I am writing this at 1030 P.M on an emotionally draining day on which I saw my home club Bengaluru FC get beaten by East Bengal (about which I ll write a little later). But this is my tribute to two legends who never got their due.
Ten years ago.. On this very day, I remember waking up early waiting for something special. Back then India winning a cricket match was a pretty rare occasion. But this was a lot more than that...
Dec 12, 2003:
Test number 2 of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The first test at Brisbane had been drawn. Steve Waugh won the toss and decided to bat first. This was also his farewell series. And the mayhem began. Ricky Ponting taking Indian bowlers to the cleaners. Probably starting from where he left off from at the wanderer's against India in the world cup final(another day when I had cried because India lost.. miserably). Australia ended day 1 on 400 for 5 with Ricky Ponting unbeaten on 176 and Adam Gilchrist unbeaten on 9. Australia were looking set for a pretty huge first innings score
score. This was one of those days where we were oblivious to such performances from the Indian cricket team. Though they put up a good show at the Gabba, they were not expected to beat Australia in Australia. We spent our school hours cursing the Indian cricket team and the administration for its sheer inability to get together a good playing XI.
Dec 13, 2003:
Day 2 saw Ricky Ponting reach his double hundred. Man! That guy was a run machine. There were times I prayed to god that he doesn't break Tendulkar's record. He posed a real danger to Tendulkar's record considering the rate at which he was scoring. I do not want to write further about his innings because that is not what I want to write about right now. He scored 242 from 508 deliveries. For the rest of the statistics, please refer to cricinfo.com. The Australian innings folded up at 556 and it was India's turn. By the way, Irfan Pathan made his debut in this match. So basically this was the time when all the girls in our schools used to go gaga over this "so cuuuuute" guy. I just have fond memories of him clean bowling Adam Gilchrist with a toe crusher. Sad that he is not in the scene now.
India's opening pair back then was Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag. Akash Chopra, FYI was this guy who according to me bunked the batting classes in which the coach explained to the pupils the significance of having a good backlift. The man barely had a backlift! This turned out to be a boon in a way because he was very effective in seeing the new ball away. He is now busy analyzing alastair cook's batting currently as a part of the Ashes pre match program in Star sports hindi. Anyways, the opening pair lasted for 12 overs and 66 runs. Akash was the first to go. Then it was Sehwag ,Tendulkar and Ganguly in quick succession. India, 85 for 4 trailing Australia by 471 runs. No surprises for me. Test matches never mattered to me back then. Only when they wore "colour dress" and lost, I used to cry.
"People say that Sachin is God… Ganguly is God of off side… Laxman is the God of 4th innings… But when the doors of the temple are closed, even God is behind The Wall of India." I never liked Rahul Dravid. He never used to hit sixes and wasted too much time. He used to waste so much time while wearing "colour dress" matches that his dress was always a shade darker than the rest thanks to perspiration. Laxman joined dravid at the crease. Laxman on the other hand adorned the door of my room. He had scored 281 in Kolkata and everyone told me that was cool. No one told me that Rahul Dravid had scored 180 and that was cool too. That man was so happy to be behind the scenes.
Dravid and Laxman managed to hold fort and ended day 2 on 180 for 4. And it was not as easy as I am putting it. Having the aussies go at you when you are down and out is nightmarish as Threscothick and lately Jonathan Trott found out. They had guys like Hayden, Brad Williams who could easily blow people like Dravid again if they were pitched against each other in a street fight.
Dec 14, 2003:
Day 3. When Laxman is around, no aussie can down a beer freely. He is their biggest nightmare and he chose this day to torment the aussies again. With Rahul Dravid, he went around building an innings of high calibre. I vaguely remember Gulu Ezekiel's words describing their partnership consisting of shots which were crafted with the "precision of a mathematician". And thankfully there was no Siddhu in the commentary box during that series. I am doing no justice by putting this in one sentence, but here it is - RAHUL DRAVID AND VVS LAXMAN BATTED THE FIRST SESSION OUT!! Rahul Dravid 83* VVS Laxman 87*. India 252 for 4.
Post Lunch, Rahul Dravid reaches his century by hooking Jason gillespie for a six. Yes! This was a miracle!! Rahul Dravid getting to his century with a sixer. Laxman soon followed suit, got to his century with a wristy flick on the leg side for a single. These were centuries of real calibre. There was grit written all over it. Yet the celebrations were subtle. Just a plain jog with raised hands and a humble smile on the face with a dash of gratitude. If you want to know what it doesn't look like, watch Virat Kohli reach his century (He's the best the way he is, I am not complaining).
Okay so two centuries scored, that will be enough for us to be delighted about before the eventual result will be out. That was the case back then. Batsmen used to score good looking centuries on foreign tours. Victories?? Who cares? Even now, we get to see all those innings on Star Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 every day.
However these guys were not finished yet. They cut, drove the ball inside out, flicked, and rahul dravid even stepped out of the crease and smashed the ball over the bowler's (miracle time!!)head to the boundary. And then Laxman gets out for 148! The score 388 for 4. Andy bichel takes the prized scalp. "In the adelaide desert, there is an oasis and it is called Andy Bichel" - Alan Wilkins. Aussies were back to guzzling beer as the players went to the dressing room for a tea break.
The baby faced Parthiv Patel came out to bat and managed to look like the hero of a Prabhudeva block buster. Boyish charm meets a couple of hard punches. But before the interval, he got ambitious and fell from grace like the complacent villain. 447 for 6.Soon it was the turn of comedians who had miniscule roles. Ajit Agarkar came, finished his lines and left in a hurry. Dravid was joined by Anil Kumble (another legend) and the duo managed to stick around till EOD (End of Day). India 477 for 7. Dravid sitting tightly at 199, refusing to give his wicket away. The usually tough aussies shook hands with him as he left the field. This test seemed to head for a draw. And that is precisely why I used to hate tests.
Dec 15, 2003:
Umpire David Shepherd says "Play" on the morning of Day 4. Dravid dispatches the first ball from Stuart MacGill for a boundary and reaches his 200. Atleast now shouldn't you run and scream your lungs out! Come on you are a bangalorean, you must know some of those cuss words which when used while celebrating gives it a different feeling. Dravid is happy to jog, raise his hands and shake hands with Kumble. He goes back to his crease and takes guard with his britannia bat. Nike and reebok did not see money in cricket back then. Besides Dravid was more suitable to endorse Raymonds. Then Kumble gets out. Irfan Pathan gets out too trying to hit a full toss out of the park, only helping it to the bowler's hands. India:518 for 9. Finally Dravid tells Aussies "Okay, you guys take batting now" and hits one more in the air only to be caught this time(no miracle this time). India folded up at 523 just 33 runs short of Aussies' 556. The actual miracle was yet to be witnessed.
Ajit Agarkar was one guy who never NEVER got his due. If India lost, most of the blame would be pointed at him. The guy had a decent record. Has a century at Lords', but still he was the first one to be cursed when India lost. He was more like the Ishant Sharma/Ravinder Jadeja/Rohith Sharma of the early 2000s. He chose to make this day his and made me eat my words too. He took 6 wickets for 41 and broke the back of the australian batting line up. I am unable to fill in any descriptions because Youtube is not getting loaded. Anyways Ajit, you have always been an unsung hero.
But a huge salute from me today. Agarkar acounted for Langer, Ponting, Katich, Bichel, Gillespie and MacGill. Tendulkar managed to grab a couple and all of a sudden the tables had been turned!! Australia were bundled out for 196. At the end of day 4 India were 37 for no loss chasing 230 for what was a historic victory.
Dec 16, 2003:
Indian team back then had this unusual tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They could give the South African cricket team a run for their money in that regard. The events of this day resembled this sequence from one of the best Kannada movies ever made called "Nagarahavu". The sequence is simple. The heroine(Aarati) becomes a victim of eve teasing, complains to her brother(Shivaram) about the same and the brother overwhelmed by the culprit( Rebel Star Ambareesh) enlists the help of his best friend (Sahasa simha Vishnuvardhan) to take the culprit to task. Something similar happened in the fourth innings. From being at 1 for 79, India started to lose wickets regularly. Rahul Dravid stood at one end, while the rest walked in tried and failed and went back. 1 for 79 became 2 for 79 followed by 3 for 149, which saw Tendulkar go, followed by Ganguly (170-4) and Laxman (221 -5). This must have felt like having all your colleagues leave early on the day that your team needs to make an important release.
Dravid never looked tense. He never complained. He had done it before, he would do it again. This man has done everything on the field from batting, bowling to wicket keeping for his team. He batted an entire day for the team without losing his composure or his wicket. He fought hard and fair, refusing to give an inch to the opposition. His last shot of the day was as good as the first. For people who questioned his fitness, this would be my question to them. Can they bat an entire day out? To do so at a foreign country with a pretty hostile media contingent and a much more hostile crowd, you have to be special. Dravid is special. He marshalled the resources available to him. Talking the other batsman into being comfortable.
After some really tense moments, the final moment had arrived. And I do not need youtube to recall it. I have it etched in my mind. It is 1236 AM on December 16, 2013. Close to 10 years since that moment.
India needed a single to wrap the match up. Sourav Ganguly had made his way to the boundary from the pavillion, waiting to run into the field at the onset of victory(He was tired of biting nails during this match I suppose). Stuart MacGill dropped that one short of length. It spun away from the right hander. Dravid, eyes and head steady reaches out for it and cut it past point. He knew it would go to the boundary. He smiled, ran to the non strikers punching the air subtly as if air would mind his actions. He took his cap out, kissed the BCCI emblem and raised his hands and his britannia bat.
It's been exactly a decade since that victory and the only thing that might come close to it would be the T20 world cup victory in 2007, for the sheer fearlessness of the team under MS Dhoni. But it was Adelaide on December 16, 2003 that I started loving "White Dress" cricket and people like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble became my heroes(even Ajit Agarkar) to a great extent.
These people under Ganguly's leadership were responsible to instill the belief that Indian cricketers could beat other teams in their own dens. And yet they were sent off into obscurity by an ungrateful and insensitive administration.
Here I rest my case. Thanks for reading and bearing my nonsense.
Ten years ago.. On this very day, I remember waking up early waiting for something special. Back then India winning a cricket match was a pretty rare occasion. But this was a lot more than that...
Dec 12, 2003:
Test number 2 of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The first test at Brisbane had been drawn. Steve Waugh won the toss and decided to bat first. This was also his farewell series. And the mayhem began. Ricky Ponting taking Indian bowlers to the cleaners. Probably starting from where he left off from at the wanderer's against India in the world cup final(another day when I had cried because India lost.. miserably). Australia ended day 1 on 400 for 5 with Ricky Ponting unbeaten on 176 and Adam Gilchrist unbeaten on 9. Australia were looking set for a pretty huge first innings score
score. This was one of those days where we were oblivious to such performances from the Indian cricket team. Though they put up a good show at the Gabba, they were not expected to beat Australia in Australia. We spent our school hours cursing the Indian cricket team and the administration for its sheer inability to get together a good playing XI.
Dec 13, 2003:
Day 2 saw Ricky Ponting reach his double hundred. Man! That guy was a run machine. There were times I prayed to god that he doesn't break Tendulkar's record. He posed a real danger to Tendulkar's record considering the rate at which he was scoring. I do not want to write further about his innings because that is not what I want to write about right now. He scored 242 from 508 deliveries. For the rest of the statistics, please refer to cricinfo.com. The Australian innings folded up at 556 and it was India's turn. By the way, Irfan Pathan made his debut in this match. So basically this was the time when all the girls in our schools used to go gaga over this "so cuuuuute" guy. I just have fond memories of him clean bowling Adam Gilchrist with a toe crusher. Sad that he is not in the scene now.
India's opening pair back then was Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag. Akash Chopra, FYI was this guy who according to me bunked the batting classes in which the coach explained to the pupils the significance of having a good backlift. The man barely had a backlift! This turned out to be a boon in a way because he was very effective in seeing the new ball away. He is now busy analyzing alastair cook's batting currently as a part of the Ashes pre match program in Star sports hindi. Anyways, the opening pair lasted for 12 overs and 66 runs. Akash was the first to go. Then it was Sehwag ,Tendulkar and Ganguly in quick succession. India, 85 for 4 trailing Australia by 471 runs. No surprises for me. Test matches never mattered to me back then. Only when they wore "colour dress" and lost, I used to cry.
"People say that Sachin is God… Ganguly is God of off side… Laxman is the God of 4th innings… But when the doors of the temple are closed, even God is behind The Wall of India." I never liked Rahul Dravid. He never used to hit sixes and wasted too much time. He used to waste so much time while wearing "colour dress" matches that his dress was always a shade darker than the rest thanks to perspiration. Laxman joined dravid at the crease. Laxman on the other hand adorned the door of my room. He had scored 281 in Kolkata and everyone told me that was cool. No one told me that Rahul Dravid had scored 180 and that was cool too. That man was so happy to be behind the scenes.
Dravid and Laxman managed to hold fort and ended day 2 on 180 for 4. And it was not as easy as I am putting it. Having the aussies go at you when you are down and out is nightmarish as Threscothick and lately Jonathan Trott found out. They had guys like Hayden, Brad Williams who could easily blow people like Dravid again if they were pitched against each other in a street fight.
Dec 14, 2003:
Day 3. When Laxman is around, no aussie can down a beer freely. He is their biggest nightmare and he chose this day to torment the aussies again. With Rahul Dravid, he went around building an innings of high calibre. I vaguely remember Gulu Ezekiel's words describing their partnership consisting of shots which were crafted with the "precision of a mathematician". And thankfully there was no Siddhu in the commentary box during that series. I am doing no justice by putting this in one sentence, but here it is - RAHUL DRAVID AND VVS LAXMAN BATTED THE FIRST SESSION OUT!! Rahul Dravid 83* VVS Laxman 87*. India 252 for 4.
Post Lunch, Rahul Dravid reaches his century by hooking Jason gillespie for a six. Yes! This was a miracle!! Rahul Dravid getting to his century with a sixer. Laxman soon followed suit, got to his century with a wristy flick on the leg side for a single. These were centuries of real calibre. There was grit written all over it. Yet the celebrations were subtle. Just a plain jog with raised hands and a humble smile on the face with a dash of gratitude. If you want to know what it doesn't look like, watch Virat Kohli reach his century (He's the best the way he is, I am not complaining).
Okay so two centuries scored, that will be enough for us to be delighted about before the eventual result will be out. That was the case back then. Batsmen used to score good looking centuries on foreign tours. Victories?? Who cares? Even now, we get to see all those innings on Star Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 every day.
However these guys were not finished yet. They cut, drove the ball inside out, flicked, and rahul dravid even stepped out of the crease and smashed the ball over the bowler's (miracle time!!)head to the boundary. And then Laxman gets out for 148! The score 388 for 4. Andy bichel takes the prized scalp. "In the adelaide desert, there is an oasis and it is called Andy Bichel" - Alan Wilkins. Aussies were back to guzzling beer as the players went to the dressing room for a tea break.
The baby faced Parthiv Patel came out to bat and managed to look like the hero of a Prabhudeva block buster. Boyish charm meets a couple of hard punches. But before the interval, he got ambitious and fell from grace like the complacent villain. 447 for 6.Soon it was the turn of comedians who had miniscule roles. Ajit Agarkar came, finished his lines and left in a hurry. Dravid was joined by Anil Kumble (another legend) and the duo managed to stick around till EOD (End of Day). India 477 for 7. Dravid sitting tightly at 199, refusing to give his wicket away. The usually tough aussies shook hands with him as he left the field. This test seemed to head for a draw. And that is precisely why I used to hate tests.
Dec 15, 2003:
Umpire David Shepherd says "Play" on the morning of Day 4. Dravid dispatches the first ball from Stuart MacGill for a boundary and reaches his 200. Atleast now shouldn't you run and scream your lungs out! Come on you are a bangalorean, you must know some of those cuss words which when used while celebrating gives it a different feeling. Dravid is happy to jog, raise his hands and shake hands with Kumble. He goes back to his crease and takes guard with his britannia bat. Nike and reebok did not see money in cricket back then. Besides Dravid was more suitable to endorse Raymonds. Then Kumble gets out. Irfan Pathan gets out too trying to hit a full toss out of the park, only helping it to the bowler's hands. India:518 for 9. Finally Dravid tells Aussies "Okay, you guys take batting now" and hits one more in the air only to be caught this time(no miracle this time). India folded up at 523 just 33 runs short of Aussies' 556. The actual miracle was yet to be witnessed.
Ajit Agarkar was one guy who never NEVER got his due. If India lost, most of the blame would be pointed at him. The guy had a decent record. Has a century at Lords', but still he was the first one to be cursed when India lost. He was more like the Ishant Sharma/Ravinder Jadeja/Rohith Sharma of the early 2000s. He chose to make this day his and made me eat my words too. He took 6 wickets for 41 and broke the back of the australian batting line up. I am unable to fill in any descriptions because Youtube is not getting loaded. Anyways Ajit, you have always been an unsung hero.
But a huge salute from me today. Agarkar acounted for Langer, Ponting, Katich, Bichel, Gillespie and MacGill. Tendulkar managed to grab a couple and all of a sudden the tables had been turned!! Australia were bundled out for 196. At the end of day 4 India were 37 for no loss chasing 230 for what was a historic victory.
Dec 16, 2003:
Indian team back then had this unusual tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They could give the South African cricket team a run for their money in that regard. The events of this day resembled this sequence from one of the best Kannada movies ever made called "Nagarahavu". The sequence is simple. The heroine(Aarati) becomes a victim of eve teasing, complains to her brother(Shivaram) about the same and the brother overwhelmed by the culprit( Rebel Star Ambareesh) enlists the help of his best friend (Sahasa simha Vishnuvardhan) to take the culprit to task. Something similar happened in the fourth innings. From being at 1 for 79, India started to lose wickets regularly. Rahul Dravid stood at one end, while the rest walked in tried and failed and went back. 1 for 79 became 2 for 79 followed by 3 for 149, which saw Tendulkar go, followed by Ganguly (170-4) and Laxman (221 -5). This must have felt like having all your colleagues leave early on the day that your team needs to make an important release.
Dravid never looked tense. He never complained. He had done it before, he would do it again. This man has done everything on the field from batting, bowling to wicket keeping for his team. He batted an entire day for the team without losing his composure or his wicket. He fought hard and fair, refusing to give an inch to the opposition. His last shot of the day was as good as the first. For people who questioned his fitness, this would be my question to them. Can they bat an entire day out? To do so at a foreign country with a pretty hostile media contingent and a much more hostile crowd, you have to be special. Dravid is special. He marshalled the resources available to him. Talking the other batsman into being comfortable.
After some really tense moments, the final moment had arrived. And I do not need youtube to recall it. I have it etched in my mind. It is 1236 AM on December 16, 2013. Close to 10 years since that moment.
India needed a single to wrap the match up. Sourav Ganguly had made his way to the boundary from the pavillion, waiting to run into the field at the onset of victory(He was tired of biting nails during this match I suppose). Stuart MacGill dropped that one short of length. It spun away from the right hander. Dravid, eyes and head steady reaches out for it and cut it past point. He knew it would go to the boundary. He smiled, ran to the non strikers punching the air subtly as if air would mind his actions. He took his cap out, kissed the BCCI emblem and raised his hands and his britannia bat.
It's been exactly a decade since that victory and the only thing that might come close to it would be the T20 world cup victory in 2007, for the sheer fearlessness of the team under MS Dhoni. But it was Adelaide on December 16, 2003 that I started loving "White Dress" cricket and people like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble became my heroes(even Ajit Agarkar) to a great extent.
These people under Ganguly's leadership were responsible to instill the belief that Indian cricketers could beat other teams in their own dens. And yet they were sent off into obscurity by an ungrateful and insensitive administration.
Here I rest my case. Thanks for reading and bearing my nonsense.
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