Cricket (sport): Who are the most unfortunate cricketers of current time?

 The Test Debut that really happened,yet officially didn’t-

An interesting title,isn’t it? Well,the story that’ll follow is more interesting(long answer ahead).

It was the fag end of 2001. India,after having a successful home season flied to South Africa to play a series of 3 tests under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

Now,many might remember this series,as it was the debut series of our very favourite opener-the ever entertaining Virender Sehwag. He infact,scored a century(105) on debut!

But things didn’t go as straight as everyone expected.

The infamous match referee- Mike Dennis,convicted 6 Indian cricketers guilty of various offences during the 2nd test.

And the allegations were quite funny- while Harbhajan Singh,Virender Sehwag,Deep Dasgupta and SS Das were held responsible for excessive appealing,their captain Ganguly was held responsible for failing to control his team’s bad behaviour.

The 6th one to be convicted was none other than Sachin Tendulkar,and he was found guilty of tampering the ball.

As a result,Dennis decided to ban these players for the remaining test.

But such a decision started increasing tensions and agitation in India. The fans started criticising this decision. As a result,the ICC decided to take this case to court.

In the meantime,the 3rd test was underway.

As per rule,the banned players weren’t allowed to play(they were present in the hearing).

So in place of Virender Sehwag,India gave chance to a player from the bench,named Connor Cecil Williams.

He happened to be the 240th test cap for India.

He came out to bat at a precarious position in the 1st innings,and was out cheaply,LBWed by Lance Klusener,though replays showed that the ball was clearly pitching outside leg.

In the 2nd innings,however,he showed tremendous resilience against the pace of Klusener,Pollock,Kallis and Ntini,as he scored a gutsy 42. This however couldn’t stop India from crashing to an innings defeat.

This man took on everything-lethal blows from the fiercest pacers of all times,sledging from Jacques Kallis,and obviously,the hype of playing for India for the 1st time.

While this test was going on,the tribunal was held. And in that,Tendulkar and Ganguly were freed from all charges,as no evidence was found against them.

Thus,the allegations of Dennis,all proved to be wrong. This caused a furore in India,and BCCI threatened to call the tour off. Crumbling under pressure,Cricket South Africa too decided to side with the BCCI.

So ICC decided to call off the 3rd test,which had already been completed,as an international friendly 5-day match(an unofficial one). As a result,Williams’ test cap too had no value.

That is why,no scorecard of this test can be found from any notable sports sites like CricBuzz or ESPNCricinfo.

Yet,this test did happen,and Williams did bat well. Infact,he did enough to be selected again in the team. He was picked for the test series against England a few months later,but didn’t play.

Infact,he never played for India again.

Sitting in the dressing room,he had to witness that the same 240th test cap,which he had been awarded a few months earlier,being passed to Sanjay Bangar.

He definitely doesn’t feature in the BCCI’s official list of cricketers who featured in tests.

But was he a bad player?

People who will see his batting have to agree,that when he drove,his drives were as languid as Kumara Sangakkara. Infact,the way he got dismissed(LBW),was also a fashion in which Sanga often used to get dismissed(trying to play across the line).

And the way he used to cut,was almost similar to Sanath Jayasuriya. Infact,his dismissal in the 2nd innings,the one where he edged to 2nd slip was a fashion in which Jayasuriya used to get out on many occassions!

Such a player never played for India again,inspite of scoring almost 8k domestic runs for Baroda,at an average of 40. He always dreamt of a comeback,till he retired in 2011,but that never happened.

Its said that the Williams have roots in St. Lucia,West Indies. Had his forefathers not migrated to India,he might have become a successful Carribean batsman!

Just think- you don the national test jersey,take the field for almost all 5 days of a test match,earn a hard earned test cap,yet you are never ever given the status of a test player.

Can anyone be unluckier than him?

Truly,life isn’t sweet for all!

Heartiest apologies- He is not exactly current,but is probably the most fitting person for this question!

Who is the most dependable cricketer between 1990 -2000?

 There were so many players who played between 1990–2000. All the teams were strong and the world cricket saw so many thrilling matches. I will try to list my set of players whom i think were more dependable :

Sachin Tendulkar (INDIA): Without this name you cannot expect a team during that period. It was his initial stage but after 1995, he became one of the dependable player for Indian Team. His stats in the WC conducted between 90–2000 proves that.

Brian Lara (West Indies):

One of the all-time great batsman who made his debut in the 1990s. Lara carried the team on his shoulders, scoring centuries in many successive matches. The true test of a player is how he handles the toughest opposition. Lara has done that so many times in his career.

One of his best innings was against the mighty Aussies, he was in unbeaten 153 in Barbados which helped the West Indies chase down an unlikely target of 308.

Steve Waugh(Australia): He is one of my personal favorite and he was such a great captain for the Aussies. He was one fearless batsmen who played in the middle order and has scored many runs.

Aravinda De Silva(Sri Lanka): He is one great batsmen which the SL team has produced. I hated him so many times because he used to play well against India in so many innings. He is a destructive batsmen and also a good bowler. He was a good all rounder at that time and he was one of the reason why SL won the World Cup in 1996.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis(Pakistan):

We need not give any intro regarding this duo. They were in such a terrific form throughout their career and even the best batsmen of a team used to suffer. Reverse swinging the ball before it became commonplace, the great left-arm seamer could make even the best batsmen look foolish. Wasim was a All-Rounder too and used to score some runs for his team in the lower order.

There are so many other players too who had an excellent career during this time. Michael Bevan, Shane Warne, Curtley Ambrose, Anil Kumble, Azaruddin, Allan Donald, Lance Klusner, Heath Streak, Alastair Campbell, Henry Olanga, Shaun Pollock, Krish Srikanth.

In cricket history which cricketer never bowled a no ball?

 1. Kapil Dev

India's best alrounder Kapil Dev as a result of their better captaincy first World Cup in 1983 gave India. The name of Kapil Dev several records, but also an act that is impossible for many of the world's bowlers. Kapil his career not a single no-ball bowled and he is the only bowler to do so. Kapil played 131 Tests and 225 one-day matches.

2. Ian Botham

The great all-rounder Ian Botham of England are also in the list. His 16-year cricketing career, he also did not throw a single no-ball. Ian played 102 Tests and 116 one-day matches.

3. Imran Khan

Pakistani fast bowler Imran Khan is one of the world's best bowler. Imran Khan played 88 Tests and 175 one-day matches. During this time he did not have a no-ball bowled.

4. Dennis Lillee

Australian great bowler Dennis Lillee of the bowling attack is also very disciplined in his career. Dennis Bowling is not the record of a single no ball. He has played 70 Tests.

5. Lance Gibbs

West Indian Lance Gibbs has played 79 Tests and 3 ODIs. But no, he threw a no-ball.

Who is the most under rated cricketer of Indian cricket team?

 Sourav ganguly.

Only remembered as a great captain with a lot of aggression.

When it comes to batting, he is called the God on off side but none of his shot is ever mentioned. But look at this:

1. A six over long on: One of his favorite shot to fast bowlers.
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   Swept the ball: Loved to play it against spinners
   

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2. Superb piece of bowling: You could never take him light. Had 100 ODI wickets with an economy of about 5 rpo
   

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2. His test average looks average with a figure of 42.17 but mind you it never was below 40 at any point of his career.
   

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3rd fastest to 6000 ODI runs ( after Viv and Virat), 2nd fastest to 7000 ODI runs ( after AB De Villiers), fastest to 8000 ODI runs, fastest to 9000 ODI runs, 2nd fastest to 10000 ODI runs.

Looks like a lot of qualities is overshadowed by another quality of his own.

Edit: looks like a lot of people don't agree with me. They are right in what they mentioned in the comments section. My point is simply that Sourav Ganguly deserves much more respect as a batsmen than he is getting to the day. No doubt his captaincy, and they aggression which changed the Indian cricket, will be remembered before anything else but while mentioning the batsmen, I would still prefer Sourav in the list at somewhere near the top. He bowls decent spells as well.

Thus I would only like to say that don't exclude him when you are thinking of any ODI team.

Who is the most unlucky Indian cricketer ever and why?

Not many might remember this. Then read every line of my answer.

He debuted for India before Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a teen in 2004.

He got selected in both the World T20 2007 as well as the CWC 2007. He never got a chance to play a match in the latter though.

Ravi Ashwin once thought that he would become the next Sachin Tendulkar of Indian cricket,seeing his prodigious batting performances in domestic cricket.

He scored a test century against Bangladesh batting as an opener!

People applauded him for his 29 runs off 8 balls against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy Finals in 2018,but criticised him immensely for his decision to retain strike against New Zealand in a T20I in early 2019,a match which India eventually lost.

He was the first choice wicket-keeper selected for the CWC 2019,yet,he had to make way for Rishabh Pant in the initial few matches.

He was averaging some 49.8 in IPL 2018,yet,his form was the only question that the KKR selectors made a mess off,due to an off-colour IPL 2019.

He is not exactly the highly gifted player like Dhoni or potentially talented like Wriddhiman Saha,but a player who is eager to accept any challenge whatsover.

He has always played second fiddle to players,first to M. S. D,and now a Rishabh Pant who is 14 years his junior!

I guess,everyone can understand who he is?

Long live Dinesh Karthik Krishna Kumar!

Which cricketer had the best farewell match?

 When Sachin Tendulkar played his last International match and the crowds started getting emotional.

It all started when BCCI hastily arranged a 2-match Test series against West Indies in 2013 after a spat with South Africa cricket board for the schedule of that series. Tendulkar declared it as his final series of his professional cricket career.

In 1st Test at Kolkata, Tendulkar scored only 10 runs but took the wicket of Shane Shillingford.

But in the 2nd Test, at his request to host it at his home-ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai so that his mother can watch him live for the last time, he scored 74 runs off 118 balls with 12 fours.

Coincidentally, he scored his last boundary of his professional career by his favourite straight drive shot, for which many pundits and audiences described his play as second to none.

Not only that, his successor Virat Kohli also shined with 67 runs batting at No.5, Cheteshwar Pujara scoring 113 runs at No.3 and Rohit Sharma, on his debut Test series, scored his 2nd Test hundred, a 111* off 127 balls to put a win out of West Indies’ hands.

India won the Tendulkar’s farewell match by an innings and 126 runs.

Another coincidence to be noted is that Tendulkar scored 52 runs in his last ODI and 74 runs in his last Test match. This equates to 126 runs in his last innings of respective formats which was the win margin achieved by Indian Team in Tendulkar’s farewell match.

Not only that, Tendulkar also paid respect to the ground after the conclusion of the match.

Tweets included hashtags like #ThankYouSachin, #SachinSachin and #SRT200 were flooded on Twitter and Facebook post Tendulkar’s retirement.

This was the best farewell match any player could had got as well as he himself turned it into a memorable one!!

#ThankYouSachin

Who is the most gentlemanly cricketer ever?

 Rahul Dravid

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1. Try to take his wicket in the first 15 minutes. If you
can't, then only try to take the remaining wickets -
Steve Waugh advising his bowlers
2. If Sachin is the superman of the cricket universe,
Rahul Dravid is the Dark Knight.
3. On seeing RR at the top of Fairplay table, Harsha
Bhogle, "Whenever they see Rahul, they give a 10".
4. Dravid could play attacking cricket like me, but I can
never play like him - Chris Gayle
5. Team in trouble? Who do you turn to? Rahul Dravid. -
Ian Chappell
6. All this going around is not aggression. If you want
to know what aggression is, look into Rahul Dravid's
eyes. - Matty Hayden
7. Rahul is the type of player who would walk on a
broken glass if his team asked him to. - Siddhu
8. If I have to put anyone to bat for my life, it'd be either
Kallis or Dravid - Brian Charles Lara.
9. Dravid's remarkable career proves that nice guys
don't finish last - Steve Waugh
10. The best one probably! If you can't get along with
Dravid, you're struggling in your life! - Brett Lee.

What is the most unwanted record in cricket history for any player?

 Date- 22 March 2023

Surya Kumar Yadav unfortunately has made the record that none of the batsmen would ever want.

3 Consecutive Golden Ducks on the very first delivery.

INDIA vs AUSTRALIA ( ODI Series-2023)

• 1st ODI Surya Kumar Yadav — 0 runs 1 ball
• 2nd ODI Surya Kumar Yadav — 0 runs 1 ball
• 3rd ODI Surya Kumar Yadav — 0 runs 1 ball

So by this, he has become the first cricketer in ODI history of approximately 50 years to make this record.

Though there are 14 other players (including 6 other Indian players) in ODI history who got Golden Ducks including Sachin Tendulkar (1994), Anil Kumble, Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, etc. But none of the above got 3 Ducks on the very first ball.

In this context Gautam Gambhir’s Commentary is relevant,

When asked about SKY’s form to him…

“Surya Kumar Yadav is surely a good player as he is seeing him since 2014 and at this point, there is nothing to be said about the form of the batsman as he just played three very good balls. Good form and bad form can be decided when a player plays more balls and consistently perform well/badly. So I believe with time he will have to prove himself again.”

I too feel it is just a matter of time as Sachin Tendulkar too suffered from 3 Ducks at the start of his career similarly SKY Mr. 360 and the Number One T20 batsman (2022 ranking) will surely prove himself again across the formats at the right time.

What are some lesser known facts about Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan?

 Zaheer Khan has scored ‘The Greatest Duck' ever in Indian Cricket History.

Believe me, in my opinion, it is absolutely true.

I always get thrilled about recalling The Kolkata test, 2001. Laxman's once-in-a-generation innings of 281, Harbhajan making a ferocious batting line-up dance on his tune, Dada offering the ball to Sachin and Gilchrist getting perished on duck, 70–80 thousand Indians cheering in madness and making Eden Garden a canvas for Indian team to paint one of the greatest cricketing-picture ever.

A lifetime memory for every Indian Cricket fan.

The entire cricketing world welcomed and appreciated this Indian win over a team that hadn't had a taste of defeat in years.

After being asked to follow-on, Team India broke Aussies' world record winning streak in the most phenomenal way one could imagine.

Series just got evenly poised with 1–1 and no one could wait for the final show.

Chennai Test, 2001.

In matter of a week, the entire environment had been changed. Everyone connected to this sport, every media house was in full praise of this new looking Indian team. At the same time, no one denied the fact that Australian team had every chance to bounce back, seal the series and put the Indian's enthusiasm to rest.

Steve Waugh won the toss and decided to bat first. It looked a pretty good decision till they were on 340–3. Once Steve himself got out, Bhajji finished them in hurry. Last seven wickets fell for only 51. Apart from all individual glories from Indian side, it was a series of Mathew Hayden's exceptional batting display, who was once again at his very best and scored 203 out of Aussies' 391.

Team India looked quite confident in the reply. Five batsmen out of top six scored 50+. Everyone of them were rock solid, especially Sachin Tendulkar, who forgot his Kolkata-batting-debacle and played a gem of an innings of 126. The temperament and technique of the Master was heartening. India made 501.

Pitch was still very much bat-able, but Harbhajan was simply unplayable. Yet again. This time he produced his best performance ever and grabbed 8 wickets. Australians were folded for 264.

155.

That was number for Indians to chase down and make history. They began the series as underdogs against an invincible bunch of travellers and here they were, standing 155 runs away from the glory. They looked cruising to the target when Laxman and Sachin were smashing all around and score reached to 101–2.

Chennai was dancing. The entire India was jubilant. 54 runs was more to deal with 8 wickets in hand.

A straight forward win looked inevitable and there happened something which Australian was so famous for. They turned the tide before anybody could even realize. The moment VVS pulled a half tracker straight to the man patrolling Mid-wicket, Mark Waugh, the entire euphoric environment turned into utter disbelief. Laxman was stunned. So was every Indian fan.

135–6. 20 runs yet to get.

3 deliveries later Sairaj Bahutule fell and it became 135–7. They had totally messed it up.

101–2 to 135–7. Who would have imagined? These Australians were unbelievably well in pulling the game in their favor out of nowhere, and they were right on course here in Chennai as well. 20 runs seemed like 200 with a few inexperienced tailenders left. Not-proven-reliable Samir Dighe was standing on the other end. Indian dressing room looked full of nervousness, anxiety and devastation.

Things were quite gloomy for Indians and In-walked Zaheer Khan. On the other side, Steve Waugh continued with his two of very best, Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie.

Surrounded by 5–6 closed fielders, against some of the best bowlers in the world, it was a huge task for a speedster, who was only a few months old in international test Cricket standing out there with a piece of wood in his hand.

McGrath and Gillespie treated him in the way they usually do to tailenders, but Zaheer was right into watching each delivery using all of the batting skills he'd got. He left when they expected him to edge. He brought his bat forward inelegantly but effectively against deliveries directed towards his stumps. Indians’ heartbeats skipped for every single time he took strike, and as soon as he defied the each blow he faced, we fans exhaled in relief.

He fought for 13 deliveries. It bought enough time and safety for Samir Dighe to do his job by stealing some runs for him and his team. He was also living on the edge but he happened to manage a few boundaries somehow. By the time Zaheer Khan's resistance denied another wicket fall, Dighe scored 16 runs. 16 runs of pure Gold.

India reached to 151. They were now only four runs away from a win which later changed Indian Cricket forever. Facing his 14th delivery off McGrath, Zaheer couldn't avoid the ball kissing his bat and ending up in the slip cordon, but he had done what was required. India was in a complete danger when he walked in. Those 15–20 minutes of play was breathtaking piece of Cricket and Zaheer Khan did a huge favor to Indian Cricket despite scoring Duck.

Man of the series, Harbhajan Singh, hit the winning run to seal the test and series by 2 wickets and a new Indian Cricketing-era began.

You know, sometimes in real life, you are zero. You do nothing. You just hang there, producing nothing valuable or, you could say, quantifiable. But years later you realize that those-not-doing-productive days were actually significant. Not doing anything was itself productive because it allowed many things around you happen to you, or for you, which mattered in so many ways.

Zaheer Khan's “0” was exactly that kind of innings. He couldn't get a run for himself or his team. But the duration of time he stood there for, under the pressure of such high stake chase, was priceless. His idle-stay for 14 deliveries enabled many things happen around him which proved to be indispensable for India's successful pursuit at the end.

At the very end of an exceptional series, which witnessed some exhilarating Cricket right from the beginning with some astonishing results and produced a few of all time greatest heroes, India were on the verge of screwing it up in the most dreadful way possible, and then Zaheer Khan stood there for a while.

History is not built only on Heroisms. Under the pile of legendary performances, there are some dead hidden small contributions, marked with immense intent, that fade away with the time. Let it be forgotten but they are there. And if you look closely, you realize — without those little fights, History wouldn't have been altered and Heroism would have been merely another-remarkable-effort-in-vain.