indeed Musical chairs then, let’s see how many players came and went in that decade, Salil Ankola, Ashish Kapoor, Pankaj Dharmani, Vikram Rathore, Rajesh Chauhan, Sairaj Bahutule, Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, Gagan Khoda, Abey Kuruvilla, Amay Khurasiya, Samir Dighe, Saba Karim, Ajay Ratra, Deep Dasgupta, Shiv Sundar Das, Jacob Martin, Robin Singh jr., Reetinder Sodhi, Devang Gandhi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Vijay Bharadwaj, M.S.K.Prasad, Nikhil Chopra and Vijay Dahiya to name a few.
A Team losing to Australia 5-0 , losing to Sri Lanka in 1996 Semi Final, getting out for 120 & 66 in a Test match against South Africa, losing Coca-Cola Champions Trophy to Sri Lanka by 245 runs (India all out for 54) and the list is long. Seeing India loose doesn’t hurt a Fan but the way we lost those matches hurts, we never fought, we just gave up so quickly.
Now think “how can a Fan be so loyal with Team India?”, the team which lost 12 straight finals before winning The Lord’s 2002 Final. Well in all that chaos and panic, India pulled out some miracle wins and had given Fans something to smile for, something to remember and something we still cherish. Here are my top five moments of Indian Cricket (90s and early 2000s):-
5.Ganguly single-handedly wins the Sahara Cup vs Pakistan:-1997
Hard to believe, but India-Pakistan used to lock horns at a neutral venue (Canada) for 5 match series. In 1996, Pakistan won the series 3-2 however India returned the favor in 1997 by beating them 4-1 and they have only one man to thank, “Sourav Ganguly”.
4 India’s record breaking chase against Pakistan :- 1998
The Silver Jubilee Independence Cup was played in Dhaka, a tri-nation tournament which featured India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bangladesh did not pose a problem for either of the two teams and so the arch rivals made it easily to the finals. While India registered a thumping victory in the 1st Final by 8 wickets banking on ever so reliable Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliant 95, Pakistan hit back hard in the 2nd Final through a commanding bowling performance.
With things square at 1-1, both teams met in the 3rd Final to determine who held the aces. Pakistan made the most of a flat batting deck and put up a mammoth 314 on the board (Yes! in that era it was Mammoth) leaving India to complete a record chase if they wanted to win. Tendulkar looked fired up from the start and blasted 41 from just 26 balls and was in a 71-run opening stand with Ganguly in just 8 odd overs. India lost Sachin to Shahid Afridi but Team India was undeterred in their cause as Ganguly and Robin Singh forged a 179-run partnership for the 2nd wicket and took them closer to the Pakistan total.
India was cruising and was set to win the final but it was India-Pakistan Match and nothing comes easy …. The fall of Robin Singh’s wicket brought about a batting collapse for India as skipper Azharuddin, Jadeja and Sidhu perished without troubling the scorers much. Soon centurion Sourav Ganguly too lost his wicket for 124 in the process of trying to accelerate. With Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Javagal Srinath out in the middle, India needed 9 off the last over against Saqlain Mustaq. Both of them managed to bring it down to 3 runs from 2 balls with Kanitkar on strike. To the disbelief of all, the southpaw pulled off a slog sweep against the spin which raced away to the boundary and led India to victory with one ball to spare.
At that point, India’s 316 was the world record for the highest chase in ODIs.
- Semi Final of Hero Cup 1993:- India vs South Africa
Hero Cup (C.A.B. Jubilee Tournament) was the 5-nation Tournament in 1993 which featured West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe & India. India was facing South Africa in the Semi Final at the Eden Gardens. India won the toss and elected to bat first however, they bundled out for mere 195. The Proteas were struggling to chase that total and were 145 for 7 at one stage but then they had a good partnership and needed only 6 runs in the last over. What Azhar did that day, is still rated as one of the best masterstrokes in cricket. He gave the ball to Sachin Tendulkar and he did not disappoint his skipper & the thousands of fans present in the stadium. He gave away only 3 runs and India won the match by 2 runs.
Later India had beaten West Indies in the Final to claim the Hero Cup.
- Anil Kumble’s 10-wicket miracle vs Pakistan at the Kotla:-1999
10 wickets in an innings of a test match seems like a dream but it had happened, not once but twice in the test history. First person to take 10 wickets in an innings was Jim Lanker of Australia in 1956 and second was Anil Kumble of India in 1999. It was possibly the greatest display of Anil Kumble’s masterclass when he claimed 10 for 74 against arch rivals Pakistan. On the Final day, India posted a big target of 419 against Pakistan and the host was totally on the back foot from the word go as openers Anwar and Afridi brought up 100 in no time. India was looking desperate to take one wicket, let alone all 10.
And in comes Jumbo with bag full of tricks, he took wicket after wicket and after wicket until all the Pakistan team was back in the pavilion. Eventually, Pakistan was bowled out for 207 with Kumble taking 10 for 74.
1.Sachin Tendulkar’s Twin Centuries vs Australia at Sharjah
Probably the greatest memories for all 90s fans, Sachin scoring twin centuries against one of the best teams in the world, Australia. Coca Cola cup was a tri-nation tournament which featured India, Australia and New Zealand. Australia was in the red hot form in that year; they won all the matches in the league stage and eased through to the Finals. India and New Zealand, both were fighting for the Final spot against Australia but the only difference was that New Zealand was heavily relying on Australia.
Australia scored 284 batting after Michael Bevan went berserk and scored a century. India needed to get 254 to reach the final on the basis of a better run-rate; this was further revised to 237 off 46 overs due to a dust storm stoppage.
And as always, we relied on the “Little Champion Sachin Tendulkar” to take us home and as in most of the matches, Sachin did not disappoint. He played one of the best knocks of his career and scored 143 off 131 balls and took India to the Finals. India lost the match but qualified for the Finals.
In the Final, to everyone’s surprise, Sachin came fired up again and scored another century but this time he made sure India would win the Final against Aussies and it was simply the greatest moment in Indian Cricket which we still talk about.
So those were my top five moments of the 90s. After all that pain and agony, all those false dawns and heart breaking defeats, we still have moments where India has made us smile. My question to every 90s Indian cricket Fan
Indian Cricket:- An Agony or a Bliss?
