Comments on: This day, that age

By: Prof

Prof — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:57:28 +0000

@ 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.

By: DS

DS — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:47:18 +0000

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.

By: Z

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:54:08 +0000

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.

By: nitesh

nitesh — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:32:34 +0000

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

By: Ravi

Ravi — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:27:16 +0000

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.

By: DS

DS — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:08:02 +0000

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.