What are some mind-blowing facts about cricket?

 This is Ashish Nehra, an Indian Pacer. He has a unique feat to his name.

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He is the only person to BAT TWICE and BOWL TWICE in a single day, in a test match.
It was the second test during the tour to New Zealand in December 2002. The pitch was so damp that batsmen were falling like ninepins. India had scored 92–8 by the end of the first day’s play and Ashish was one of the not-out batsmen.
1.He resumed his innings on the second day but India were soon all out for 99.
2.He was then part of the bowling attack as India bowled New Zealand out for 94 in their first innings.
3. India themselves were bowled out in their second innings for 154.

4.Finally, when New Zealand came out to bat in the fourth innings of the match, Ashish had another bowl at them in the final moments of the day.

Source: Playing It My Way

Edit: This record is also apparently in the name of two other players as pointed out in the comments.
(i) Walsh on Day-2 in E v WI T2 at Lords in 2000 (England v West Indies, London )

(ii) Siddle on Day-2 in A v RSA T1 at Cape Town in 2011 ( South Africa v Australia, Cape Town )

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Nasser Hussain got up one morning and thought,”Hey! I couldn’t lead England to a world cup victory, let me at least lead myself to The Guinness Book of world records for a rather useless feat”.

And so He, apparently became the only person to have caught a leather ball dropped from a height of 150 feet.

Who had the best debut in international cricket?

 Scoring a century or taking 5 wickets in a debut match is considered as best debut match for a player.

But here is a player who neither scored a century nor took 5 wickets.

He debuted his batting against the mighty Australians in 2000 when he was just 18 year old and scored 84 in 80 balls. He scored against bowlers like McGrath, Brett lee and Gillespie.

A good fielder always enjoys taking a brilliant catch and running out a batsman. Yuvraj singh took a brilliant flying catch of Ian Harvey in that match.

His direct hit run out sent back Michael Bevan.

Yuvraj singh was declared Man of Match that day.

PS- Yuvraj singh debuted against Kenya in the previous match but didn’t get to bat. This was his first int’l match batting stint.

Why did Rahul Dravid say that his grandchildren would not remember his records but only Sachin Tendulkar?

 This reminds me of a famous dialogue from the film Dangal where Aamir Khan aka Mahavir Singh Phogat said a very inspiring dialogue. If translated from Hindi, it means If you win a Silver medal, either tomorrow or the day after, people will forget you. But if you win the Gold, you will become a legend and legends are never forgotten.

That is the same case with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. We still remember Dravid because he was a pure gem! He is called ‘The Wall’ and was the most dependable batsman having faced the most number of balls in test cricket. But if you consider the most number of runs, Tendulkar outshines Dravid in both ODI and Test Cricket. Tendulkar even has the unique achievement of 100 centuries and makes him stand out from the crowd.

Even though that should not take away any credit from Dravid and his contributions not just to Indian cricket but to the country as a whole but Sachin will always remain Sachin. You might not remember how many centuries Dravid scored but you will always remember Tendulkar scored 100 centuries and had it been 101 or 99, you would have still remembered the number.

This is why Dravid said this and what he meant by this was two or three generations later, people will forget Dravid but they will always remember Sachin Tendulkar. It is the same reason why we will always remember the names of Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin who were the first men on the Moon. But nobody remembers the names of the astronauts who next landed on the Moon. People always remember who comes first, not the one who wins the Silver.

What are the top 10 popular sixes in history of Cricket?

 

• Sachin sending one into space against caddick in 2003 world cup

• Sourav using his feet against spinners and sending the ball into orbit

• Gibbs 6 sixes in an ODI

• Sachin hitting that famous 6 to shoaib

• Yuvi’s fireshow against broad

• Sachin becoming warne’s nightmare. Stepping out and off it goes.

• Miyandad sealing the match against india with a last ball 6

• A flying six which left everybody dumstruck!

• When virat kohli hit something never seen before

• Rohit sharma showing what a class batsman can do when he is batting on 200+

• And finally, the 6 which made every indian proud!

Photos source : google

What are some instances from test cricket when a team lost despite getting a huge lead?

 A team scored 556 runs in the first innings and lost a test match. A batsman scored 242 in the first innings and still ended up on the losing side.

Yes you heard it right !

Dec 12–16, 2nd test, Border Gavaskar Trophy 2003, Adelaide.

The first test of the series ended in a draw. Steve Waugh, the captain of Australia won the toss and opt to bat first in the second test at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia lost Matthew Hayden early, but managed to put on a mammoth total of 556 runs on the board. Ricky Ponting was the chief contributor with his marathon 242.

Apart from him, Justin Langer scored 58, Simon Katich scored 75 & Jason Gillespie scored 48 runs.

For India, Anil Kumble picked up a fifer.

India in their first innings were in deep trouble with 85/4 at one stage. But then Dravid and Laxman involved in a superb partnership of 303 runs for the fifth wicket.

While Dravid scored a daddy double hundred (233), Laxman was happy to be the second fiddle & scored 148 runs.

India managed to almost negate the first innings as they scored 523 runs in their first innings.

Andy Bichel picked 4 wickets for Australia.

It did seem like the game was going nowhere, but what followed was a sensational bowling effort from India, especially from a pumped up Ajit Agarkar. He bowled the spell of his life (16.2–2–41–6) to restrict Australia to just 196 on still a good batting surface.

Chasing 233 wasn't easy. But Team India was determined. Each and every batsman contributed to the team's total. It was Rahul Dravid again who anchored the chase for India, as his 72* ensured a sensational victory for Team India.

• India won the match by 4 wickets.
• Australia lost the test after scoring 556 runs in their first innings !
• Australia lost the test after one of their batsman scored 242 in an innings !

It was truly sensational from Team India.

Image credits - Google.

What is something that almost nobody knows about cricket?

 Some unknown facts about cricket…..

1. David Warner is the only cricketer in Australian Cricket’s 132 year’s history to be selected in national team, without prior experience in first class cricket.

2. Despite having 12 surgeries, Ashish Nehra made his comeback in 2016, at the age of 36.

3. India is the only country who has whitewashed Australia,in a series played in Australia. This happened when India defeated Australia by 3–0, in a T20 series, in 2016.

4. 58 and 75 are the only scores(less than 100), never scored by Sachin Tendulkar.

5. Peter Siddle is the only bowler to take a Hat-Trick on his birthday

6. Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli are the only batsmen to achieve rank 1 in ICC rankings across all 3 formats.

7. George Bailey made his international debut for Australia as a “Captain”.

8. Virat Kohli is the only player in IPL history to represent same franchise since season one(2008)

What are the best come-backs in Cricket?

 

• Winning the game comfortably by 96 runs after getting reduced to 84/7 in the first innings of an ODI.
• Surviving a deadly spell of 10–2–23–6 and still managing to stage a comeback in the game.

Yes, You heard it right !

Well, you can hear such things when the team is Australia of early 2000s.

They were the champion side for a reason. They were so because, they used to win games comfortably even after being put under tremendous pressure.

5th super, NZ vs AUS, Port Elizabeth, 2003 World cup.

2003 World cup saw the dominant side of Australia. The ruthlessness was immense, yet having its own challenges. This game was a classic example of how crazy the Australian team used to be back in those days.

On a tricky wicket which had good pace, bounce, carry and swing, literally a dream wicket for the bowlers, NZ won the toss and opt to bowl first.

The stage was set and the wrecker-in-chief was in full flow. Shane Bond at his peak and absolute ruthless form was at his lethal best. He just ran through the Australian top order and middle order like they were club level cricketers.

I'm not exaggerating, it was one of the most devastating spell in ODIs. He dismissed the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann and Brad Hogg. His figures read 10–2–23–6 and Australia were reduced to 84/7.

Image courtesy - Cricket World Cup.

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The audience, the cricket fraternity for once thought, “Right ! We’ve finally got a team that could beat Australia 😈”.

And that was it. That was it.

That was the brief period in which NZ was in the control of the game. 84/7 and Andy Bichel joined Michael Bevan. And they steadied the ship well. From 84/7, they took the team's score to 181/8. The 97-runs partnership brought Australia back in the game.

Michael Bevan - 56(94)

Andy Bichel - 64(83)

Image courtesy - The new Indian express.

Some lower order cameo from Brett Lee powered Australia to 208 in their 50 overs. It was a respectable total, especially after getting reduced to 84/7 at one stage.

Chasing 209, Australian bowlers breathed fire. NZ were made to look ordinary. They were dismissed for 112 in just 181 deliveries. Glenn McGrath brought down the top order and Brett Lee picked up a fifer.

The world saw a brilliant comeback. Australia won the game comfortably by 96 runs.

Image courtesy - Espncricinfo.

It was yet another example of team Australia saying “This is what we are”.

What is the most controversial moment in cricket history, and why?

 I remember two incidents straightaway, both equally controversial and would've been very significant in big results of two different world cups.

22(13) becomes 22(1) !!!

South Africa took on England in the semifinals match of 1992 world cup in Sydney. It was a rain affected game. As a result, both the sides could bat for only 45 overs. Opting to bat first, England had scored 252/6 in their 45 overs. South Africa were going pretty good in the run chase despite the hiccups.

South Africa needed just 22 runs in 13 balls with 4 wickets in hand and two batters with good nick [Brian McMillan 21(21) and David Richardson 13(10)] in the middle. But suddenly, the rain gods appeared. The brainfade rule of the organisers (That no play could continue after 9:30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time) meant that no play could continue.

Add to that, lowest-scoring-over rules (Not today's Duckworth lewis rule) meant that the equation came down ridiculously from 22 off 13 to 22 off 1. That's gotta be Cricket’s most controversial match of All-time (Both technologically and regulationally).

6 runs, instead of 5 runs !!!

It was the 2019 world cup finals between England and New Zealand. Opting to bat first on a big day, New Zealand could post only 241/8 in their 50 overs. In reply, England were in a tough situation, having to score 15 runs in the last over with just 2 wickets in hand.

Ben Stokes was the batter and Trent Boult was the bowler. The equation came down to 9 from 3. That's when Stokes hit a low full toss of Boult towards deep midwicket region. Guptill collected the ball and threw towards the keeper's end, where the ball collided with Stokes' bat and raced towards the boundary ropes for the four.

Here's the rule of ICC for deflection off the bat -

Law 19.8 of the ICC rules, pertaining to 'Overthrow or wilful act of fielder' - "If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side, and the allowance for the boundary, and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act."

But it was very evident even for the viewers that the second run was incomplete. But the collective brainfade decision from the main umpire and the leg side umpire meant that England were awarded an extra run. At that moment, nobody would've thought how costly would that decision turn out to be.

In the end, the match not just ended in a tie after the first 50 overs, but also got tied in the super over !! For such an incredible cricket match, the winner was decided based on the boundary count ! Imagine what would've been the result if that extra run wasn't awarded for England !

These two incidents are unarguably the most controversial ones in Cricket till date.

Image - Google.

Which was the most one-sided cricket match ever?

 29 Oct 2000, Finals, Coca Cola Champions trophy, Sharjah.

It was the finals of the tri series between Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and India. SL led under Sanath Jayasuriya remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.

On the day of finals, Sanath won the toss and opt to bat on a sunny noon. Indian bowlers made the most of the movement available early on. They reduced SL to 116/4 around 28 overs.

At the other end was the captain of SL who was playing an uncharacteristic knock. He anchored the innings for some time to avoid further collapse. Some dropped chances helped him to get his hundred in 118 balls.

And then, it was all Jayasuriya’s show. He hammered the fast bowling trio of Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad for fun. In the next 43 balls, he hit 89 runs and just killed the game.

And how did he do that.. He didn't even wear helmet in the later part of his innings. What else a fast bowler can be hurt more of !!

Russell Arnold at the other end played his part with a 62-balls-52.

India had no time to look what happened with them. SL scored whopping 183 runs in last 22 overs. In the last 10 overs, they scored almost 100 runs.

Sanath Jayasuriya alone scored 63.21% of team's runs. He surely led from the front and boy, Indian shoulders were down.

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300 was a big target those days. But the Indians were just mentally bruised by Jayasuriya’s epic knock. And it affected their batting.

The duo of Vaas and Muralitharan just ran through the Indian batting lineup. Indian batters fell like a pack of cards.

Vaas bowled an amazing spell of 9.3–1–14–5, while Muralitharan spun his magic with a spell of 6–3–6–3.

India were dismissed for their lowest Odi total of 54. It remains their lowest Odi total till date.

Sri Lanka beat India by a massive margin of 245 runs. Sanath Jayasuriya alone had outscored India by 135 runs.

It was one of the most one-sided match in the history of cricket.

Image courtesy - Google, YouTube.