This day, that age
Posted by Prof on March 13th, 2007
March 13, an unforgettable day in the history of Indian cricket and a day when Calcutta brought ignominy to the sport by forcing us to forfeit a match. Indians were beaten by the Lankans in Eden Gardens.
Indians were coming into this game with a thumping victory over the Pakistanis in Bangalore and the Lankans, in red hot form had just annihilated England in the quarters. It could be a fascinating game in a lovely venue but things turned very ugly.
The GameÂ
Winning the toss, the Indians started the madness by putting the opposition in. Why would you want the pressure of chasing in a World Cup Semi-final???!!!They seemed to be thinking more about the opposition’s game than their own. The move seemed in order when the openers lefty quickly but De Silva, Mahanama and the rest ensured a competitive total of 251. In response, Sachin batted beautifully before a clever piece of work by Kalu had him stumped down the leg-side. It was all downhill after this- a thoroughly inept display on a pitch which had Sachin batting so comfortably (is this due to a difference in class between the batsmen? I would hope not!).
Eden GardensÂ
That’s when the crowd got in. I can understand how a crowd would be agitated by the shameful performance by the Indians but to pelt the players with stones and bottles?? I am surprised that Calcutta continues to host international games and in fact even repeated this performance later against Pakistan. I guess Eden does have its charm but this was a more disgraceful performance than the display on the field.
The pitch was not really apt for an international game of such magnitude but it didn’t merit a 120-8 either!
March 13, will forever be remembered for Kambli’s tears, Calcutta’s lack of appreciation for sport and adds another incident to the colourful World Cup history.
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Technorati Tags: De Silva, Mahanama, Sachin, Kambli
March 13th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Without a doubt, one of the most shameful nights in Indian cricket. To clarify, the scorecard reading 120-8 did not contribute an iota to the shame!
Often, references to the match, tend to focus on two aspects
1) The fact that India let SL off the hook after snaring both the openers in the first over
2) India losing its way after Sachin got out
It is the second aspect that I wish to elaborate on, since, it is often used to indicate Sachin’s genius on that particular day. Cricinfo says that Sachin was second man out after scoring 65 of 88 balls with the team on 98, and if memory serves me correctly, we had used up 25 overs by then.
A little more than 150 needed off 25 overs, with an army of spinners in the opposition. Honestly, 98-1 or 98-2 would have made no difference. We did not stand a chance! …. unless someone could play a “Jadeja vs Pak” kind of innings, while CHASING a 250 score on a crumbling track.
Again, from memory, I recall Sachin making a bright start, hitting boundaries, but struggling to pick up even singles off the spinners. With the pressure of chasing at 6 an over on a crumbling track, against the side best equipped to take advantage of such conditions, we sunk.
Sachin was a better player than the rest of the batsman in our lineup on most days during the 90s, however, on THAT day, against the old ball that was turning square out of the rough in the hands of someone like Jayasuriya, he was as helpless as the rest.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
it pains me to remember that game…
so much was my hope in tendulkars abilities and so much was he at his peak that i believed india would win the match no matter what the required run rate was as long as sachin was at the crease.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:32 am
i still remember that day
how kambli and raju cried
and even now i couln’t understand why azhar choose to bowl when it all were saying to bat first on this pitch
March 14th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
One thing I will never understand is why Kumble was brought on in the second over despite us having got both Kaluwitharane and Jayasurya in the very first over. Wouldn’t it have made sense to just bowl Prasad? Cant believe that Azhar wasn’t that flexible at all.
Also, why the hell did we bat second on what was going to be such a crumbling track. Terrible Terrible day. But glad the Lankans went on to beat those blasted Aussies in the final.
March 15th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I know that the question of why we chose to bat on a crumbling track always comes up. I would HAVE to assume that Sri Lanka’s chase against us during the group game played a part in it. However, I find it hard to believe that if the team knew that the track would crumble, they would have chosen to chase. Even recently (not sure if it was a Dravid or a Tendulkar interview), I recollect one of them mentioning that they did not have a clue about what was to come that day, and I find myself inclined to go with that.
March 15th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
@ DS: Yes, Sri Lankans chased brilliantly in the game at Delhi but even given that, on such a big occasion, anything can happen. Also, Indians have never been great chasers. This being the case, I don’t think whether the pitch would crumble or not should have been the major concern. Even on a good pitch, I am not sure whether we would’ve chased successfully.