Back to writing after a long hiatus..it's been very frustrating not being able to write over the last few months..not that work has been hectic, I assume it's just sheer laziness ...hopefully this is a start of a phase of some regular writing..
Growing up in the 1990s was incredible fun especially with all the sports doing the rounds..regularly subscribing to Sportstar and collecting all the posters while also getting my hands on Wisden and other magazines was the best part..The 1990s and early witnessed some of the greatest sporting achievements and the memories and details of the cricket, tennis and football matches I watched are still strongly ingrained in my mind..I have been working on an international cricket ratings system and in the course of this wonderful exercise, i have revisited scorecards and matches from the last 30-40 years...Recently I decided to dig up the attic at home to find all the old magazines and books I had collected and thought ill write a bit about all the treasured sporting moments, the memories of which I will carry to my end...and i sure hope reading these brings back fond memories to all u guys who enjoyed the best sports action through the 1990s..
1. WC 1992: Introduced to cricket and sports in general around 1990-91, the 1992 WC was the first major cricketing event which as a school going kid, I gobbled up happily..The India Pak game, Miandad's antics, the semi final goof up, Wasim Akram's special deliveries and most of all Jonty Rhodes flying to run Inzamam-ul-Haq out..
2. WI tour of Australia 1992-93: By this time, I was already quite a serious cricket watching kid..I vividly remember Brian Lara's 277, Warne's spell at the MCG and Curtly Ambrose wrecking havoc at the WACA (spell of 7/1). Best of all was the classic 1 run win at Adelaide, crestfallen Tim May and McDermott walk back after a superb fight back...
3. Ashes 1993: A one sided contest, made memorable by one man Shane Warne who delivered the 'ball of the century' to a puzzled Mike Gatting at Old Trafford..Gooch handling the ball for 133, Atherton run out 99, Peter Such on debut and the Texaco trophy with Robin Smith scoring 167 only to see the Aussies chasing the score with ease...
4. West Indies in India 1994: India won the first test, Jimmy Adams held them up in Nagpur and then finally in Mohali, Adams and Lara played superbly..Walsh's ball to injure Manoj prabhakar, huge win for WI...
5. Ambrose killing England at Trinidad- Curtly Ambrose loved England..this occasion he brought them down on their knees while defending a low score..first ball nailed Atherton, bowled Smith and Thorpe and his 6/24 bowled them out for 46 and the Hindu headline was Ambrose breaks England's back and heart!
6. Brian Lara's record breaking year: 1994- Lara's annus mirabilis- his 375 in Antigua watched it ball by ball, the pull off Chris Lewis to seal the record and being embraced by the legendary Sobers, the 501* against Durham in less than 2-3 weeks..lara had become my favourite player and still remains..
7.Aus conquer the Caribbean 1995- lara and Hooper leading a stunning fightback in the first test, steve waugh taking a controversial catch to dismiss lara, the low scoring classic in the 3rd test, Waugh's eyeball to eyeball with Ambrose, his magnificent 200 to go with Mark waugh's 126 setting up a superb series win...
8. The 1996 WC: The event that changed cricket in India, especially the television for sure...extraordinary coverage and previews..remember all the magazines, cut outs, posters and quizzes..memories include Tendulkar's classic at Bombay in a losing cause against Australia after Mark Waugh's superb 126, kenya's shock upset over WI at Pune, India Pakistan clash in bangalore mar 9 1996,cant ever forget Sohail and Prasad..Lara's 111 to send favourites SA out and the Waugh twins combining to deny NZ at Madras after Harris and Germon helped post a huge score..
Two very different semis..Calcutta witnessed rioting after India's inexplicable collapse, De Silva's superb cameo 66 off 47 balls and Sachin Tendulkar's 65 stood out in a match with a forgettable ending..The other semis saw Australia recover from 15/4 with Stuart law and Michael bevan helping them to 207 and WI made a hash of the chase after some poor decisions and bad shot making..eventually Richie Richardson was left high and dry after Walsh went for a silly hoick off Fleming and I cried all night...!..the finals was great too with de silva again proving his class...
9.India's capitulation at Barbados: Chasing 120, India were ambushed for 81 by Ambrose, Bishop and Rose..recall the beauty to Dravid by Rose, Lara catching tendulkar off Bishop and Ambrose bowling Azhar and ganguly...Laxman top scored with 19..wut a game!
10. Australia tour of South Africa 1997- Greg Blewett's 214 and Steve Waugh setting up a monster score in Jo'burg and Mark Waugh's sublime knock guiding Australia to a series win. Top quality test series..
11. Ashes 1997- England started off superbly bowling Australia out for 118 and winning comfortably but then Lord's happened with mcgrath's 8/38 and England escaping courtesy the weather but not for long. The Aussies were back and crushed England in the remaining tests..England's solace was in the fact that they won ODI series 3-0, with the new star Ben Hollioake slamming 63 off 48 (he died few yrs later in a car crash sadly)...
12. Tendulkar takes on Warne- madras 1998- Warne nailed tendulkar in the first innings caught in the slips..Australia had a lead but in the 2nd innings, tendulkar hit a superb 155 nullifying Warne's round the wicket tactics and had the wood on the leg spinning great for the next 2-3 years..
sharjah 1998- part 2 of tendulkar's dominance over Warne- exceptional 143 to take India to the final and then on Apr 24 (his bday), another masterly century (134) to lead India to a win single handedely in the coca cola cup.
13. Australia in WI 1999- Lara's team was humiliated in the first test following the 5-0 loss to SA and it was time to stand up.. 34/4 chasing 256 in the 2nd test..lara produced a supreme 213 and won the match, in the next chasing an almost impossible 308, he produced a masterclass 153* to seal an incredible win..and in the final test a rapid 100 off 84 but the aussies managed to even the series..one man had stood up against the World's best..the odi series ended 3-3 too.
14. World Cup 1999- Pakistan pipped Aus in a thriller in the group stages by 10 runs, Mcgrath bowled Lara with a beauty at Old trafford during his 5/14 to win the game, against India he got Tendulkar and Dravid in his first over ending the contest.. Aus looked to be in all sorts of trouble against SA at Headingley until Steve Waugh produced a stunning 120* to lead his team to the semis and in the semis against SA at Edgbaston, Shane Warne produced a stunning display of leg spin bowling, his ball to dismiss Gibbs reminiscent of the one to Gatting and in a nail biting encounter, Allan Donald was run out and the match ended in a tie throwing SA out..The final was one sided with Aus crushing Pak..
15. Pak tour of India and Asian test championship- In Jan Feb 1999, the three test matches at Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta were some of the best played..Tendulkar's brilliant yet tragic 136 in India's heartbreaking loss at Chennai, Anil Kumble's record 10/74 at Delhi and Shoaib Akthar's ultra quick deliveries to get rid of Dravid and Tendulkar at Eden Gardens, the crowd riot again..unpleasant end to a classic tour..
16. Pakistan and India tour Australia 1999-2000: Pakistan fought superbly in the 2nd test at hobart and at 126/5 it seemed curtains for Aus, but Adam Gilchrist in his 2nd test (81 in his 1st) made a stunning 149* off 163 balls and supported by langer (126), he helped chase down a massive 369 with ease...India were crushed in the three tests and only two fantastic innings by Tendulkar (116) and Laxman (167) stood out..agarkar's duck sequence and the controversial dismissal of tendulkar added to the drama..
might have missed many more...but ya..that's for a book not a blog...guess u guys can add to the list with many others (bevan last ball 4, atherton donald, hero cup, titan cup and many more )..look fwd to ur comments!
cheers
